Reports on two classroom studies in which teachers deliberately evaluated their own teaching strategies in relation to their students' writing and homework tasks. Students were asked about their preferences for the various strategies. Finds that effective learning requires pupils to be mentally active in and take some responsibility for their own…

Explored the journey and progress of elementary teachers conducting action research within science and mathematics, examining their perspectives of teaching, empowerment, research, and professional development through team planning. Data from journals, activities, observations, surveys, and interviews indicated that an initial stumbling block to…

Describes an Australian study designed to promote professional growth of beginning elementary teachers through participatory action research. Beginning teachers collaborated with university faculty, forming action research groups which focused on specific aspects of teaching. Data from teacher journals, reports, and meetings indicated that…

Examines how writing produced within school-based practitioner research functions in framing and guiding classroom practice and research processes, outlining a model from Saussurian linguistics and from hermeneutical theory. An analogy is drawn with practitioner research, which is characterized as the generation and analysis of a sequence of…

Describes an elementary school teacher's experience with action research in which the teacher sought to help children develop science investigations based on their own questions. (WRM)

This action research investigated the problem of college students' participation in German class, examining how to engage students in focusing on form when grammar and accuracy held no interest for them. The action research showed how collaborative work could inform a teacher's perception of classroom events, leading to definable changes and…

Discusses the relationship between research and the scholarship of teaching, emphasizing creation of pedagogical content knowledge. Examines linkages between the scholarship of teaching and the literature on teacher research and action research, between formal educational research and contextual classroom research, and between the scholarship of…

Educational researchers have paid little attention to "critique"--an activity young artists routinely use to assess and advance their creative projects. It is an activity from which they have a lot to learn, particularly in the context of community-based arts collaboratives. In school classrooms where teachers emphasize group projects…

Swedish teachers are currently expected to become more involved in school improvement based on the findings of research. One of the main goals of this work is to develop practice in its own contexts. Teachers become involved in action and research or, in other words, the combination of practice and theory. A central issue in this work is whether…

The student-centred education project is an action research project conducted by lecturers at an institution of higher education and university researchers over a 2-year period. Valuable experience has been gained about working with lecturers on projects that affect their beliefs about learning and instruction in practice. This article focuses on…

There is a growing sense of frustration among members of the science education research community that results from the fact that the impact of research in science education on classroom practice has been disappointing. In this theoretical paper, the questions of relevance and accountability in science education research are first reviewed and…

Limited professional focus appears to impair teacher unions' external influence and internal communication. Inquiry and research may be used as a strategy to improve professional focus thereby increasing teacher unions' influence within the profession and helping them effectively address structural change issues. By shifting to the inquiry mode,…

The project described in this report used action research to study the involvement of teachers in the change process at a suburban elementary school. The project used study groups as a professional development strategy that fosters educational reform efforts. All 28 teachers on the school's staff signed up for a group. Teachers appreciated the…

Teacher researchers may be the essential link between the philosophy and training of higher education and the grass roots implementation at the public school level. The Teacher-Researcher (T-R) Institute has the potential of providing a catalyst for role change and a channel for research in action. This paper describes the merits and defaults of…

To address how and why to do research in the classroom as a teacher, this book of essays by teacher researchers prefaces each of its four sections with interviews with Cindy Myers, Ken Jones, Patricia Reed and Betty Bailey respectively. Titles and authors are as follows: "Addressing the Problem of Elsewhereness: A Case for Action Research in…