CCT 693 Spring 2009

Building on/in your comments from the other side, write out neatly a synthetic statement (1 or 2 paragraphs) evaluating this course.  Please make comments both to help the instructor develop the course in the future and to enable some third party to appreciate the courseÕs strengths and weaknesses.  (Imagine a reader who may not be willing to wade through all the notes on the other side, but is willing to do more than look at numerical averages.)  Among other things you might comment on the overall content and progression of classes, the in-class activities, and the dialogue around written work.

 

1

The AR course allowed me to identify and use more readily the tools of the reflective practitioner.  Each component of the AR cycle allowed me to identify the specifics of my work; identifying change, designing opportunities for change, evaluating these opportunities and developing both a personal and professional process to encourage systematic growth and change.  This course met my expectations and challenged me to reflect on and develop a course of action that was intentional and also practical.

I think the main strength of the course and the process was that it pushed us to design something that we were connected to through classroom tools and activities, peer connections and also reflective practices.  This course allowed me the opportunity to reflect on change systematically and also personally.  I feel that this reflective component helped me drive the work and will continue to drive my work beyond the course.

 

2

Get acquainted with confusion and reverse mainstream thinking about outcome and output.  Action Research is a course focused on the planning of changes, an undertaking which continues beyond the constraints of the class, including [duration?] of course work.  Approach assignments open-mindedly and without the assumption that you are to understand immediately what is expected of you.  Course work is flexible and deliberate.  It is required and requires of you to reflect on your patterns of thought and action as a practitioner and responsible citizen in society.

After each class, use a cheap journal/notebook to write thoughts/questions/likes/dislikes about what occurred in 693 and how it relates or doesnÕt relate to your project.  Your can track your thinking and actualize change through this method.  Resubmit assignments for your own clarification and take heed of the professorÕs guidance as your AR has  been generated from this course and through you have many freedoms, you are working within an infrastructure that is well-practiced and understood by the instructor.  Meet (set) personal goals to stay motivated; pair up and rely on buddys to remain accountable and obtain resources wherever they are available.

 

3

The more I stuck with the course the greater appreciation I had for it.  The course was learning in its best sense – participatory, authentic and hands on.  I feel that many participants in the course actually took away big ideas that they will use in their own life long learning.

I think one comment that I would make is that in the beginning I was completely lost.  IÕm not sure why.  I think that the compressed AR project could focus around something more relevant – maybe it could be around a simple personal change we wanted to implement.  I also think that discussing Schmuck as a class would have made me feel more grounded in the final project.

I liked the use an introduction to a number of tools.  I think class presentations should maybe take up one class instead of two.  I also think that we could have practiced tools which are more complex such as teamwork and KAQ.

Another note I thought the wiki was a bit difficult to navigate.  Maybe taking 5-10 min in the beginning would have helped.  Thanks so much for the class!

 

4

The action research class has been more of a semester long journey then a class in the traditional sense.  The experience of developing your ideas and desires into a formative plan, which you then evaluate is a roller coaster of an experience.  There are highs around ideas and planning and lows when roadblocks are met.  However the most valuable part of the class is learning tools to overcome obstacles and to look at them in new ways.

 

5

The overall context of the class is helpful because not only are you learning the action research process, but you are learning about how to effectively implement changes within your personal life, on your job, etc.  Each tool in the process brings clarity and a better understanding of what you need to know in order to affect change.  The progression of classes is relatively good (????).  It's wise to stay on top of all assignments and participatory items in order to not fall behind and become frustrated.

 

6

Embracing ambiguity is an important concept in CCT.  Though it can be frustrating, in the end when we look back we are able to really see progress.  This course reflects this process.  Initially, the AR diagram doesnÕt make a bit of sense and Peter did indeed warn us about this.  We first engaged in a compressed version of AR which to a small degree clarified some of the stages.  We only began to make sense of it all, I believe when we experienced the presentations of others who used the language that Peter had laid out for us (e.g. constituency, epicycle, evaluation).

I think the buddy system or perhaps trios would aid in the process by helping with a number of the unnecessarily frustrating pieces that people have the habit of letting get in the way.  Trios can email to remind of assignments, share their mid-week Òa-haÓ or lightbulb moment that can be tranformative, and can also review/edit each otherÕs work.  This would also put an emphasis on collaborative dialogue and reflection in an ongoing manner (throughout week, not just during the class sessions themselves).

 

7

This class provided an excellent overview and engagement in the process of making change.  We covered a multitude of tools and methods for planning, implementing and evaluating change, on a personal and organizational level.  The information covered is transferable to a range of environments and contexts.

               The biggest challenge was that sometimes the course structure and activities were a bit unclear and sometimes expectations and processes were confusing.  This is strange to say, since there is so much info available on the wiki, and the syllabus is very detailed.  Sometimes it was hard to figure out what information was most important, and to work through it all.  But this is a very minor concern.  All the info was there and available, it simply took some time to sort out.

 

8

This course has deepened my understanding of critical thinking, dialogue and action research.  This is a relevant [?] course in the CCT program that will serve as a foundation for future inquiry and research.  There is value in reflection while learning and after class ends.

 

9

I think it is very important that professor understand each individual student – just like in many articles that we read for 693.  Each articles have it own problem – you can not solve all problem with one solution – IÕm sure we all know and can say it – But is it possible for a person to understand and see it?

 

10

Overall, this course helped me develop a more nuanced understanding of what action research is and what it can look like in a variety of settings.  This course also helped me apply ideas about creative thinking (that were relatively new to me) to a contextualized setting.  Part of what made this course effective in these areas was the activities, discussions and tools that were used during this active class.  The use of these active strategies, which I could use in and out of my action research progress, helped me understand how action research really functions.  The emphasis on reflection helped me both understand the importance of reflection and helped me use new reflection tools.

One struggle in this course was the confusing nature of the syllabus and framework.  Once I understood the way the syllabus worked I was able to follow the goals of the course better, but figuring out the syllabus and assignments took a number of weeks.  While the examples for assignments were extremely helpful, I really struggled to complete assignments with no examples because I often did not know how to begin.  Also, there were many readings that we never discussed – I would have liked to know the priority of the readings to plan my engagement with them more effectively.

 

11

Strengths:

Dialogue around action research work in progress

Evaluation clock and KAQF

New tools – learning how to use them

Weaknesses:

Too much time spent on work in progress presentation and helping others with their projects.  Would have appreciated more engagement in AR case studies.

Too many steps and tasks to get tangled up with that affect focus on working out your AR project (examples – summaries and clippings (we didnÕt discuss or share these or maybe I missed that class), sharing but that often happens naturally)