A study of the teaching of action research in an online setting

Abstract

ABSTRACT The combination of the COVID-19 pandemic and the rapid improvement in virtual communication provided the opportunity to examine the efficacy of teaching a graduate seminar on action research (AR) in an online setting. The research questions were: 1) In what ways did the online setting affect the students’ ability to collaborate in doing their AR projects? 2) What levels of trust were developed among the students and between the students and the instructor, and what factors affected the development of trust? The weekly three-hour classes included mini-lectures and interactive activities. The class was divided into small groups that met separate from the class sessions to discuss coursework and projects. Data (student interviews, coursework, and recordings of class sessions) were analyzed using standard qualitative methods. It was found that the course format led to all participants being engaged during all sessions. This helped the class to evolve into a functioning community of practice. The highly interactive nature of the course enabled students to collaborate as they learned to engage in AR. Students indicated the class format and attitude of the instructor helped engender trust. Overall, the data indicate the graduate seminar on AR was successfully transformed to an online setting.