Though, most of online courses conducted in the pass were asynchronous oriented, due to the recent advance of information technology on the Internet bandwidth and the IP-based conferencing system, conducting synchronous online courses are now feasible. There are no longer obstacles for promoting e-learning in terms of limited computing power, short memory capacity and not enough network bandwidth. The new challenges have shifted to how to conduct a high qualify online course by combing synchronous and asynchronous learning into a blended mode. The feature of asynchronous-oriented instruction and the text only interaction mode in the passed e-learning are very inconvenient and inefficient. Because Chinese input for many senior teachers are difficult and using text express the meaning of content and answer questions would result bad performance of demonstrating instructors¡¦ professional. The advanced Learning Management System nowadays can support IP-based video-conferencing and document sharing for teachers and students to do online synchronous face to face instruction and interactions; the question is most teachers are not aware of this kind of potential and what kind of teaching models can be adopted in the online synchronous classroom. The purpose of this thesis is to explore different teaching models and their best practices by action research, such that the results can serve as good references for teachers. This research environment is the course named e-Learning Theory & Practice conduced for many semesters on NSYSU Cyber University.

This study aimed to explore a program development process and explain how each component of the process contributes to overall procedure for determining 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade students&rsquo / multiple intelligences profiles. The action research was conducted through implementing the incremental components of development process namely / (1) needs assessment, (2) program design, (3) program implementation and verification, (4) summative evaluation. Purposeful sampling methods were used to select the participants of the study. On the basis of the purposeful sampling methods, the participants comprised of two elementary schools with their 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade students, teachers, parents / three branch teachers / instruments developers / experts from the fields of multiple intelligences, psychology, sociology, social pediatrics, neurology, psychiatry, and child neurology. The data collection methods were interview, observation, written document analysis, questionnaire. Descriptive and content qualitative analyses were used to analyze the data. For the validity and reliability purposes of the materials developed throughout the study, quantitative data and quantitative data analysis were conducted. The results of the needs assessment indicated that the 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade teachers had various purposes to determine their students&rsquo / multiple intelligences profile. They used various methods having both weaknesses and strengths. The most appropriate method was using multiple methods / sources. The program with its materials was developed in the program design phase. The materials were &ldquo / story inventory,&rdquo / &ldquo / film inventory,&rdquo / &ldquo / parent questionnaire,&rdquo / and &ldquo / performance assessment.&rdquo / The program including its materials had both weaknesses and strengths. Therefore, effective modifications were conducted on the program in the program implementation and verification phase. Finally, the results of the summative evaluation indicated that the study and the program reached their purposes largely.

The aim of the study was to investigate to what extent integrating systematic reflection into the academic English courses at the tertiary level fosters learning. To this end, the teacher-researcher designed an action research study and carried it out with seventy-one students in the three sections of ENG 101 she taught at the Middle East Technical University. In the course of the action research, the teacher-researcher developed an interactive reflection model in which the teacher and students engage in a collaborative process of reflection to improve their performance. For each writing and speaking task in the syllabus, a related reflective task was developed, and the reflective writing assessment rubric was created. Students wrote reflective paragraphs through which they explored their strengths and weaknesses in their performance. Moreover, the teacher-researcher and students engaged in reflective dialogue. In their reflections, students were expected to develop an action plan for further improvement. The teacher-researcher kept a reflective journal in which she reflected on the research and her teaching skills. At the end of the semester, the students evaluated the effectiveness of the reflective activities. The data collection tools were student questionnaire, student work, transcripts of the reflective dialogues, students&rsquo / evaluation of reflective activities and teacher&rsquo / s reflective journal. The quantitative and qualitative analysis of the data revealed that the integration of reflection in the course increased students&rsquo / awareness of their strengths and weaknesses in relation to the tasks they performed, improved their self-assessment skills and increased their self-confidence. Reflecting with students and on students&rsquo / reflections became a journey of discovery for the teacher-researcher. She developed an action plan and put it into implementation.

The research dissects how to construct the setup of school-based curriculum management and to carry the plan into execution through studying a junior high school. The research helps the teachers grow in professional knowledge, encourages them to have professional teamwork and makes them innovate their teaching, so that they can elevate the quality of school teaching. The purposes of the research are as followed: 1. To dissect the theory of school-based curriculum management in junior high school, which can be the basis of constructing the school-based curriculum management. 2. To dissect how to construct the setup of school-based curriculum management in junior high school through action research. 3. To dissect the difficulties and stratagem of solving problems which the junior high school encounters in constructing school-based curriculum management. 4. According to the research result and practical experience, the research brings up conclusions and suggestions, which can be the reference of enforcing school-based curriculum management while junior high school puts nine-year curriculum into practice. In order to achieve the purposes of research, I take the ways of action research, literature reviews, participatory observation, individual interview, documentary analysis and so on. As to the ways of collecting information, I take notes, record in the interview, take notes in the meetings, and keep research diaries and keep analyzing information in all aspects. Through the continuous comparison, the research results show: 1. The process of action research is filled with uncertainties, which is a matter of deep concern to the success and failure of research, because the researchers can¡¦t have the chances of penetrating, communicating and coordinating about the uncertainties. 2. Action researchers should take the serious attitude towards researching ethical issues. 3. Such elements as the principle¡¦s philosophy of curriculum-based coordination, macroscopic ability of organizing and interacting the school administration, and the level of teacher¡¦s autonomy have great influence on the research results. 4. Administration¡X the professional teaching teamwork and team spirit have a lot to do with the success and failure of conducting school-based curriculum management. 5. Constructing the setup of school-based curriculum management in Chuan-Yang junior high school includes the setup of dispensing curriculum affairs, the setup of evaluating curriculums and teaching, the setup of evaluating school curriculum management and so on. 6. School teaching administration should hold ¡§the spirit of school-based curriculum management, ¡¨ so that school can enforce the affairs of school-based curriculum management effectively and specifically. 7. The group, which enforces curriculum management, not only accumulates practical experience and constructs systematic knowledge, but also encounters lots of difficulties and obstacles. Because the problems appear, the group keeps studying the solution of project and improving the problems. The procedure of solving problems is as followed: finding problems

Abstract The prupose of theis study is to prove into the teaching model of integrating information technology into Project-based Science Learning designed by the researcher. We will discuss how information technology assists teachers and students to ¡§teach¡¨ and ¡§learn¡¨ through developing curriculum module and teaching activities. Teacher analyze that how students decided team¡¦s research topic, and the problems they met and solution to them by learning journal, observation reports, teacher¡¦s journal, self-checking list and surveys. Then, to criticism the possibility of carrying out Project-based Learning through teachers¡¦ reflection, students¡¦ feeling, and parents¡¦ reaction.The final conclusions are as follows: 1.The Project-based Science Learning model of this research is suitable for 5th and 6th graders. 2.Promoting Project-based Science Learning can develop students¡¦ interests toward science research, open students¡¦ spirits of thinking automatically and solving problems through cooperation, and make students apply their experience in their lives. 3.Third, the practice of Project-based Science curriculum can make students easier to understand the preparations, process, and its final results, to reverse students¡¦ the vary first thoughts about ¡§doing research is difficult¡¨, to stimulate their abilities of creative thinking, and to apply students more concrete postmortem index and strategies while choosing topics. 4.In the curriculum, information technology is mainly applied into three parts, including collecting research topics and information, discussing research process, and sharing and showing research results. Applying class website message board can make up the disadvantage of arranging meeting time, and be the bridge for teachers and students to provide sources of information, transmit messages, discuss problems and solutions, exhibit the result of experiment, and write research papers and so on. It is the most useful information technology application for students. 5.Teachers, students, and parents all agree project-based science learning with highly support.

<p>The theme of this thesis is environmental research as a tool for change. In the first part of the thesis a “Situation of Opportunity” is studied, i.e. a situation when the opportunities to reduce negative environmental impacts are larger than usual. The maintenance of a multi- family residential area, here called a Small Neighbourhood, is studied as a series of Situations of Opportunity.</p><p>To explore the prerequisites for using maintenance as a Situation of Opportunity, two case studies were carried out and reported as a licentiate thesis. The first one on the rental area Idö-Våldö in Stockholm managed by the association Stockholms Kooperativa Bostadsförening (SKB), and the second one on Järven, a housing cooperative in Malmö that cooperates with the management organisation HSB Malmö. In the study the researcher developed long-term environmental strategies based on the planned maintenance of the areas. Besides exploring the prerequisites for using planned maintenance as a Situation of Opportunity, the intention was that the studies would initiate an environmental practice within the areas studied.</p><p>Results indicated that maintenance, at least in principle, creates many possibilities for reducing negative environmental impacts and that it to some extent also can be used for creating a dialogue between residents and managers. However, the conditions for using maintenance in the cases studied were limited by low interest among the residents as well as the economical and organisational prerequisites of the cases. The studies did not initiate an environmental practice as intended. The reason for that might be the mentioned conditions, but it could also depend on the researcher’s limited knowledge on action-oriented and collaborative research.</p><p>Thus, the second part of the thesis aims at developing a research methodology for such research. Based on empirical experiences from the Idö-Våldö and Järven-studies and a literature study, a methodology for action-oriented research for environmentally sustainable housing (ARESH) is outlined. It is proposed that methods of action research and of case study methodology could be applied in ARESH. However, there are several potential conflicts in ARESH. The researcher has for instance to judge if the study should be led in the first hand by participants or by researchers, or if it should be more oriented towards theory than practice. One conclusion is that a research methodology for such research needs to be further discussed and also further explored in practice. Since there are indications that a collaborative and action-oriented research is evolving in the field of environmental research, it is hoped that the findings of the thesis can contribute to a discussion on how to carry out research as a tool for change</p>

<p>In this study, five real-life problem situations were used to explore the challenges of developing and implementing decision support tools for management of an urban water utility in Uganda. The study sought to explore how the degree of adoption of formal decision support tools in practice, generally perceived to be low, could be improved. In the study, an Action Research (AR) approach was used. AR is an inquiry process that involves partnership between researchers and practitioners for the purpose of addressing a real-life problem issue, while simultaneously gener-ating scientific knowledge. Unlike other research methods where the researcher seeks to study organizational phenomena but not to change them, the action researcher attempts to create or-ganizational change and simultaneously to study the process. It is recognized that AR methods provide a potential avenue to improve the practical relevance of Information Systems (IS) re-search.</p><p>The five cases that were considered in the study involved participatory problem structuring to address water distribution bottlenecks; identification of Non-Revenue Water (NRW) reduction strategies; facilitation of decentralized management of customer accounts; monitoring and con-trol of procurements and expenditure; and geospatial investigation of declining water sales. Dur-ing the study, participation in problem identification was achieved through discussions and brain-storming sessions bringing together top and middle managers within the organization. A number of prototype decision support tools were developed and implemented. Maps and other geovisu-alization tools were also used to inform and enhance the processes of collective problem identifi-cation and structuring.</p><p>Results of the study emphasized the need for proper problem structuring prior to the formula-tion of actions; the challenge of moving from planning to action; the importance of user in-volvement in the development of tools; and the need to manage IS implementation as part of a holistic, organization-wide change process. The challenges of embedding formal decision support within existing work systems in organizations were highlighted, and recommendations were made on how best to achieve this. The AR approach was found to be useful in bridging the gap be-tween academic research and technological practice, thus supporting the development of IS with immediate and practical benefits to organizations.</p>

<p>In what ways can outdoor education be used when teaching immigrants the language of their new country? There is a need to both concretise grammar teaching and diversify teaching methods to bring language acquisition closer to real life situations. By using action research a collaborative study was made with four Finnish teachers in four immigrant language classes by implementing a series of lessons using outdoor education. Focussing on the teacher’s experience qualitative interviews were conducted both before and after the collaborative outdoor lessons. This was supported by observation and student verbal and written evaluation.</p><p>Both positive and negative aspects of outdoor education were explored in relation to how effective it is as a teaching method and as a method of cultural assimilation and group socialisation.</p><p>Outdoor education was found to support a sense of group inclusion and strengthen collective group experience. Difficult concepts were dealt with in a more tangible manner which specifically benefited weaker students. By exploring the unfamiliar as a group in a supportive environment constructive outcomes were gained. Being outdoors and using natural materials democratised the cultural meeting. Peer collaboration was demanding but fruitful and should be used more as a developmental tool in education.</p>

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of two models, namely an adaptable wellness programming model and an action research model, when creating and administering a stress management initiative for campus recreation settings that will have a positive effect on freshmen participants at the University of Tennessee. Eight freshmen from the University of Tennessee (6 females, 2 males) volunteered to complete a five week stress management initiative entitled the FROSH! (FResh Out of Stress, & Healthy!) Program which was based upon action research methodology. Program participants completed an exit interview and exit interview questionnaire after the program to determine if their levels of perceived stress had changed and to measure the effect that the program had on each individual. The Perceived Stress Scale was also administered before and after the program to detect any changes in perceived stress levels that participants experienced, but the sample size was too small to detect any significant changes in perceived stress levels. E. T. Stringer’s Categorizing and Coding procedure was used to decode responses from all meetings as well as from the exit interviews. Results indicate that the FROSH! Program was rewarding in various ways for participants, and 86% of participants said that their stress levels had lowered by the conclusion of the program. All participants thought that setting weekly goals was helpful in lowering their stress levels. Furthermore, the revised adaptable program model was perceived to be successful in creating the stress management initiative. It is recommended to increase the number of participants for future programs, and also to test the success of such action research-based wellness programs in campus recreation centers.

Thesis (M.Mus.Ther.)--New Zealand School of Music, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.