Higher education now finds itself in a new era and environment in which it is confronted with an array of challenges and forces for change. This paper identifies the key forces for change in higher education, assesses these forces using an established change model (the action research model), and illustrates how change literature from management,…

In this book, two teachers share their experiences as researchers to confront and address the current disagreements about whether empirical research or narrative recounting is a better research model. In the book they seek to transcend these disagreements by endorsing an integrative approach that covers all aspects of practitioner inquiry, joining…

This paper describes an action research project that investigated issues concerning the teaching and learning of numeracy in the middle years. Building on research concerning the middle years of schooling, and their own experience of teaching mathematics in years 5-8, a group of teachers, drawn from four schools, trialed strategies intended to…

This paper suggests that teacher research, as an international movement, has the potential to become a counter-hegemonic strategy to construct critical teacher education approaches in a globalized world. It begins by describing globalization and discussing the distinction between hegemonic and counter-hegemonic globalization, or between…

This research is intended to describe a program which may enhance oral language and academic achievement by implementing various instructional practices. The targeted population consisted of pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students in a Midwestern suburban unit district located in northern Illinois. Language and academic skills were assessed to…

This paper suggests that self-evaluation should be a significant component of teachers' daily work, presenting a model of systematic self-evaluation to help teachers generate classroom solutions through self-study (thus leading them to more complex forms of classroom inquiry). After a historical and theoretical perspective, the paper proposes a…

This report describes a program for the improvement of listening skills in order to increase academic performance. The targeted population consisted of elementary students in a middle class community located in western Illinois. The problem of ineffective listening skills was documented through data revealing the number of students whose lowered…

An action research study was undertaken to examine the effects of educational technology resources on critical thinking and analytical skills. The researcher observed 3 different 11th grade classes, a total of 75 students, over a week as they worked in the school's computer lab. Each class was composed of 25 to 30 students, all of whom were…

This 5-month action research project examined effects of a short-term interactive vocabulary instruction on reading comprehension with four intermediate grade students identified as having learning disabilities in reading. Participants read a narrative text and an expository text without vocabulary instruction and then received vocabulary…

This paper describes a collaborative action research effort designed to investigate: whether teachers would be able to predetermine their dominant learning and teaching styles; whether teachers' dominant learning and teaching styles would be similar; whether teachers of differing levels or subjects would be concentrated in any one dominant…

This paper describes the progress of applying the integrated curriculum in two elementary classrooms. Utilizing science as the core course of integrated curriculum, three elementary teachers and two university-based educators worked together to design and to conduct the experimental course of integrated-curriculum. Based on the approach of…

This guide defines action research and provides historical and theoretical contexts for its use. Specific advice is given for the teacher-researchers engaging in action research, and a case study provides an extended example of the action research process. The chapters are: (1) "Understanding Action Research"; (2) "Deciding on an Area of Focus";…

This action research project describes a program to increase the application of spelling skills in students' writing. The target population consisted of first grade students in a middle-class community in the northern suburb of a large metropolitan area. The problems of inadequate application of spelling skills to student writing were documented…

This research focuses on a program for improving spelling achievement through an integrated approach using high-frequency words. The targeted population consisted of a third grade class, a fourth grade special education resource class, a sixth grade language arts class, and an eighth grade language arts class. All classrooms were located in rural…

This book provides a simple but effective model for approaching action research. It also contains a series of tools to assist the researcher in working through the research process. The chapters are: (1) "Research in Professional and Public Life"; (2) "Principles of Community-Based Action Research"; (3) "Setting the Stage"; (4) "Look: Building the…