PAR for Doctors EIS

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 17 April, 2008 at Colorado Technical University, Colorado Springs, CO.

Complex Adaptive 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 University April 12, 2008 Colorado Springs, Colorado

Shameless Self Promotion PAR is an important tool for leadership, for accomplishing BIG goals For large scale change you need a group The nature of a participatory group is that it equalizes normal power differential

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
Complexity Video
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

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

Group assignments

PAR Cycles © Alan Bucknam - Notchcode.com

Diagnose: Employ all the learning tools at your disposal Books Web searching Looking to see what is happening around you Becoming part of online networks Discussing ideas among your participatory group

Group discussion of probable diagnosis

What probable diagnosis did you come up with?

Remember
“ My bright ideas aren’t good enough on their own. I need a group of people around me and a 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

Decide on one action

Good Work – Take 10 minutes

Measure: Your progress Your enjoyment of the process Your 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 methods
Mixed methodological studies
Purpose
Logic models
Quantitative
Qualitative

Remember
“ It is important for leadership to develop sensitivity to the context AND the people in a situation. PAR is a great tool for those purposes.”
David Leasure

Design measurement

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

Collaged photos from flickr.com If you are doing this work, or interested in doing this work and you need help, please contact me at: [email_address]

PAR for Doctors EIS

by Alana James on Apr 07, 2008

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PAR for Doctors EIS — Presentation Transcript