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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.

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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 University April 12, 2008 Colorado Springs, Colorado

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Shameless self promotion

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Definition <ul><li>Participatory Action Research (PAR) </li></ul><ul><li>= Groups of people (CoPs, networks, family, friends, communities) working together to: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Diagnose a situation, </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Act to improve it, </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Measure or evaluate their effectiveness, and </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Reflect on their learning and plan next steps </li></ul></ul><ul><li>PAR work progresses in cycles , </li></ul><ul><li>It ends with personal transformation and solutions to some of the trickiest complex adaptive problems we face </li></ul>

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Complex Problems: Where reality confuses, alienates, creates defensiveness in others <ul><li>Complexity Video </li></ul>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

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

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PAR Cycles © Alan Bucknam - Notchcode.com

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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

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Remember <ul><li>“ 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.” </li></ul><ul><li>David Leasure </li></ul>

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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

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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

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Measure <ul><li>Standard positivistic research methods </li></ul><ul><li>Mixed methodological studies </li></ul><ul><li>Purpose </li></ul><ul><li>Logic models </li></ul><ul><li>Quantitative </li></ul><ul><li>Qualitative </li></ul>

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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:

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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.

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Practical considerations for doctoral candidates: <ul><li>Write it up in cycles </li></ul><ul><li>Tie cycles together with logic models </li></ul><ul><li>You have a choice – mixed methods or PAR – if you write it up as PAR know why it is stronger that way </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Use of group </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Complexity of problem required flexibility in structure of research </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Looking for systemic change or organizational development and needed the action step </li></ul></ul>

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Tools of interest <ul><li>www.doctoratelife.blogspot.com </li></ul><ul><li>EndNote </li></ul><ul><li>Tools for distributed learning: </li></ul><ul><ul><li>www.youtube.com </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>www.slideshare.net </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>http://wiki.zoho.com </li></ul></ul>

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Q & A

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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]