The assessments in this unit are oriented to work practice.

The first assignment: is a practice at writing report a mini consultant report. The style of writing is appropriate to informing a client of the results of surveys undertaken in an organisation, and recommending next steps based on the research. 

The final assessment is quite challenging as students are expected to respond to the donor's requirements for explanations about the project. This means the proposal has to be written in a concise and clear way that is a different skill to writing an essay.  Preparing a good proposal takes time and many redrafts to be succinct (within a word limit) and communicate clearly the intent of the project. Students are advised to spend a week (20 hours minimum) on preparing this well.

The literature review provides the context for the project. It shows that the student is aware of the research that has gone before in this area, and in action research methods. It draws out lessons to be learned. 

The unit is taught in in weekly evening sessions of three hours. 

The three hour sessions will consist of short presentations to introduce a theme or idea; discussion groups on short class assignments based on readings, or activities to develop skills, or understanding of the research design process.

There are 2 sessions that require you to bring your computer to work on excel to process data. 

The main emphasis of the unit is oriented to assisting you to prepare and submit a research proposal, providing practice in designing research and in applying for funds. Students practice the following skills through the assignments, in class discussions and delivery:

• designing a research project.
• communicating their research project by making a poster and by presenting a 'pitch' for their research topic,
• forming questions to seek professional input to the proposal,
• developing a funding proposal within the requirements of a donor's format.  The funding agency chosen could be an international aid agency such as AusAid, NORAD, DFID, DANIDA, SIDA or US USAID, a Foundation like the MacArthur Foundation (US) or a state agency (such as NSW Office of the Environment – Environment Trust). The funding agency "chosen" for your application needs to be have a stated interest in your project theme.
• Students are also guided on data processing and presentation using excel and develop skills of writing a research findings report for a consultant.

.The unit requires the student to read widely to understand the research process, the role of research for sustainable development, the role of the researcher in the research process, the ethics of research, the ways research is designed, and how it will be evaluated.

Further instructions on assignments and reading are provided through ilearn.

Some key resources include:

 Action Research Journal (Sage) 

ALAR: Action Learning and Action Research Journal  

Educational Action Research (Journal) 

Bradbury P & Reason H. 2007 The Sage Handbook of Action Research: Participative Inquiry and Practice

Bryman A. 2012 Social research methods Oxford University Press - provides a good overview of social research, methodology and good details on methods. 

Ferrance, A 2000 Action Research Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory At Brown University (this is a brief introduction to Action Research in Education) ​https://www.brown.edu/academics/education-alliance/sites/brown.edu.academics.education-alliance/files/publications/act_research.pdf

Greenwood D. & Levin M 1998 Introduction to action research: Social research for social change Sage - These authors take a pragmatic view of action research oriented to organisational change and consultancy in management

Kemmis S. McTaggart R Nixon R. 2014 The Action Research Planner Doing Critical Participatory Action Research Springer  - This reference by Australian and Canadian researchers is oriented to action research in education with a particular focus on critical participatory action research. Practical structures are provided and questions to guide the researcher are included. There are several case studies from the education sector. 

Stringer E.T 1996 Action research: A handbook for practitioners Thousand Oaks Sage - This Australian author draws on experience in community action research and education 

Wadsworth Y 2011 Do it yourself social research (3rd ed) Allen and Unwin - This reference provides a practical guide to planning and managing a community based action research project, written in an accessible form. 

Wadsworth Y. 2010 Building in Research and Evaluation Human Inquiry for living systems  Allen and Unwin - This reference builds on the above and provides a deeper theory of how we can inquire. A valuable  series of research questions and case studies from the human health services field are included 

The unit will have less on general social research methods that last semester, because we lose a day of class with a public holiday. The skills section on processing data has been moved to earlier in the session and the order of the 4th assignment made the first.