Month: September 2015

Action Research (AR) and Participatory Action Research (PAR)

Image: Action Research Protocol after Kemmis (cited in Hopkins, 1985)

Key text: Carr, W. & Kemmis, S. (1986), Becoming Critical: education, knowledge and action research

Stephen Kemmis has developed a simple model of the cyclical nature of the typical action research process.

Each cycle has four steps: plan, act, observe, reflect. Carr and Kemmis (1986) describe action research as:

  • the improvement of practice
  • the improvement of the understanding of practice
  • the improvement of the situation in which the practice takes place

The notion of improvement can be problematic when viewed from the outside. One person’s improvement can be another person’s deterioration. It depends on the beliefs and values underpinning the individual’s perspective. Paradoxically, however, this uncertainty is perhaps the one truth of professional practice. Practice is contingent upon the practitioners’ intentions, values and beliefs and the situation in which those elements are given form.

Reference:  http://www.edu.plymouth.ac.uk/resined/actionresearch/arhome.htm

See more on PAR and AR by Valsa Koshy. Action research for improving practice: A practical guide. Sage, 2005. A useful chapter is available here.

Principles of Action Research

Winter (1989) provides a comprehensive overview of six key principles.[iv]

  1. Reflexive critique
  2. Dialectical critique
  3. Collaborative Resource
  4. Risk
  5. Plural Structure
  6. Theory, Practice, Transformation

Reference: An Overview of the Methodological Approach of Action Research O’Brien, R. (2001). Um exame da abordagem metodológica da pesquisa ação [An Overview of the Methodological Approach of Action Research]. In  Roberto Richardson (Ed.), Teoria e Prática da Pesquisa Ação [Theory and Practice of Action Research]. João Pessoa, Brazil: Universidade Federal da Paraíba. (English version) Available: http://www.web.ca/~robrien/papers/arfinal.html

Introduction

Illustration: Luke Pearson
Illustration: Luke Pearson

The 20 second question

Can you explain your PhD in 20 seconds or less? Practice this! Every week with friends, colleagues and supervisor.

It is really important to have a clear, focused and non­‐technical motivation for what your PhD is about in terms of contribution to knowledge.

Live with this and adapt it as things change. I’ll ask you to explain this every week, we started out doing it in 1-2 minutes and the goal is that you will get more precise with your use of language, and more concise as the weeks go by.

The assignments that you have to complete for this course dovetail with your formal PhD requirement for year 1. At the end of year 1 you must submit your Literature Review (though it will get updated throughout your PhD study). Therefore, you are expected to complete the first draft of the Literature Review for this course. You will discuss this with your supervisor. We will do some group writing in class to help you start and to prepare you for Academic Writing Month in November. I will closely edit your Literature Review drafts and give you detailed feedback on your writing.

You will also give a short presentation on your PhD research during this course. This will prepare you for conference presentation and we will all work together to help you to improve your presentation skills.

Thanks to Mark d’Inverno for his contribution to this week’s class.

 

What is a PhD?

Thanks to Mark d’Inverno who authored some of this material.

What is a PhD?

  •   Being able to critique existing work
  •   Contribution to knowledge . This can be modest!

What does a PhD demonstrate?

  •   Demonstrates you are able to later take on independent, long-­term research commitments
  •   A transformation to a professional researcher
  • A pathway to employment within, and outside, academia

Why do you want a PhD?

Important to keep reflecting on this to self-motivate. There are many answers (e.g.) Profession development, Personal development, Artistic development ,Developing self-confidence, Career development. What are your reasons? Write them down.

The Kinds of PhDs

  •     Opens up new area
  •     Provides unifying framework
  •     Resolves long-­‐standing question
  •     Critique existing theory and practice
  •     Understands and provides methodologies for new artistic practices
  •     Thoroughly explores an area
  •     Builds a new methodology for producing a system
  •     Provides new software
  •     Contradicts existing knowledge
  •     Experimentally validates a theory
  •     Derives superior algorithms
  •     Develops a new tool for doing X

And there are others too. Where does yours fit?

 

 

Just starting? What to get to know immediately

Thanks to Mark d’Inverno who authored some of this material.

How to organise your PhD

  •     Practice telling your friends about your PhD.
  •     Know the best conferences and journals.
  •     Identify your key annual conference
  •     Keep an annotated bibliography: Add 1 item a day!
  •     Plug into social media to see what is going on
  •     Keep close your favourite examples of papers and PhDs – Revisit them and really know them
  •     Use your supervisors wisely – Come with questions and ideas, not just wanting “help”!
  •     Think about use of different media to demonstrate the originality of your research?
  •     And keep reading and writing, every week
    • Start small with sentences, paragraphs and flow
    • Read back – look for any gaps in your argument or jumps between ideas. Address those to improve flow

 

Action points for the new Phd researcher

Action points

1. Start writing

Write for  20 minutes every day. Start now. See this article by ProfHacker. It is online here.

2. “The Professor Is In” by Karen Kelsky

I recommend that you purchase this book, sometimes described as, “the definitive career guide for grad students, adjuncts, post-docs and anyone else eager to get tenure or turn their Ph.D.  into their ideal job.”

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO TURNING YOUR PH.D. INTO A JOB http://theprofessorisin.com/

3. Read up on, and sign up for, Academic Book Writing Month (starts in November) #AcWriMo

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academic_Book_Writing_Month

I expect you to sign up for this and to use it fully as you write your Draft Literature Review. Make the most of the support and advice, work out what approach to writing is best for you, quickly, during your first year by being an active member of AcWriMo. Post and tweet. This can be a group you return to each year and it can get you moving quickly into writing, which I believe is essential for a less stressful PhD.