Search results for "action research"
showing 10 items of 164 documents
Citizens' participation and community orientation – indicators of social sustainability of rural welfare services
2011
The article discusses the issues of social services in rural areas from a theoretical view point of sustainability paradigms of social work. The ecological crisis existing beyond the ongoing global economic crisis is not separated from the increasing urbanization and weakening perspectives in rural areas. The paper is based on results from a participatory action research project in Finland, which aims at strengthening social service provision in rural areas through citizens' participation and community-orientation. The neoliberal politics of centralization, marketization and privatization are heavily transforming rural regions also in the Nordic welfare states right now. The debates in the …
Transforming expertise from individual to regional community expertise: a four‐year study of an education intervention
2010
In this paper we present the empirical results of a study showing that individualised expertise can be transformed into regional community expertise by means of an education intervention programme. In view of the ongoing reform of the municipal and service structures in Finland, during which small municipalities are combined into areas with populations in excess of 20,000, the need for community expertise is obvious. The reorganisation of service arrangements aims at efficiency, lower costs, quality service and increased regional competitiveness. Due to the reform, local actors are expected to provide new, collaboration‐oriented strategies, while healthcare professionals in the municipaliti…
Quality management in the public sector accounting department - (un)avoidable quality costs and unlikely financial impacts
2017
This paper investigates the nature of quality costs and the likelihood of their having financial impacts in the public sector. An illustrative quality development case project in an accounting department of a Finnish city administration is presented. The empirical data includes answers to a qualitative project question sheet, workshop material and participative observation. Quality problems are classified according to their quality cost category and the extent to which they are avoidable. Some of the quality costs proved unavoidable and some are likely to lack financial impact, exhibiting sticky cost behaviour. The study indicates that certain prevention and appraisal costs in the public se…
The Role Of Public Participation And Environmnetal Activism In Environmental Governance In Latvia
2015
The paper discusses engagement of non-governmental organisations and activist groups in environmental governance in Latvia. The research is based on desk research, a number of case studies and action research. Author attempts to analyse to what extent environmental NGOs and groups of activists have contributed to environmental governance and what role public participation plays in that. Author concludes that identification of problematic issues and policy planning are those stages where public participation and activism in environmental governance plays most crucial role. Contrary to common public believe about informal groups and environmental activism only attempting to oppose any propose…
Family Relationships, Dialogue, and Philosophy for Children:
2021
The paper deals with the importance of words and dialogue in family education. In the first part, some evidence of an action research is presented – shaped in a hermeneutic phenomenological framework and thanks to the Philosophy for Children method and materials. Then some key words are pointed out, meant as formative goals for parents’ educational support, so as to highlight the importance of dialogue among generations and, mainly, of the ethical responsibility of parents in education.
Designing theme-based tabletop exercise for identifying and dealing with coordination problems in emergencies
2016
Tabletop exercises (TTXs) are used to train managers and other actors to deal with emergencies. These exercises that focus on the organisational coordination are planned and controlled by exercise managers through scenarios with predetermined events that participants discuss and act upon. Such exercises may lead to actors being ill prepared to deal with dynamic and emergent situations and problems. To address this knowledge gap, we apply an action design research approach to develop a TTX structured around non-sequential themes instead of predetermined events, thus allowing the participants to identify their own problems during the exercise. Our research contributes to existing knowledge by…
Making teaching of programming learning-oriented and learner-directed
2011
Programming education has been traditionally realized in the form of lecturing, but other approaches are under discussion. These emphasize active participation on the part of students, and, as a research activity, consider pedagogic questions holistically. We join this discussion by stating a course design in which we promote a learning-oriented study culture where learning should not be characterized principally as the task of meeting some predefined completion requirements. Moreover, we want our course to be learner-directed meaning that students should take control over their own learning process. Grounded on these goals, this discussion paper gives us a starting point for a subsequent a…
Process control in the development of game-based learning environments
2009
This paper examines the development process of digital game-based learning environments (GBLE), focusing on the process control. The aim is to explore the alternatives to process control in GBLE development and provide guidelines for planning and carrying out process control in GBLE projects. This study is a part of the research project Human-Centered Design of Game-Based Learning Environments. The overall aim of the project is to construct a multidisciplinary and user-driven process for the development of digital GBLEs. The study was conducted according to the principles of development research and action research. The action research cycles consisted of four game development projects. The…
Il setting della ricerca-azione: quadro epistemologico, riflessività e analisi della domanda
2009
Setting of Action Research - The paper is focused on the relationship between theoretical and interventions of actionresearch in community psychology. The authors analyzed some action-researches applying the commitment question analisys model. Keywords: community, participation, question analisys
Improving marine protected area governance through collaboration and co-production.
2020
Marine protected areas (MPAs) socio-ecological effectiveness depends on a number of management and governance elements, among which stakeholder engagement and community support play key roles. Collaborative conservation initiatives that engage stakeholders in action research and knowledge co-production processes can enhance management and governance of MPAs. To design effective strategies aimed at reconciling biodiversity conservation and management of sustainable human uses, it is key to assess how local communities respond to such initiatives and identify the set of contextual factors, institutional, local and individual, potentially affecting these responses. This paper presents the appr…