This presentation was made for the Colorado Technical University by Dr. E. Alana James and is shared under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License

James, E.A. (2008). Complex Adaptive Problems and the Use of Participatory Action Research to SOLVE Them. Presented 12 April, 2008 at Colorado Technical University, Colorado Springs, CO.

Complex Problems: And the use of

Participatory Action Research to SOLVE them

E. Alana James, Ed.D.Doctoral Residency for the Institute for Advanced

Studies, Colorado Technical UniversityApril 12, 2008

Colorado Springs, Colorado

Shameless self promotion

Definition

Participatory Action Research (PAR)• = Groups of people

(CoPs, networks, family, friends, communities) working together to:– Diagnose a situation, – Act to improve it, – Measure or evaluate their effectiveness, and– Reflect on their learning and plan next steps

• PAR work progresses in cycles, • It ends with personal transformation and

solutions to some of the trickiest complex adaptive problems we face

Complex Problems: Where reality confuses, alienates, creates

defensiveness in others

By definition complex adaptive problems put people in the middle of the tension between the ideal life we would like to be living and the realities we face.

PAR uses the TENSION to create Transformation

Complexity Video

What Complex Adaptive Problems Do You Face?Discuss and then we will list a few

PAR Cycles

© Alan Bucknam - Notchcode.com

Books

Web searching

Looking to see what is happening around you

Becoming part of online networks

Discussing ideas among your participatory group

Diagnose:Employ all the learning tools at your disposal

Remember

“My bright ideas aren’t good enough on their own. I need a group of people around me and an firm understanding of my academic context to pass peer review.”

David Leasure

Act:Individually

and as a group.

Even small steps make a big difference

Take support from your group to succeed

Focus on what you are doing right now

Not the future

Every step by every person counts

Measure:Your progress

Your enjoyment of the processYour outcomes

Always take the pulse of the people you affect

(over coffee, in focus groups and/or interviews)

As you are affecting BIG changes, Consistently look for SMALL effects

Once in a while survey the larger group to

identify overall effect

Check in with each other frequently

Measure

Standard positivistic research methodsMixed methodological studies• Purpose• Logic models• Quantitative• Qualitative

Reflect:Personal and group reflection not only helps us orient our next steps towards success but reminds us to celebrate the journey as we progress

+ / - What worked and what was

challenging?

Personally: Does this work bring you joy?

What do you still need to learn?What are your obvious next steps:

Results You Can EXPECT

PAR has proven itself to be TRANSFORMATIONAL work

As participants have said:

I will never teach in the same way again

I could never have this life, these results and this wonderment if I

had not learned the PAR process.

Practical considerations for doctoral candidates:

• Write it up in cycles• Tie cycles together with logic models• You have a choice – mixed methods or PAR – if you

write it up as PAR know why it is stronger that way– Use of group– Complexity of problem required flexibility in structure

of research– Looking for systemic change or organizational

development and needed the action step

Tools of interest

• www.doctoratelife.blogspot.com• EndNote• Tools for distributed learning:

– www.youtube.com– www.slideshare.net – http://wiki.zoho.com

Q & A