Infusing Action Research Into Educational Psychology Courses: Linking Theories and Actions-in-Practice

• In Event: Roundtable Session 7
  In Roundtable Session: Teaching Educational Psychology

Abstract

This paper discusses an ongoing study that examined the impact of infusing action research into graduate educational psychology courses. A mini-action research in the form of “N=1 Action Research” (NAR) was assigned as the final project in two psychological foundation courses required in education masters programs. The study found that many of the graduate students flexibly made use of psychological theories in devising their actions or inquired into situationally meaningful ways to meet their students’ needs, while other students were rigidly confined by the theories that they employed or merely cited the theories without linking them to their actions. This study calls for further discussions how psychological theories and actions-in-practice could be meaningfully linked in educational psychology courses.

Author

• Noriyuki Inoue, University of San Diego