Describes the challenges involved in taking distance out of the context of institutions and applying it to community development in Canada and Southeast Asia. Discusses resources facilitators used: technologies, theater and communication techniques, and the Canadian, Thai, and Filipino participants themselves. (SK)

Summarizes competing approaches to the role of culture in community development and use of community media--as top-down dissemination of messages or as participatory action research. Presents a case study of the use of video for community participation and empowerment in Burkina Faso. (Author/SK)

Discusses three approaches to participatory research typically followed by academics: (1) initiator, (2) consultant, and (3) collaborator. Argues that participatory research is part of a larger community-change project, and that determining how academics will fit in the project requires answering several questions about the nature of individual…

An organization's action learning program was based on five principles: real work, questioning and critical thinking, self-managed learning, embedding of learning in the organization, and group dynamics. Most participants were satisfied; more than 50% would seek formal certification based on their learning. More confidence and different approaches…

The history of particpatory research, especially as practiced in Africa, is characterized by exclusion of women's perspectives and dominance by university-based processionals. This has limited its impact as a social action process aimed at empowerment. (SK)

Wageningen University's extension science program shifted from a positivist to a constructivist foundation. Participatory methodologies and interactive policies are being developed, and the program's name has been changed to Communication and Innovation Studies. (SK)

Interviews with stakeholders in an adult literacy program for university employees (instructor, program director, 17 of 34 employees, 11 of 20 supervisors) showed similar perceptions of improvement in skill, confidence, and self-esteem, participation in decision making, and involvement in lifelong learning. Better communication between supervisors…

Describes a student-participatory death education course offered at a small private liberal arts university. As active participants, students collaborated in the design of course content and requirements that reflected their interests and concerns. Overall, students responded positively to their involvement in the learning process. Outlines course…

Participatory Environmental Action Research involves novices, scientists, and local residents in exploring environmental problems, facilitated by extension professionals. Educational benefits of the expeditions include learning research techniques and teamwork; scientists develop skills in adult education and interpreting science for…

Uses four student-led investigations conducted as part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded 'Explorations from an Aerial Perspective' program to demonstrate how participatory action research can provide a framework for realizing environmental education goals. (Author/MM)

This introductory article discusses the benefits of participatory action research (PAR), including the empowerment of participants in research and the research process, the difficulties PAR presents, and summarizes following articles in a special series on the facets of PAR. (CR)

This article presents a rationale for incorporating elements of participatory research approaches into intervention research intended to improve practice. After an overview of the research-to-practice problem, it illustrates how the incorporation of participatory research approaches applied to various decision points can enhance the construction…

Explores connections between learning and technology based on a participatory action research case study in which students in universities in the United States, England, and Australia created and analyzed cases from their teaching practice. Findings indicate that students' attitudes and perceptions of technology influenced their ability to…

There is little reason why educational research in Australia should be progressive and highly developed given that its history and direction are subject to the economic and political determinants of an increasingly conservative and uncertain world. Whether or not educational research is an entirely derivative field or a semi-distinctive social…

This article is an exploration of the value of research involving images in a school, and aims to provoke more general discussion of the purpose, value and risks of educational research using images. It reports on a participative research project in a secondary school which led to the construction of a web site based on images of that school. The…