Introduction to Action Research
Action Research is an applied scholarly paradigm resulting in action for a specific
context offering faculty immediate payback by improving his or her own teaching and providing
explicit documentation for meeting their educational responsibilities as required by AACSB
standards. It seeks to document the context, change processes, resultant learning and theorizing
of faculty in developing their pedagogies (Fisher and Phelps, 2006). John Elliott (1991) defines
action research as:
“Action research is the process through which teachers collaborate in evaluating their
practice jointly; raise awareness of their personal theory; articulate a shared conception of
values; try out new strategies to render the values expressed in their practice more
consistent with educational values they espouse; record their work in a form which is
readily available to and understandable by other teachers; and thus develop a shared
theory of teaching by research practice.”