This study examined the experiences of two cohorts of graduate students completing their research capstone course during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of the study was to examine the novice teacher researchers' perceptions about research as they engaged in a semester long collaborative research project that was revised for their cohorts. The findings suggest that students' perspectives and experiences were influenced by the collaborative nature of the course and that the geographic separation between the students was not a challenge for the cohorts of novice researchers. There are implications from this work that educators, especially those geographically distanced, benefit from collaborative action research as a professional development strategy.