Dissertations / Theses: 'Practitioner research'

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Yu, Ke. "The researcher-practitioner relationship in qualitative educational research /." Saarbrücken : VDM, Müller, 2008. http://d-nb.info/989113051/04.

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Yu, Ke. "The researcher-practitioner relationship in qualitative educational research." Saarbrücken VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, 2004. http://d-nb.info/989113051/04.

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Yu, Ke. "Investigating the researcher-practitioner relationship." Thesis, Pretoria : [s.n.], 2008. http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-10222008-162916.

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Wilkins, Raphael. "Practitioner research and perceptions of school leadership." Thesis, University of Lincoln, 2002. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.400849.

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Wei, Yi-Chun Sherri. "Understanding students' learner autonomy through practitioner research." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2011. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/38507/.

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This thesis reports on practitioner research I conducted over two semesters teaching online listening courses to three different groups of students in Fu-Jen Catholic University in Taiwan. Instead of a typical three-cycle Action Research model starting with a specific target area to improve, I adopted a more flexible exploratory approach allowing a longer evaluative phase before deciding on a focal area. Originally, my interest was to investigate how CSCL (Computer Supported Collaborative Learning) could help students in counteracting the relative isolation of online learning. However, after the first phase, I directed my attention more to the role of reflection as students neglected the online interactions and preferred communicating their ideas with me through reflective accounts and listening diaries. My research questions focused on three areas: the roles of collaboration and reflection, the online modality and issues related to researching learner autonomy. With the aim of exploring development over time, I gathered three kinds of data: pedagogically motivated data including online interactions and student assignments (listening diaries, reflective accounts); additional student interview and evaluation data; my fieldnotes and observation data documenting how I managed the three courses. Therefore, all the data collected was textual and qualitative in nature. Different approaches to data analysis were applied to different datasets. Grounded theory was applied to the interview data to allow themes and codes to emerge, whereas I-statement analysis and some predetermined coding categories were applied to the diaries and reflective accounts. The findings are structured according to the three areas of investigation. First of all, regarding collaboration and reflection, the success/failure of collaborative tasks depends greatly on task design configuration, while diarykeeping indeed serves as an effective pedagogical tool to raise students’ awareness of their learning processes and heighten their sense of ownership. Based on this understanding, teachers can create a space for reflection by marking regular opportunities for reflection and offering guiding questions. Secondly, regarding the online modality, the success of the online interactions contributed to students’ sense of ownership, which is closely related to their perception of what a listening course should be like and their identity as college students. Lastly, regarding issues related to researching learner autonomy, combining both Action Research and Exploratory Practice principles is beneficial to ensure that the teacher-researcher does not impose the research agenda onto learners. When data elicitation tools and data analysis techniques are also pedagogically motivated, the findings can authentically represent the picture of students’ learning. In viewing the development of learner autonomy as a learning process, considering cognitive, affective and behavioural domains can help us to understand learners’ perceptions and metacognitive strategies which are not easily observable from their learning behaviours. Furthermore, the data reveals that motivation and strategies interplay with learner autonomy throughout the process of learning.

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Greaves, Mary. "Practitioner research : a journey in optimistic disappointment?" Thesis, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.533144.

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Reeves, Toni Leanne, and not supplied. "Developing a voice as a practitioner researcher." RMIT University. Education, 2006. http://adt.lib.rmit.edu.au/adt/public/adt-VIT20070209.122550.

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Dawson, Susan. "The language learning lives of English for Academic Purposes learners : from puzzlement to understanding and beyond in inclusive practitioner research." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2017. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/the-language-learning-lives-of-english-for-academic-purposes-learners-from-puzzlement-to-understanding-and-beyond-in-inclusive-practitioner-research(418c57a7-bff4-4d92-8149-1a2fb60dd44d).html.

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This thesis considers the different forms of knowledge and ways of knowing generated through the processes and products of practitioner research from an Aristotelian relational perspective. I adopt the term 'gnoseology', which encompasses many different knowledge types, rather than the narrower, yet more commonly used term 'epistemology', and detail the development of a gnoseology framework. I use this framework to examine the understandings generated by a group of international postgraduate learners on a 10-week, intensive English for Academic Purposes course at a private UK institution as they explore the things that puzzle them about their language learning lives. Their explorations are grounded in the principles of Exploratory Practice (EP), a form of practitioner research that proposes learners themselves be viewed as 'key developing practitioners' alongside the teacher. The principles of EP also inform both my research methodology and my approach to classroom pedagogy for the purposes of this study, and the data used is generated naturalistically through the daily activity of the classroom. The thesis offers an account of both the processes and products of the learners' explorations, highlighting some of the potential benefits and tensions that surface as learners engage in exploring their language learning puzzles. It discusses the possibilities of viewing learners as 'key developing practitioners' for the learners themselves, teachers and the academy. Using my gnoseology framework I explore the emergent and developing understandings of the learners that arise through this work as they develop their praxis. I conclude that in contrast to the traditional separation of knowledge types into scientific (episteme), craft (techne) and practical wisdom (phronesis), my data shows these different forms and ways of knowing are multifaceted, interrelated and often operate simultaneously. I suggest that my gnoseology framework is the principle contribution of this thesis as it provides a potentially new way of examining and understanding the nature of, and relationships between, the different forms and ways of knowing produced through practitioner research. I also relate these developing and emerging learner understandings to the principled framework of EP, offering suggestions for its development, with particular regard to issues of relevance, learner expectations, and the processes of puzzling and puzzlement. This critique of EP is also a key contribution of this thesis.

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Goodall, Deborah Lynne. "Research activities in public libraries." Thesis, Northumbria University, 1999. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.367475.

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This thesis focuses on the relationship between public libraries, that is, those library services provided by local authorities under the 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act for use by the general public, and research conducted in such services by professional library staff - 'practitioner-researchers'- within the local government context. The aims of the study are: • To examine the relationships between local authorities, public library services, and research activities. • To review and evaluate contemporary research activities in public library services carried out by practitioner-researchers. • To identify and investigate the use of particular research methods and techniques used by practitioner-researchers. • To analyse, and provide a clear understanding of, limitations in current practice. Chapter One introduces the study and states the parameters and constraints of the research. The time period covered by this thesis is from the 1964 Public Libraries and Museums Act until April 1998. Chapter Two argues that as local government moves from a traditional model of service provision to a model of activities in support of strategic policy objectives, more attention will need to be given to 'deep' research in order to address cross-cutting issues. Chapter Three reviews the public library research scene from three perspectives, historical, thematic and current, and demonstrates the emergence of a more coherent approach with co-ordination and funding at a national level. It also shows that research methods remain undeveloped in the public library service as a whole. Research activity is largely confined to simpler issues of service development and does not extend to research addressing the impact of the service. Chapter Four outlines and explains the methodology used for the fieldwork. It demonstrates the rigour incorporated in the naturalistic inquiry approach, verifies the sample, and describes the process of data analysis. Chapter Five examines current practice in public library services through a series of twenty interviews with Chief Librarians. An overview of the findings is followed by a more detailed analysis which draws from the qualitative data. The analysis is set in context, making links with the earlier literature reviews. The closing section broadens the discussion to consider the influence of research on policy. Chapter Six synthesises the themes of the thesis. A description of the new agenda, and an analysis of its implications for research and organisational structures, enables a reconsideration of the rationale for research in local government. It is argued that simply demonstrating the relevance of the service is not enough; the real contribution of research must be in terms of policy development. Approaches to research, and in particular research methods, are reviewed to assess their suitability and a way forward is identified.

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Williamson, Graham Richard. "Developing lecturer practitioner roles in nursing using action research." Thesis, University of Plymouth, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10026.1/414.

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The lecturer practitioner role in nursing is widely seen as offering hope for the future of nurse education, by overcoming the 'theory-practice gap', and establishing and maintaining effective links at many different levels between education and practice. It is clear, however, that there are a number of issues of concern about the role. These can be summarised as: lack of role clarity about overcoming the theory-practice gap; varying conceptions of the role and unclear job descriptions; and role conflicts and overload, from the conflicting demands of service and education settings Despite current political support for strengthening the links between higher education institutions and practice settings, a new governmental emphasis on the support of students in practice, and a growing in-depth evaluative literature about the role, there is no research examining its systematic development, or measuring and addressing aspects of lecturer practitioners' occupational stress and burnout. Initial project planning work found that lecturer practitioners perceived themselves as 'adding value' to education provision, with personal and professional gains for postholders. However, their key concerns were: absence of role clarity; absence of effective joint review/appraisal;a bsenceo f formal support In, order to develop and address aspects of lecturer practitioners' work roles and their employment position, this action research project was established. Using a spiral methodological framework, and a multi-methods approach to data collection to triangulate the findings, new knowledge about lecturer practitioner roles was uncovered, and employment practices were developed as a result. The project established three new mechanisms, and these outcomes can be summarised as: joint appraisal policies and materials; orientation/induction policies and materials; group support network. In addition, previously validated measures of occupational stress and burnout were used to meas. ure those conceptsi n this group of lecturer practitioners, and the impact of the project. They were found to be generally no more stressed or burnt out than comparable workers, and the project was unable to demonstrate statistically significant differences in beforeand after-scores. Synthesis of quantitative and qualitative findings indicates that these LPs were 'thriving rather than just surviving'.

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Resnick, Edward. "Practitioner Research in Schools: Revealing the Efficacy Agency Cycle." Chapman University Digital Commons, 2018. https://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/ces_dissertations/16.

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Years of high stakes testing and managerial directives to improve student test scores created a trend of teachers’ declining sense of efficacy and agency. Researchers have yet to examine the perceptions of teachers following requirements to improve student engagement and school climate in an effort to improve academic performance following the authorization of local and national educational accountability reforms. The purpose of this study is to examine how teachers perceive their efficacy and agency in response to the addition of nonacademic measures and the requirement of documented input from teachers and other stakeholders into educational policy planning procedures. Veteran K-12 teachers’ responses to survey and interview questions were coded, analyzed, and organized into themes to generate an educational theory. Grounded Theory Methodologies (GTM), Culturally Responsive Methodologies (CRM) and Critical Pedagogy (CP) informed data collection methods and theoretical foundations for this study. The creation of a safe dialogical space between the practitioner researcher and participants developed a relationship for both to engage as co-researchers. Teachers discovered renewed senses of efficacy and agency while acknowledging their leadership potential in schools and the community. This study and further practitioner research with teachers in schools will inform pre-service education training programs and confirm teachers’ role as critical intellectuals in American society.

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Smith, P., N. Moody, L. Lee Glenn, and J. D. Garmany. "Nurse Practitioner Research Network: Patterns of Practice in Northeast Tennessee." Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University, 1996. https://dc.etsu.edu/etsu-works/7547.

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Hulme, Moira. "Researching teachers, changing teachers: practitioner research and the modernisation of teaching." Thesis, Keele University, 2007. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.487316.

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From-the late 1990s there has been a movement in the United Kingdom towards evidencebased policy and practice in the public sector. In education this has found expression in the re-alignment of research priorities towards user engagement and 'renewed interest in the 'teacher-as-researcher'. The promotion of evidence-based practice is often based on claims that it will enhance the status of the profession and strengthen relationships between the policy, research and practitioner communities. Drawing on the theoretical resources of policy sociology and the Foucauldian concept of governmentality, this research offers a critical examination of the promotion of 'teaching as a research-based profession' (Hargreaves, 1996). The current articulation of teacher research is placed within broader debates surrounding the re-professionalising of teaching.

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Finn, Angela Lee. "Designing fashion : an exploration of practitioner research within the university environment." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2014. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/77850/1/Angela_Finn_Thesis.pdf.

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This thesis positions practitioner research within the emerging discipline of fashion and disputes that practitioner knowledge of fashion is predominantly tacit. This research contributes to the understanding of practitioner knowledge and proposes an object based model of practitioner research as an alternative to existing practice-led methodologies. The thesis theorises fashion objects as a site of significant knowledge and argues their potential to record and communicate fashion knowledge and disseminate practice-led research.

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Terrana, Nicholas Ralph. "Orthodontist and General Practitioner Perceptions of Invisalign Treatment Outcomes." Master's thesis, Temple University Libraries, 2019. http://cdm16002.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/p245801coll10/id/578670.

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Oral Biology
M.S.
Objectives: Little is known about the treatment standards and expectations of Invisalign treatment outcomes between orthodontists and general practitioners (GP). The objective of this qualitative research project was to explore how orthodontists and GPs perceive Invisalign treatment outcomes, and to determine which criteria they use to judge successful treatment. Methods: Open-ended interviews were conducted with three orthodontists and two GPs. These interviews were recorded, transcribed, coded and analyzed by the conventional phenomenological qualitative research protocol. Each clinician selected four Invisalign cases that they treated and perceived as successful outcomes. To augment qualitative methods, quantitative data were generated to determine pre-treatment Discrepancy Index (DI) and post-treatment Objective Grading System (OGS) scores as calculated by OrthoCAD software. Results: Independent sample T-tests showed no significant difference in total DI score (p=0.287) and total OGS score (p=0.840) between the orthodontist (n=12) and GP (n=7) cases. Orthodontists perceive incisor torque and smile esthetics as important criteria for successful Invisalign outcomes. In contrast, GPs do not. Orthodontists and GPs unanimously perceive that Class I occlusion is an important criterion for successful treatment. GPs perceive extraction cases as a challenge to obtain successful outcome with Invisalign whereas, orthodontists do not. Conclusions: Differences exist between orthodontist and GP perceptions of what constitutes successful Invisalign treatment. Currently employed standards of excellence can be found in a wide spectrum of finishes; however, they are incapable of defining the excellence of finish. Selective standards differentiate the GPs from orthodontists, but agreement exists for ambition to finish in Class I occlusion. Esthetics and torque are valued higher by the orthodontists than are by the GPs. The utility of current standards- of-care need to be questioned and redefined.
Temple University--Theses

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Gibb, Michelle A. "Wound management nurse practitioner service: Parameters of practice and patient outcomes." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2016. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/98520/1/Michelle_Gibb_Thesis.pdf.

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This thesis was an in-depth case study investigation of Wound Management Nurse Practitioner service. The Donabedian framework provided a solid foundation for systematic enquiry and guided the mixed methods research approach to examine Wound Management Nurse Practitioner services from multiple perspectives to identify parameters of practice and determine how patient outcomes were assessed. Findings from this research revealed the complex, multifaceted nature of Wound Management Nurse Practitioner services and confirmed the safety and quality of this health service innovation. The methodologically rigorous approach provides an evidence-base to facilitate subsequent research into contextually similar health service models.

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Fitts, Elizabeth Ashley. "An examination of classroom community in the drama classroom through action research and refractive practitioner research." The Ohio State University, 2003. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1399638139.

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Reed, Alexander. "Social network meetings in an acute psychiatric setting : a practitioner research enquiry." Thesis, Northumbria University, 2004. http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/39/.

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Examination of the literature suggests that relationships between psychiatric staff and the families of service-users are often characterized as unsatisfactory, and that psychiatric hospitals provide an unconducive environment for the implementation of family and network-orientated approaches. This research focused upon the development in an adult psychiatric admissions unit of family- staff network meetings, that occurred when a person entered hospital. These network meetings, or 'reception meetings', were strongly influenced by the Finnish social network approach (Seikkula, Alakare & Aaltonen 2001), which focuses upon the creation of open dialogue between the service-user, family members and professionals. An overall aim of the study was to generate a body of practice-based narrative accounts which might act as a catalyst to practice developments in this field. Drawing upon a postmodern methodological framework, a range of methods were employed to engage with the multiple voices of service-users, family members and staff in the research site. Data sources included semi-structured interviews, participant observation, secondary data, and material from a research diary that was maintained as a reflexive tool in relation to the practitioner research process. A 'voice-centred relational method' (Brown and Gilligan 1992) provided a heuristic device for guiding data interpretation which facilitated multiple readings from different perspectives. A subsequent stage of data-analysis entailed developing more general connecting themes from across the data-set. A number of themes are developed in the research, which principally relate to the tensions associated with the introduction of a relationally orientated, reflective approach to practice within an individually-based medico-psychiatric organizational context. Practice approaches are discussed which appeared to facilitate an ethos of 'safe uncertainty' (Mason 1993) within network meetings, which is a necessary condition for dialogue. Connections are also drawn between themes generated in this study and the broader contexts of government policy, professional and organizational development, and practice-based research.

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Noble, Helen Rose. "Opting not to dialyse : A practitioner research study to explore patient experience." Thesis, City University London, 2009. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.509609.

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Hushmendy, Dilnavaz F. "A Practitioner Research Study Exploring Critical Literacy in a Secondary English Classroom." Thesis, State University of New York at Albany, 2018. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10809620.

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This dissertation is a qualitative practitioner research study in which I explore how my students and I engage in critical literacy using sociopolitical Articles of the Week (AoWs). Critical literacy is the ability to read, write, and speak about texts in a reflective manner to better understand power, inequality, and injustice that prevails in the world. The two major questions that drove this study were: (1) How are eleventh-grade students’ perspectives evident in their discussions and reflective papers? (2) How do my students and I take up the opportunity to pursue a social action project in response to Articles of the Week? The twenty-two research participants for this study were students in one of my three eleventh-grade English classes. While I used AoWs in all three eleventh-grade sections, I conducted my research in only one of these sections. This class differed from the other two sections only in that these students planned and implemented their social action projects in groups in lieu of individual presentations of their research paper in the other two classes.

I collected six kinds of data: (1) scanned copies of students’ eight reflective papers based on AoWs; (2) transcriptions of eight video-recorded AoW discussions; (3) teacher journal; (4) students’ post AoW surveys; (5) scanned copies and/or photographs of students’ social action projects; and (6) transcription of a post social-action whole class video recorded discussion. I collected these data in four phases from October 2015 to June 2016. Every week, over eight weeks (October-December), students read an AoW. After, and as homework, they wrote a reflective paper and brought it to class at the end of the week (Friday), when we had a whole-class discussion. After reading eight AoWs, students chose and researched a social action, researching daily for six weeks. This six-week research project resulted in a research paper that satisfied the research requirement of the eleventh-grade English class. Finally, two days per week for five weeks, students implemented their group social action projects on these topics: (a) Gun control laws, (b) Syrian Refugees, and (3) School Start Later.

Using the constructivist grounded theory technique (Charmaz, 2000, 2006) and the two methodological frameworks—practitioner research and inquiry as stance (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009)—as well as the four dimensions of critical literacy (Lewison, Flint & Sluys, 2002) to analyze and interpret my data, the following findings emerged: Findings to research question 1—most students appreciated considering multiple perspectives, both in writing and discussion. Students’ discussions demonstrated strong knowledge building in the following areas: incidental knowledge building; knowledge building with immediate effects; knowledge building by geography; and knowledge building as deliberation and debate. Findings to research question 2—social action projects involved two major activities: procedural activities and negotiating power. The procedural activities involved choosing a social action project, researching, and working in groups to implement the social action projects. The power analysis in this study revealed that examining multiple perspectives and including them in social action projects can work positively for students—social networks opened for students who provided a balanced perspective on topics. For students taking a one-sided perspective, social networks shut down. The results of this study have the potential to inform future practitioner researchers and critical pedagogues to develop new ways of building a critically reflective classroom that allows for robust social transformations that could influence educational policies because teachers’ voices do matter.

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Alkenbrack, Betsy M. E. "From practitioner to researcher and back again : an ethnographic case study of a research-in-practice project." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/9465.

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This ethnographic case study documents the joys and challenges of a Research in Practice (RIP) project conducted by five adult literacy instructors that led to the report Hardwired for Hope: Effective ABE/Literacy Instructors. (Battell, Gesser, Rose, Sawyer, & Twiss, 2004). As the practitioner-researchers were nearing retirement, they set out to conduct a research project that would put the experience of long-term instructors on record, describing the background, beliefs and strategies they bring to their work. The resulting study serves as a legacy to instructors who are committed to effective practice, student success and social justice. I had the privilege of participating in this project over a three-year period. The experience gained as participant-observer is one source of data, along with document analysis (minutes, emails, reports and the study itself, Hardwired for Hope) and interviews (with project participants and two other informants). Three sensitizing concepts influence this study: the centrality of gender (Code, 1991, 1995; Luttrell, 1996), the notion of “field” (Bourdieu, 1985, 1989, 1993), and the concept of “communities of practice” (Lave & Wenger, 1991, 1999; Wenger, 1998b). But more importantly, the research was shaped by the rich body of practitioner research that has blossomed in BC over the past decade, and by my own participation in the Hardwired for Hope project, the Research in Practice movement and the Adult Basic Education field over a 25-year period. Thus “insider research” is a key feature of the methodology. Five themes emerged: collaboration, knowledge creation, recognizing and valuing practitioners as researchers, supporting practitioner-research and promoting a research-in-practice culture. I also found that ABE practitioners bring to their work leadership, innovation, commitment to collaboration, an adventurous spirit and a willingness to challenge taken-for-granted assumptions about what research is and who has the right to create knowledge. I provide recommendations to practitioner-researchers and university-based researchers who want to contribute to the RIP movement.

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Durham, Andrew. "Young men living through and with child sexual abuse : a practitioner research study." Thesis, University of Warwick, 1999. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/4271/.

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Using an anti-oppressive life-story methodology, this research analyses the experience and impact of child sexual abuse on the lives of seven young men aged between 15 and 23. In recognising the sensitivity of the study, and that the young men's experiences are recent, particular attention is paid to the impact of the research and the relevance of social work practitioner research. The study advances an analytical framework, which draws on the tensions between structuralism and poststructuralism Theoretical connections are made between the centrality of sexuality and power in post-structuralism, and the nature of experiences of child sexual abuse. This framework has a wide application for future studies, and has particular implications for future non-pathologising social work practice with sexually abused young men. Asymmetrical power relationships are shown to be characteristic of child sexual abuse. The thesis argues that it is important to understand the diversity, and socially contextualised nature of the young men's experiences, in surviving the impact and aftermath of child sexual abuse. The thesis recognises the importance of understanding the resistance of the young men, and identifies some of the survival strategies they employed, in the extreme and adverse circumstances in which they became immersed. An oppressive context of patriarchal relations, characterised by compulsory heterosexism and homophobia has shaped and exacerbated the young men's harmful experiences. Internalised oppression and power relationships generate beliefs and subsequent responses which affirm and perpetuate oppressive social constructions, and consequent marginalisation. Through its anti-oppressive methodology, its analytical framework, and its use of prior substantive knowledge and experience, the study presents a strong and fresh link between research, social work practice and future research. In making this link, the study explicates the role and skills of the practitioner researcher, and thereby strengthens the academic discipline of social work.

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Hawkins, Jennifer Anne. "A phenomenological exploration of feelings, thinking and learning : a practitioner action research investigation." Thesis, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2010. http://e-space.mmu.ac.uk/129370/.

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In this thesis I researched as a student, teacher, educational mentor, researcher and evaluator investigating the effects and functions of feelings in learning. Feelings were defined as physical and mental sensations. Four data strands contributed to a new learning theory developed over eight years. Using collaborative methods I asked the guiding question; “What is the relationship between feelings, thinking and learning?” including an appropriate subsidiary question in each strand. My first aim was to find causes for disaffected student behaviour. While home-tutoring I asked the question; "Emotional blocks: what do they tell us about the learning process?" The resulting narratives revealed complex ecological factors of which I was previously unaware (Bronfenbrenner, 1979; Inquiry Strand 1: Tutoring 12 school refusers). These were analysed thematically. In the second strand I asked; “How do feelings affect my learning and teaching?” resolving learning problems and developing professional insight. (Inquiry Strand 2: The author's learning process). The third strand compared other teachers’ experiences asking; “How do feelings affect other teachers’ learning and teaching?” (Inquiry Strand 3: Mentoring 8 teachers as learners). The fourth strand explored the theory’s potential to inform professional practice (Inquiry Strand 4: Evaluating a primary school arts festival: observations of feeling based learning in action). Strands 2, 3 and 4 were also thematically analysed and included a framework of positive ‘emotionally linked’ learning behaviours as additional themes. The latter were derived from Claxton’s Effective Learning Profile (2002). In this Resilience is associated with absorption, managing distractions, noticing, perseverance; Resourcefulness with questioning, making links, imagining, reasoning; Reflectiveness with planning, revising, distilling, meta-learning and Reciprocity with interdependence, collaboration, empathy, listening and imitation. My fifth aim of sharing findings with others was undertaken throughout the research. My theory developed through reading, self reflection, writing and working with those who participated as colleagues and students (Wenger 2002). The findings make a contribution to knowledge, which evidences the claim that in education feelings may usefully be considered as legitimate thoughts.

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Guevara, C. "The impact of appreciative inquiry on trust and collaboration : a practitioner research study." Thesis, University of Liverpool, 2016. http://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/3002801/.

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This research project aimed to review the relationship between two student support departments pivotal to the enrollment process at an Art and Design university in the Southwestern region of the United States. The purpose of this project was to utilize the Appreciative Inquiry (AI) framework as a model for building collaboration and increasing levels of trust between these two interrelated departments. Five individuals engaged in this four-month study and participated in an Appreciative Inquiry workshop designed to reveal the positive core relationship between these two departments. The workshop functioned as a platform for dialogue between these two departments. Through conversation, members of each team sought to discover key elements to success, dream about the ideal environment, design the paradigm for this ideal environment and then commit to the destiny identified as a collective team. Participants were also asked to keep a reflective journal of team interaction after the workshop. The researcher conducted interviews with the participants, as well as monitoring interaction through the use of record sheets during meetings. Each of these data collection strategies revealed the impact of Appreciative Inquiry from both an individual and collective perspective. The data collected during this research were analyzed to identify (a) whether there is a perceived connection between the use of AI and the development of trust, (b) whether AI contributed to a stronger sense of collaboration between these two departments, (c) whether improvements were identified, and how far those improvements in trust resulted in stronger collaborations and combined ownership for results. Throughout all data collected, three themes emerged that resonated with the participants, trust, collaboration and productivity. Based on these emergent themes, there appears to be indication of a positive relationship between the Appreciative Inquiry framework and the impact on trust and collaboration, leading to greater productivity for the five participants in this study. The applicable lessons from this project will be a resource for other higher education managers responsible for collaboration between essential student support teams.

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Barnatt, Joan. "Finding the Questions: A Longitudinal Mixed Methods Study of Pre-Service Practitioner Inquiry." Thesis, Boston College, 2009. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/721.

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Thesis advisor: Marilyn Cochran-Smith
Teacher quality is a central concern of the profession. College-based teacher education, the core of teacher preparation in the United States, has increasingly included some form of practitioner inquiry in the pre-service program to encourage teacher candidates to be reflective, adaptive teachers who systematically and intentionally examine practice to improve pupil outcomes and continue their own professional development. While it is assumed that pre-service practitioner inquiry has a positive influence on pupils' learning, there is still little empirical evidence to support this assertion. Most empirical data on pre-service practitioner inquiry is confined to a short time period and does not examine what happens to pre-service candidates when they enter their own classrooms. Additionally, this research is generally conducted using interpretive qualitative methods. Thus, this dissertation uses a longitudinal mixed methods approach to examine what happens when teacher candidates engage in practitioner research in a pre-service program focused on inquiry with the goal of improving pupil learning. A modified sequential explanatory mixed methods design was employed as the best means of addressing this complex question. The study included data from three sources in a teacher preparation program focused on practitioner inquiry. The first analysis took a broad view of the quality and range of teacher candidates' research papers through the analysis of rubric scores for 92 teacher candidate inquiry papers in two cohorts (spring, 2006 and spring, 2007). Looking at the quality and nature of these projects, content analysis on a sample of twelve papers taken from the range of these scores was conducted. Finally, in-depth case studies of two participants were developed using data accumulated during the one-year pre-service program and through the first two years in the classroom. Findings in the quantitative analysis indicated that the rubric was reliable in differentiating among papers, but that there were fewer outstanding inquiries than expected, which were not explained by analysis of the scores. Content analysis of a sample of these papers indicated that differences were in how questions were formed; candidates' ability to interpret and use data recursively; whether and how candidates connected their learning to pupil learning; and if candidates connected their inquiry to issues of social justice in meaningful ways. The case studies showed that several factors influenced whether and how candidates moved toward the development of inquiry as stance. These factors included candidates' view of inquiry; teacher capacity; demands of curriculum planning and development; understandings of learning to teach for social justice; as well as school support and context. Overall, the three analyses in this dissertation indicated that requiring teacher candidates to engage in pre-service practitioner inquiry did not guarantee that they would understand inquiry as intended, develop an inquiry stance, or continue to inquire into practice in their own classrooms. These findings suggest implications for research, practice, and policy, which are discussed
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2009
Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education
Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction

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Ren, Yi. "Knowledge Translation Across Boundaries: Converting Scholarly Knowledge to Research Highlights for Management Practitioners." Thesis, Boston College, 2019. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:108639.

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Thesis advisor: Jean M. Bartunek
This dissertation examines the knowledge translation from one professional community to another that has distinct priorities, values, and commutation styles: management academia to practice. More specifically, I examined knowledge translation in the form of converting peer-reviewed management research papers into practitioner-oriented research highlights. Drawing from archival and interview data, I conducted three interrelated empirical studies to investigate this phenomenon. In the first study, using the framework of Gatekeeping Theory (Lewin, 1947; Shoemaker, 1991), I examine the process and norms of how knowledge translators select from the vast amount of management research and decide which ones deserve to be translated toward practitioners. In the second study, I build on Communication Accommodation Theory (Giles, Coupland, & Coupland, 1991) to examine the processes, underlying motivations, and translation strategies of how knowledge translators conduct the knowledge conversion, especially how they manage the often conflicting demands between source knowledge producers and recipients of translated knowledge. In the third study, drawing on insights from the cross-cultural psychology literature, I examine how knowledge translators’ strategies may differ systematically when they write in two different languages toward audiences in two different cultures. This dissertation contributes to the knowledge translation literature, the academic-practitioner knowledge transfer literature, and the communication literature with insights on the micro-processes and strategies underlying knowledge translation, the generative tensions in this multi-party process, and the perceptions of and relationships between the academic and practitioner communities
Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2019
Submitted to: Boston College. Carroll School of Management
Discipline: Management and Organization

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Barrett, Athol. "Capitalising on experience for an evolving era : a reflective practitioner study." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2010. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/368.

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This study is about tapping the under utilised resource of tacit knowledge, embedded in human experience, in tackling the complex challenges of managing a neo-postmodern era. The study shows how this may be achieved by using reflective practice in mining a lifetime of tacit knowledge embedded within the experience of one practitioner. It is an example for others in generating their responses to managing current social dilemmas. Thus, in using reflective practice methodology, the study draws on data from reflection; experience; and, the literature generating a narrative written in the first person. As a method of inquiry, this methodology draws on the traditions of narrative autoethnography, action research and qualitative inquiry principles. It extends the concepts of reflecting-in-action and reflecting-on-action, to provide a focus for-action. The study therefore explores the under utilised resource of tacit knowledge and extends the limited research available in translating this knowledge to an explicit form. This study provides both a narrative analysis and a holistic conceptual model. This model is developed from generic models developed in three social domains - in the classroom; the corporation; and, the community. Through reflective practice, the study identifies six enduring principles common to these models. These principles form the basis of the holistic conceptual model. It is a model that can be used by others to generate explicit knowledge to improve their management of subsequent social interaction. The components of the formalised Models are represented by the mnemonic LEADST. Each letter represents a significant conceptual component: Local design; Entrepreneurship; adherence to Action Research principles; the Dichotomy of content and method; working within existing authority Structures; and, Translating tacit knowledge to explicit knowledge. All focus on devolving responsibility enhancing selfactualisation and system development for increased social cohesion and productivity. The Models, therefore, contribute to the developing participatory and sustainability movements. In essence, the study makes three contributions to existing knowledge. First, it provides descriptive models for others to use in capitalising on the tacit knowledge embedded in their own lived experience to manage current social dilemmas. Second, the study indicates how a combined individual and group translation strategy for reflective practice is more productive than either individual or group strategies in isolation. Third, the study extends reflective practice methodology showing how practice can be used to produce both narrative accounts and pragmatic conceptualisation. The thesis also embraces reflective practice by finally modelling how the review of the text, through the lens of three examiners, aided the re-conceptualisation of critical issues in the development of the study.

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O'Connell, Jane. "An exploratory study for the development of emergency nurse practitioner specialist clinical practice standards." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2014. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/73066/2/Jane_O%27Connell_Thesis.pdf.

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This thesis presents a mixed methods study to develop specialty specific clinical practice standards for Emergency Nurse Practitioners. This is the first time in Australia that Nurse Practitioners standards have been developed for a clinical specialty. These standards will guide educational preparation for the role and ongoing Continuous Professional Development for endorsed Emergency Nurse Practitioners.

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Munday, Dan. "Exploring complexity in community palliative care : a practitioner based approach to research and development." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2007. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/2432/.

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This thesis explores the complex discipline of community palliative care. Palliative patients suffer from a range of conditions, have complex, evolving clinical problems and receive care from a wide variety of health and social care professionals. Understanding these issues is central to effective service provision and maintaining continuity of care for patients and their carers. Current community palliative care provision in the UK is the result ofthe co-evolution of the emergent specialties of palliative and primary care over the past sixty years. A critical realist and practitioner based research approach is used in a multi-method study ofthe reasons for emergency admission ofpalliative patients into hospital and a qualitative study exploring the work and experiences of health care assistants prov~ding practical supportive care for palliative patients in their homes. Examining narratives of patients, carers and health professionals enables in depth exploration ofthe fundamental elements and contexts which define the inherent complexity ofthis area. Emergency admission ofpalliative patients represents a significant breach in continuity of care often resulting in disruption for both patient and health care services. The reasons for these admissions are many and complex. Relationships of power between different health professionals and between patients and health professionals exert a major influence on community palliative care provision and the process of admission. Health care assistants are relatively powerless and employed as basic carers, yet in community palliative care they undertake emotional labour, for which they draw on their personal resources. This aspect oftheir practice is crucial for patients and their carers; however it is largely unrecognised by formal health care services. Undertaking research in the context of a community palliative care team enables the development of a community of research practice. This provides an effective model for both developing an evidence base for community palliative care and the development of appropriate local services.

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Ellis, Neville John. "Teachers’ experiences as practitioner researchers in secondary schools: A comparative study of Singapore and NSW." Thesis, The University of Sydney, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/8609.

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The aim of this study was to illuminate teachers’ experiences as practitioner researchers in secondary schools in NSW and Singapore to explore to what extent their experiences are similar or different and how context - such as differences in culture or policy – are factors in shaping teachers’ experiences. Practitioner research is undertaken in-situ and thus will look very different under different educational regimes. As Schatzki (2005) and later Kemmis and Grootenboer (2008) remind us the “sayings” and “doings” of practitioner research are all mediated by the historical circumstances that underpin them. Adopting the philosophies of Schatzki and Freire, this thesis explores what teachers think and feel about doing practitioner research; their understanding of policy; their motivation for doing research; the types of research they do; the type of learning and support they receive; the difficulties they face; and whether they find the experience beneficial or not. This interpretive case study offers perspectives from two different academic and educational communities and involved 42 participants, including academics, policy makers and teachers. Teachers have considerable agency to shape practices and change their immediate classroom practice but function in a world that is largely pre-formed, meta-practices acting to prefigure, enable or constrain practices (Kemmis, 2009; Kemmis & Grootenboer, 2008; Schatzki, 2002, 2010). The thesis argues that sufficient differences existed between the two sites explored so that practitioner research was prefigured and remodelled distinctively in each context. Definitions and understandings of practitioner research varied greatly between respondents within each culture. These definitions and understandings in turn were often inconsistent with extant definitions in the literature, thereby provoking questions about the distinction between professional learning and research. Respondents often did not have sufficient common background knowledge to be able to agree about what practitioner research was in words (Kemmis & Grootenboer, 2008, p.53). Their “sayings” and “doings” and the way they related to one another were not “bundled” together in a characteristic way (Schatzki, 2002) nor were they “mutually intelligible” (2006, p.1868). Practitioner research occurred across and within the two settings as a series of disparate practices, the two educational bureaus, sometimes even different regions or schools, adopting different research paradigms, assumptions and orientations. Accordingly, practitioner research was innate to the setting in which it was practised. But as a broad generalisation, in Singapore, research was often used in schools to confirm the effectiveness of an intervention rather than to explore an issue (Tan, Macdonald & Rossi, 2009) and there was a tendency to favour a scientific or quasi-experimental research design and quantitative data. Interventionist studies were often undertaken “to see if a hypothesis works”. In comparison, in NSW, respondents believed that schools and teachers generally use research to modify and improve local conditions, teachers showing a predilection for qualitative methodologies despite the pressure for them to use quantitative data. Research tended to be used to spawn or produce change rather than to measure it. In summary, in Singapore research was used to measure an innovation and in NSW to generate innovation, teachers in Singapore thereby favouring a “deductive theory” model as described by Ezzy (2002) and in NSW, an “inductive theory building” approach. The central education authorities had developed different policies and programmes to encourage practitioner research in schools and practitioner research was transmitted as a practice in a variety of ways. Identity and disposition greatly shaped teachers’ attitudes towards practitioner research acting as either a powerful enabler or constraint. Although teacher capacity was commonly perceived as a significant enabling factor, there was not a homogenous, systematic or comprehensive means for training staff across either teaching force. It has been asserted that practitioner research is not just a matter of instrumental behaviour and following rules but should be a consultative process where proponents proceed towards consensus about what to do (Kemmis, 2010). However, adopting a critical Freirian perspective (1974, 1985, 1987), it could be argued that in many instances teachers were “silenced” and not “given voice” in that they had limited facility to decide the research focus, especially in Singapore, or limited opportunities to broadcast findings, particularly in NSW. Furthermore, we are reminded that practitioner research should not merely generate knowledge of the world but aim to effect social change and good so as to achieve a better, more just world (Freire, 1974, 1985, 1998; Kemmis, 2010). As might be expected, the teachers involved in this study, displayed an awareness of the larger world in which they function as teachers; the mesh of practices or meta-practices that enables and constrains possibilities for action in education. However, often they stated or implied they were perhaps powerless to effect change at this meta-level. It would appear that many teachers had adopted a “fatalistic” approach. Respondents citing the need for systemic change appeared to stop at this point and did not contemplate “the untested feasibility, the constructable future” (Friere, 1985, p.154) or embark on “praxis” as described by either Freire (1974, 1985, 1998), Kemmis and Grootenboer (2008), or Kemmis and Smith (2008). Results of the study indicated that teachers tend to lock themselves into the technical aspects and an instrumental approach to research, which is viable in its own right, but limited. They were not so much interested in the kind of interpretive, hermeneutic knowledge interest, where one is trying to actually understand the phenomenon that is being explored, or an emancipatory or liberatory knowledge interest. The type of practitioner research largely undertaken by teachers as described by participants tended to focus on a teacher’s immediate class or school. It appeared that teachers had become sensitised to their local situations, able to look only at their local environment, but perhaps not able to look at macro issues. Or perhaps they had not contemplated with any rigour or determination the meta-practices that enmesh their own practices. Essentially, there is an order of actions, intentions and “acceptable ends” within any practice (Schatzki, 2009, p.39). This thesis argues that the “ends” that are acceptable to teachers, such as technical improvement in classroom practice, are perhaps deficient for Kemmis or Freire, who desire social justice and an emancipatory outcome. The thesis concludes by noting that the potential of practitioner research remains to be fully actualized. Recommendations suggest that: policy on practitioner research needs to be more clearly and coherently communicated across the teaching spectrum with models of research being more explicitly stated; teachers should also be provided with more comprehensive and systematic training in practitioner research; and greater emphasis should be put on the bridging of cultures and traditions to foster an enhanced interchange of ideas, insights, understandings and dialogue among all involved in practitioner research. Perhaps, then practitioner research may become successfully embedded into the culture of education process and practice and support educational transformation in both Singapore and NSW.

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Roche, Tina E. "Evaluating the effectiveness of emergency nurse practitioner service for rural patients presenting with chest pain." Thesis, Queensland University of Technology, 2017. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/103094/1/Tina_Roche_Thesis.pdf.

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The nurse practitioner role has been implemented in rural hospitals throughout Australia as a health service reform strategy in emergency departments. This research is the first to examine the safety and quality of this service for patients presenting with a complex health condition. Using a Donabedian framework, the outcome of emergency nurse practitioner service was demonstrated to be comparable to standard care. The research provides an evidential basis to support the quality of nurse practitioner service, a benchmark for further research and identifies the problems that need to be addressed to ensure the future of rural health research.

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Tiwari, Ashwini. "A Comparison of Methods to Assess Practitioner Fidelity in a Parent-Training Program." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2010. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/iph_theses/136.

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As evidence-based programs are implemented in real world settings, there is a strong need to effectively and efficiently monitor fidelity, or adherence to a program, in order to maintain the expected effects demonstrated in research settings. The purpose of this study was to compare two methods of assessing fidelity to an evidence-based, parent-training model (SafeCare®) as implemented by community service providers. Specifically, analyses compared fidelity assessed via video versus audio recordings. SafeCare modules often require mobility and high interaction, thus, video recordings may provide a more accurate view of home visitor and family interactions for scoring fidelity. However, videos are more expensive and cumbersome in comparison to audio recordings. Trained coders were randomly assigned to score a video or audio recording of the same session for 25 SafeCare sessions and the codes were compared for agreement. Two types of SafeCare sessions were assessed: assessment and training. Average agreement was somewhat higher for assessment sessions than for training sessions. Average agreement, across all sessions, was higher among items pertaining to SafeCare content than items pertaining to the therapeutic process. Several specific items were identified that are difficult to code via audio recordings. However, more research is needed to determine agreement levels across all SafeCare modules and session types in order to provide insight on the implications for SafeCare's future use of audio and video methods of measuring fidelity.

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Wolvaardt, Jacqueline Elizabeth (Liz). "Over the conceptual horizon of public health : a living theory of teaching undergraduate medical students." Thesis, University of Pretoria, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/2263/39798.

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The health needs of society extend beyond the treatment of the individual and the ill. These needs are at the core of public health which addresses health at a population-level. Regulations dictate that public health must be included in the South African medical curriculum, but healthy populations hold little interest for medical students. As a result public health remains over the conceptual horizon of medical students. At the University of Pretoria the responsibility for the inclusion of public health is the responsibility of the School of Health Systems and Public Health. Participation in the medical curriculum is a minor but important part of my educational practice. But two of my professional values – care and agency – have been denied in that practice. The central purpose of the research was to construct the meaning of my educational practice with the aim of progressive realisation of my values. The study explored how public health is conceptualised as a subject in the medical curriculum at the University of Pretoria, the intended educational achievements of public health in the curriculum and the optimal strategies for its inclusion. An action research living theory design made use of a concurrent embedded mixed-methods approach. Data was gathered primarily from external experts, the academic staff of the School of Medicine and the SHSPH, key academic documents and the medical students. A constructivist grounded theory approach was employed to construct meaning from the findings. The findings revealed the effect of the historical decision to split public health and medicine and the resulting increasing distance between the disciplines. Resting on this fractured foundation is the understanding of what public health is. The understanding of public health suggests a multiple concurrent understanding that is constructed by diverse and seemingly conflicting perspectives while the discipline remains identifiable as public health. The curricular intentions of including public health in the medical curriculum at the University of Pretoria are characterised by a varied topography that includes externally and internally imposed educational tensions, constraints and intractable contradictions. Curricular intentions revolve around ontological aspirations. The medical students’ perspectives of their educational experience in public health are surprisingly similar to those of students in other countries. The current and imagined strategies to include public health formed the basis for the scepticism of educational orthodoxy and suggested the exploration of the dual uncontested spaces – social media and the elective experience in the medical curriculum. The findings from my innovative practice in using the elective experience challenge the notion that public health is over the conceptual horizon of medical students. A theme that runs through the narrative suggests, instead, that other conceptual horizons obscure meaningful engagement with medical students around public health. This research is a rich account of my complex context and my connected practice and through action research I claim to live my values of care and agency. My living theory of practice as a form of meaning making could help others to look over their own conceptual horizons in search of wholeness.
Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013.
gm2014
Humanities Education
unrestricted

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Wu, I.-Cheng. "An interactive perspective on classroom motivation : a practitioner research study in a Taiwanese university context." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2010. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/3651/.

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This thesis reports on a practitioner research study which adopts a social constructivist approach (Williams and Burden 1997) to the investigation of classroom motivation. The social constructivist approach to motivation shows its strength in taking into account both the internal and external factors of motivation influences. It places its emphasis on the effect of contextual factors on learner motivation and it considers motivation to be constructed through learners’ interaction with the learning context. Taking into account the notion of social constructivism, this practitioner research study aims to explore how classroom motivation is co-constructed through the social interaction between teachers and learners. The study took place in two English courses for non-English majors in a Taiwanese university for one semester (February 2008—June 2008). Classroom motivation is investigated through a variety of research methods. Both qualitative and quantitative research instruments—questionnaires, learner reflective diaries, post-class reflective writings, learner interviews and teaching journals—were used in an attempt to explore how classroom motivation develops in cycles, in which teachers and learners receive reciprocal effects from each other. The results of the study shed light on how different types of teacher and learner behaviours influence learner and teacher motivation respectively.

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Hussain, Hurmaira. "A study of teacher stress exploring practitioner research and teacher collaboration as a way forward." Thesis, Bournemouth University, 2010. http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/14994/.

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There is widespread concern over the high levels of reported work-related stress, job dissatisfaction and psychological distress associated with teaching and the effects of stress on teacher's sense of well-being and their willingness to stay in the profession (Borg, 1990; MSLAT, 1996; Troman, 1998; Schonfeld, 1990; Wilson, 2002). Much of the traditional research on teacher stress has been carried out by external 'experts' using quantitative survey type approaches to analyze occupational stress levels resulting in restrictive data analysis unrepresentative of the true picture of stress in the teaching profession. Researchers have advocated a more holistic approach incorporating mixed methods combining both qualitative and quantitative methods in order to gain subjective teacher reports of stress and coping mechanisms resulting in a fuller picture on teacher stress with future recommendations grounded in research. Recently, the reflective practice movement in healthcare (eg:-Boswell, 2007) has suggested using a more integrative approach to advance practitioner knowledge and empower them to improve practice through reflection to create an understanding ofthe issues within a local context. My research was particularly interested in the issues relating to teacher stress including the way teacher stress was being measured and the effectiveness of qualitative over quantitative methods, the inclusion and exclusion practices of disruptive students and the use of practitioner research to encourage teacher collaboration as a way of dealing with teacher stress. Practitioner-Research methodology has been successfully adopted in Nursing and Health-Care and has recently been used in Education with mixed findings some successfully advocating p-r while other research was hampered by bureaucracy and top-down managerial agendas. In relation to this a single UK Secondary school was researched as a case study by the investigator who taught Sixth formers A'level Psychology at the school. The research was conducted in phases using a qualitative multimethod approach incorporating triangulation to include staff, students and researcher reflections about practice in order to encourage staff collaboration, empowerment and meta-cognition. A reflexive stance was thus adopted to underpin the research methodology. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted on 20 teachers (varying levels, ages and mixed gender) to assess the proposed research objectives. Classroom observations and student interviews were carried out for a year 10 class to complete the data collection. The findings revealed how students felt caught up in a selffulfilling prophecy with teachers seeing them negatively, leading to a spiral of failure and lack of motivation and the teacher interviews with both newly qualified and experienced teachers, uncovered how different coping strategies were used to deal with disruption, classroom and task management in general. The most important findings came from middle managers who claimed there was poor communication between senior tiers and lower teaching tiers with a strong sense of bureaucracy ruling their decisions. In order to bridge this gap, the practice development phase of the research tried to establish collaborative meetings in order to encourage teachers from all levels to self-reflect, deal with problematic issues and action research solutions of teaching practices. The Senior Management Team (SMT, including the Head) did not encourage staff or the researcher to proceed further with the final phase and the research was abruptly halted. Despite this, I believe that practitioner-research is a viable methodology in education research as it gives 'ownership of knowledge' to the practitioner using a self-reflexive stance to increasing their evidence-based practice resulting in a growth in meta-cognition to make improvements in practice. I feel, we need to increase insider research and use Action Research spirals and collegial collaboration as a wayforward.

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Li, Na. "Practitioner research on task motivation in a Chinese university context : integrating macro and micro perspectives." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2007. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/2394/.

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This qualitative research on task motivation is based on a four-month fieldwork in a university context in China, with myself performing dual roles as a teacher researcher working closely with two classes of final-year English majors (about 120 students in total). Positioning this research in an authentic classroom setting aims to explore task-intrinsic features perceived to be motivating (`motivating tasks'). and learner-intrinsic motivational processes during task engagement ('task motivation') in this particular context. Throughout the process, my research perspectives experienced an interesting movement: macro - micro - macro. I began my research with a broad interest in the motivation area, and increasingly narrowed my focus on `task motivation' which corresponds to the recently advocated `situation-specific' approach to motivation research. However, my following involvement in the teaching/data-gathering fieldwork pushed me to bring back the macro perspective into my research, as I found that the complex concept of task motivation could not be fully understood without taking the broader motivational influences into consideration. That is, apart from investigating how the immediate task situation influences learners, it is also very important to understand how the wider institutional, social, educational, and cultural factors influence learners' various motivational perspectives in the classroom, which may in turn shape their specific task-engagement motivation. Based on content analysis of qualitative data including written task feedback, personal letters, and group interviews, it was found that in this context there are three underlying dimensions of task motivation, that is, academic motivation, personal development motivation, and affective motivation. The study also explored what aspects of task design could effectively motivate students and why. In general, this research contributes to our understanding of Chinese university students' task motivation. It implies that adapted tasks can be appropriately integrated into the traditional English class in China and perhaps in other similar EFL contexts, and can certainly facilitate the teaching of the prescribed textbooks. It also implies that the researcher's personal involvement in the authentic teaching context is a very valuable point for both motivation research and task-oriented research.

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Shipe, Rebecca L. "Creating productive ambiguity| A visual research narrative." Thesis, The University of Arizona, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3700162.

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The purpose of this dissertation was to examine how I can facilitate experiences with art that promote "productive ambiguity," or the ability to transform tensions that disrupt our current understandings into opportunities for personal growth. Ambiguity becomes productive when our encounters with difference stimulate curiosity, imagination, and consideration of new possibilities and perspectives. While employing a multi-methods practitioner inquiry that combined elements of action research, autoethnography and arts based research, I addressed the following questions with a voluntary group of fifth grade research participants: How can I facilitate experiences with art that promote productive ambiguity? How do my students interact with the various visual content and instructional strategies that I develop and implement? How might these interactions inform my future teaching practice, and how does my own reflective visual journaling process inform my research? In addition to employing reflective sketching to document and analyze data, I also presented research findings in the form of a visual research narrative.

My analysis of research findings produced the following teaching strategies for facilitating meaningful experiences with art that promote productive ambiguity: (a) Use an inquiry approach to instruction as much as possible in order to position students to actively navigate the space between the known and unknown while seeking fresh understandings rather than passively accepting new information. (b) Explore how new concepts or themes relate to students' lives in order to situate unknowns in relation to their present knowns. (c) Aim to balance structure, flexibility and accountability while developing and implementing curricula. This promotes productive ambiguity as both teachers and students negotiate their pre-conceived ideas or plans and push themselves to respond to challenges encountered within their immediate environment. (d) In order to avoid unnecessary confusion, explicitly state that students should takes risks while generating new ideas rather than identifying a pre-existing solution. (e) Finally, ask students to identify why skills and knowledge generated during these activities are valuable in order to promote meta-cognition of how this ambiguous space can become more productive.

In addition to these practical findings, research participants agreed that sharing their interpretations of visual phenomena with one another enabled them to understand each other better. I also discovered the ways in which productive ambiguity emerged in the spaces in between my teacher/researcher/artist roles when I perceived challenges as prospects for personal transformation. As a whole, this dissertation exhibited how relational aesthetics and arts based research theories translated into my elementary art classroom practice while simultaneously integrating these concepts into the research study design and presentation.

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Ryder, Mary. "Exploring leadership and research in nurse practitioner roles across Australia and Ireland: A mixed-methods study." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2020. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/2337.

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Introduction The Nurse Practitioner role is recognised as the highest level of clinical nursing. Leadership and research are identified as core attributes for Nurse Practitioners in the regulatory frameworks. There is an expectation that as clinical leaders, Nurse Practitioners have the ability to transform healthcare delivery within their specialist area of practice. Background The voice of Nurse Practitioners is limited in the current literature related to how they view their leadership contribution to Nursing. There has been some criticism in the evidence to date related to volume, consistency and transferability of Nurse Practitioner research. However, there is a shortage of evidence related to research from Nurse Practitioners, including their interpretation of research within their role. Design A mixed-methods, sequential explanatory study was completed. Nurse Practitioners from Ireland and Australia were contacted via their respective Professional Associations to participate in the research. Methods Phase one conducted an electronic survey to ascertain Nurse Practitioner leadership and research activities across Ireland and Australia. Phase two data collection was conducting through semi-structured interviews with participants to explore their understanding of leadership and research in their role. Results Nurse Practitioners perceive that they provide strong clinical leadership in transforming healthcare delivery for patient populations. Research is perceived by Nurse Practitioners in the traditional sense, of generating new knowledge, and they do not value the research work they do. Leadership and Research in the Nurse Practitioner role is similar in Ireland and Australia. Leadership of research was not found, due to a lack of time allocated to research and a lack of confidence to undertake research. Conclusion Nurse Practitioners provide patient focused clinical leadership in healthcare. Autonomy in clinical decision-making and the freedom to change healthcare delivery was evident. There is a reliance on interprofessional leadership and assistance to embed the role, ensuring its success. A lack of clarity pertaining to research requirements for Nurse Practitioners was identified. A translational research continuum has been proposed, as an alternative to the traditional definition of research for Nurse Practitioners

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Rector-Aranda, Amy. "Critically Compassionate Intellectualism in Teacher Education: Making Meaning of a Practitioner and Participatory Action Research Inquiry." University of Cincinnati / OhioLINK, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ucin1491303424138702.

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Frost, Charles. "Exploring trainee counselling psychologists' perceptions of the scientist-practitioner model in relation to their training and future careers." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2015. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/exploring-trainee-counselling-psychologists-perceptions-of-the-scientistpractitioner-model-in-relation-to-their-training-and-future-careers(829d768d-f0fd-432f-9367-4a0b4c1b59da).html.

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Objectives: This study aims to gain an understanding of how current trainee counselling psychologists perceive the scientist-practitioner model. Design: This is a qualitative piece of research grounded in a social constructionist perspective. Two focus groups were conducted lasting 60 minutes at two UK universities. An online survey was also conducted to capture additional views. Method: 29 trainees participated in the study. 15 trainees on counselling psychology doctorate programmes took part in face-to-face focus groups whilst 14 trainees from doctorate programmes or the independent route responded to an online survey. The data collected were analysed using Braun and Clarke (2006) thematic analysis. Findings: Five main themes were identified in relation to the scientist-practitioner model: The Nature of Counselling Psychology, The Nature of Being a Counselling Psychologist, The Nature of Science, What Counts as Evidence, and What Happens in the Therapy Room. Conclusions: Much of the ambiguity and tensions in the literature were present in the views of participants. Three views emerged: the model as a spectrum, the model as two complementary roles, and the model as a toolbox. These views are explored and then implications for practice and possible directions for future research are outlined.

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Mayo, H. Elaine. "Toward collective praxis in teacher education: Complexity, pragmatism and practice." Thesis, University of Canterbury. Education, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10092/1054.

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In this thesis I claim that dominant realist, interpretive and postmodern research methodologies, taken together, provide necessary but not sufficient tools for use within educational research. Understandings of material, social and linguistic worlds do not, in themselves, cater for teachers' pragmatic needs to consider (a) the social consequences of educational practices, both their own and those of the institutions within which they work, and (b) the complexity of teaching in a postmodern world. I draw on ideas from pragmatism, post-structuralism, critical pedagogy, complexity theory, reflective practice, and personal experience in order to invite the emergence (or social construction) of new phenomena: these I hope, may enable teachers and other educationalists to take a vibrant part in ongoing debates and actions concerning educational policy and practice. I argue that the assumption that educational theory can be applied in practice is flawed and needs to be replaced by theory which recognises the dynamic nature of theory-in-practice: all theory is data within practice. This is a late-career thesis written by a practitioner with an unusually broad experience of the New Zealand educational system. I argue that the purpose of theory is to guide practice, that practice must drive theory, and that theory and practice need to join together to focus on the consequences of planned actions. This is neo-pragmatism, but, as stated thus far, it is not enough for my purposes because it does not include a commitment to social justice. Praxis is a term which ties emancipatory political goals to theory-and-practice. I invite the construction of the understandings of praxitioner activities where collective praxis and individual praxis might co-emerge in the interests of social justice. I promote the expansion of fresh discourses through research into collective praxis within teaching and teacher education.

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Pigliacelli, Mary. "Practitioner Action Research on Writing Center Tutor Training| Critical Discourse Analysis of Reflections on Video-Recorded Sessions." Thesis, Long Island University, C. W. Post Center, 2017. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10623761.

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Training writing center tutors to work collaboratively with students on their writing is a complex and challenging process. This practitioner action research uses critical discourse analysis (Gee, 2014a) to interrogate tutors’ understandings of their work, as expressed in their written reflections on video-recorded tutoring sessions, to facilitate the development of strategies for training and support in the LIU Post Writing Center. This thesis develops a model of knowledge construction that includes writing center knowledge, disciplinary genre knowledge, writing knowledge, rhetorical knowledge, interpersonal knowledge, and intrapersonal knowledge. The results show that video recording of and reflection on writing center sessions with the addition of critical discourse analysis is an appropriate and productive method for improving tutor training in individual writing centers. Additionally, it discusses a need for additional tutor training on pedagogical reflection.

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Pearce, Sarah. "Examining whiteness in theory and practice : a practitioner research study of teaching in multi-ethnic primary school." Thesis, Manchester Metropolitan University, 2003. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.399560.

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Walne, Alison. "A synthesis of the reflective and scientific counselling psychologist practitioner : dynamics in research, practice, and clinical supervision." Thesis, City University London, 2015. http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/13752/.

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This study explored the empirical and theoretical evidence on the therapeutic alliance (TA) which is currently said to be the best predictor of therapeutic outcome irrespective of the therapeutic approach. Despite the fact that many TA studies have been undertaken on clients’ perspectives, therapists, and observers on behalf of clients, for over 30 years, there is still a lack of clarity and agreement on a precise TA definition. At a time when therapists face some politically-driven changes that requires evidence on practice, this means on the therapist’s part, there is an even greater need for increased understanding on what intricacies are involved in the TA, including therapists’ perspectives on how the TA is measured to support evidence. Accounts are drawn from participants from various schools of training (psychology, psychotherapy, and counselling). Collectively, these views helped in the construction of a new ‘therapist awareness therapeutic alliance scale’ tested through exploratory factor analysis (EFA). A mixed qualitative and quantitative methodology was employed. The study is discussed within the context of counselling psychology philosophy and an integrative theoretical framework on practice. Results: The TA factor structure reflected many relational elements attributed to a well known working alliance model on shared goals, tasks and an attachment bond. However, in this study, three latent factors were identified, attributed to therapists’ skills: 1) relationship-building, 2) managing the process, and 3) the relational bond. Relationship-building and managing the process featured significantly higher than the relational bond in developing and maintaining the TA, indicating the TA to be more task-related. Significant findings suggest the new measure could assist practice. Conclusion: As the driving force in therapy, the TA has implications in training (prepractice) throughout the therapeutic process, and for reflective purposes in clinical supervision regarding best practice and continued professional development (CPD). This study has shown that more emphasis is needed on therapists’ skills, in relationship building and managing how they develop and maintain the TA to protect clients, prior to, and at all points of therapy. Implications on practice are addressed and future suggestions on TA research to support practice are recommended.

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Hargrave, Lauren D. "WHAT DO TEACHERS THINK ABOUT EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY? DEVELOPING AND VALIDATING THE EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY PRACTITIONER SCALE." UKnowledge, 2017. http://uknowledge.uky.edu/edp_etds/64.

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The purpose of this study was to develop and validate the Educational Psychology Practitioner Scale (EPPS), which was designed to (a) assess the practices, training, and skills of educational psychologists and (b) determine their utility among K-12 schools classroom teachers. Study participants included 161 K-12 teachers across 21 states within the United States. An exploratory factor analysis yielded a 25-item, unidimensional scale. Correlating the EPPS with the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) and the Job Satisfaction Scale (Warner, 1973) provided discriminant validity for the scale. Study limitations and future research directions are discussed.

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Salvi, Ana Inés. "Exploring criticality in teaching English for academic purposes via pedagogy for autonomy, practitioner research and arts-enriched methods." Thesis, University of Warwick, 2017. http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/107962/.

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This is a practitioner-research study of the development of criticality in English for Academic Purposes (EAP) contexts, via pedagogy for autonomy, exploratory practice (EP), and arts-enriched research methods. The study begins with an exploration of criticality with respect to the literature on Critical English for Academic Purposes (CEAP), critical pedagogy, critical thinking, and critical theory. The context for the empirical research was three short programmes/modules on academic English, involving 56 students in total, at two HE institutions in the UK and a partner university in China, over a total period of seven months. The aim of the research was to identify signs of criticality in what we did; and whether and how pedagogy for autonomy, EP, and arts-enriched research methods were conducive to criticality development. Data collected included my own diary; students’ reflective writing; reflective drawings/paintings; voice- and video-recorded group discussions and presentations; posters made in class; semi-structured interviews; and conversations. Themes emerging in each teaching phase/cycle are presented in three central chapters, followed by a cross-phase rearrangement which reveals three main overarching themes: being in charge; sociological and cultural awareness; and collaboration and others. These serve as the basis on which to identify signs of criticality and to discuss to what extent and how pedagogy for autonomy, EP and arts-informed research methods contributed to criticality development. The main signs of criticality included students’ enquiries into their own epistemic doubts; dialogue for understanding and joint enquiry; and developing awareness of the constructed nature of knowledge and socio-cultural discourses and practices, and of struggles in the performance of difference. The study contributes to understanding of the nature of criticality and how to develop it in EAP contexts; and of aspects of pedagogy for autonomy, EP and arts-enriched methods. The study shows the value to EAP of a broader understanding of criticality with contributions from CEAP, critical pedagogy, critical thinking and critical theory. The value of pedagogy for autonomy, EP and arts-enriched research methods in the development of criticality is also highlighted, and practitioner-research is shown to contribute insights that can illuminate other practitioners and the field more broadly.

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Marais, Kobus. "The language practitioner as agent : the implications of recent global trends in research for language practice in Africa." Journal for New Generation Sciences : Socio-constructive language practice : training in the South African context : Special Edition, Vol 6, Issue 3: Central University of Technology, Free State, Bloemfontein, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/11462/512.

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Published Article
This article argues that, whether she recognises it or not, the translator is an agent, i.e. someone with an active hand in the intercultural communication process. This position endows the translator with the responsibility to make decisions in intercultural communication that can have far-reaching ideological effects. For this reason, translators should be educated to be able to take up this responsibility. In this regard, the author proposes the notion of wisdom as the aim of translator education. The article also argues in favour of indigenising and even subverting translations in theAfrican context.

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Maguire, David W. "The role of communicative creativity in starting regional trade relationships with China: An action research practitioner case study." Thesis, Edith Cowan University, Research Online, Perth, Western Australia, 2005. https://ro.ecu.edu.au/theses/651.

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The Action Research project studies the role of information management and knowledge generation in establishing overseas political and trade activity to assist regional development in Australia. It is the work of a researcher whose background in information management ranges across more than 30 years working in the newspaper and regional economic development industries. It applies a hybrid term called “communicative creativity” – distilled from Wieman’s (1963) Doctrine of Creative Interchange and Habermas’s (1984) Theory of Communicative Action – to the researcher’s professional practice of facilitating the development of two entities – the economic development organization and its method of facilitating opportunities in China – against Nonaka and Takeuchi’s (1995) Five-Phase Model of the Organisational Creation Process. The thesis describes how the researcher’s previous career and life experience in China are used in the establishment of a model that will assist his current career in regional economic development. It explains the reasons for choosing the Participatory Action Research method and uses the researcher’s personal and professional voices in a multi-vocal, neopragmatic style blended with visual rich picture presentation involving graphics and photos to tell the story. The thesis – with its style and voices – is a soft systems picture in its own right. The research outcome is a knowledge management model for promoting. Selling, organising and conducting a trade mission into China.

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Ghosh, Suvankar. "Essays on Emerging Practitioner-Relevant Theories and Methods for the Valuation of Technology." Kent State University / OhioLINK, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=kent1246573195.

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Harvey, Christopher John, and chrisharvey11@hotmail com. "Can learning save the sandcastle? A case study of facilitating change at an Australian manufacturing facility." RMIT University. Education, 2008. http://adt.lib.rmit.edu.au/adt/public/adt-VIT20080428.115950.

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The focus of this work-based action research project was attempts to change practice in an Australian manufacturing facility. The setting is a medium sized light manufacturing operation responding to the new commercial realities of the globalised and deregulated Australian marketplace. The analogy of a sandcastle facing the rising tide is used to assist the reader associate with the destructive threat that globalisation brings to Australian manufacturing. In an attempt to maintain profitability amidst unprecedented competition, the organisation has published a manufacturing improvement strategy designed to raise productivity and assure its future viability. Consistent with the objectives of this strategy, the project examines processes for changing practice within the organisation. Specifically, the project aimed to implement change using the Global Manufacturing Strategy as a guide, to increase the capacity of the managers who were accountable for the implementation of the Strategy. to improve the productivity and profitability of the company and to make a contribution to professional knowledge, in particular, the way that change is facilitated in an Australian manufacturing setting. Set within this local context, constructionist-learning techniques are implemented and their effectiveness assessed. The influence of power relationships on practice are analysed from data derived through workplace conversations and questionnaires. The paper concludes that under the threat of job losses, change in practice was limited. Manager-researcher role tension and the associated knowledge, power, time and ethical conflicts impacted the processes of collaborative learning and the rate of change in practice. It is suggested that collaborative change may be limited to situations where there are tangible benefits for all parties. As the profitability squeeze continues to slowly and relentlessly tighten, a depressing outlook is envisaged for those employed at the factory.

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Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Practitioner research'

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