Board 344: PALAR in Pieces: An Informal Framework to Encourage Multifaceted Engagement

Jessica Rush Leeker; Lyndsay Rose Ruane; Marlene Sulema Palomar; Hannah Sanders

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: NSF Grantees Poster Session
Tagged Topics: Diversity and NSF Grantees Poster Session
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/46926

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Paper Authors

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Jessica Rush Leeker University of Colorado Boulder orcid.org/0000-0002-4983-7034

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When expanding her impact within her community— and encouraging others to do the same— there is no shortage of inspiration and devotion within Dr. Jessica Rush Leeker.

Fueled by her desire to deepen her knowledge and understand how she can leave a lasting impact on the world and the people around her, Dr. Rush Leeker has cultivated a rich educational background. Equipped with her undergraduate degree in Supply Chain and Information Systems from Penn University and her Ph.D. in Engineering Education and MBA in Sustainability and Operations from Purdue University, she is proud to currently share her expertise as an Engineering Professor at CU Boulder.

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Lyndsay Rose Ruane University of Colorado Boulder

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Lyndsay Ruane is a PhD student at the University of Colorado Boulder, studying aerospace engineering. Her research experience is broad, including medical and nuclear physics, GNSS, signal processing, as well as STEM and engineering education. Currently, she is focused on diversity and retention in aerospace engineering.

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Marlene Sulema Palomar University of Colorado Boulder

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Hannah Sanders University of Colorado Boulder

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Abstract

Research frameworks are often utilized to provide structure to educational projects. Beyond articulating clear expectations, they provide organization for projects frequently characterized by multilayered data streams and high contextual influence. Participatory Action Learning and Action Research (PALAR) is a relatively new research framework that combines existing paradigms to tackle complex, dynamic social issues. Ortrun Zuber-Skerritt (2011) created PALAR for use with community engagement projects, aiming to establish a structure that is both comprehensive and dynamic. It is not usually attributed to engineering research but provides an interesting and unique approach that acknowledges contributions from research participants and impacted community members. The project analyzed in this paper involves multiple institutions, disciplines, communities, and research taking place on multiple levels by undergraduate, graduate, and faculty participants. Communication on so many surfaces creates complications and delays that can be difficult to address.

The ‘P’ in PALAR stands for participatory, indicating the researcher’s role. Participatory research deliberately requires research subjects to be involved in the project. This process encourages increased levels of understanding and personal investment in project outcomes. This project also demonstrated that participants felt increased personal agency, communication, and problem-solving skills. Participation has also emphasized contributions to the next piece of PALAR, Action Learning (AL). AL refers to a problem-solving approach centered around “learning by doing,” in which investigators take action and then reflect on results afterward. This action-based analysis allowed student participants to feel their contributions were meaningful while simultaneously focusing on collaboration and critical reflection. Once again, the participatory nature encouraged researchers on all levels to challenge existing understanding and maintain dynamic assessment. Finally, Action Research (AR) provides a more systematic aspect to PALAR, intentionally cycling through a series of techniques seeking to achieve transformative social change. This cycle involves the following steps: taking action, observing, reflecting on those results, and then retaking action with reflection-based reevaluations. Repeating reflective cycles provide organization to the approach as a whole, articulating steps to take while maintaining adaptability and cumulative knowledge building.

PALAR combines techniques to create a research method that is highly flexible, collaborative, and involved while providing the structure and organization that is important to the success of large projects. This paper analyzes the success of each technique and how they worked together to blend and encourage participation on multiple levels. Testing and analyzing this framework in an engineering context is vital because it is rarely extended beyond social community engagement issues. PALAR is explicitly designed to provide structure and flexibility, and will encourage the contextual adaptability many engineering education projects struggle to achieve.

Citation
Format

Leeker, J. R., & Ruane, L. R., & Palomar, M. S., & Sanders, H. (2024, June), Board 344: PALAR in Pieces: An Informal Framework to Encourage Multifaceted Engagement Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/46926

TY - CPAPER
AB - Research frameworks are often utilized to provide structure to educational projects. Beyond articulating clear expectations, they provide organization for projects frequently characterized by multilayered data streams and high contextual influence. Participatory Action Learning and Action Research (PALAR) is a relatively new research framework that combines existing paradigms to tackle complex, dynamic social issues. Ortrun Zuber-Skerritt (2011) created PALAR for use with community engagement projects, aiming to establish a structure that is both comprehensive and dynamic. It is not usually attributed to engineering research but provides an interesting and unique approach that acknowledges contributions from research participants and impacted community members. The project analyzed in this paper involves multiple institutions, disciplines, communities, and research taking place on multiple levels by undergraduate, graduate, and faculty participants. Communication on so many surfaces creates complications and delays that can be difficult to address.

The ‘P’ in PALAR stands for participatory, indicating the researcher’s role. Participatory research deliberately requires research subjects to be involved in the project. This process encourages increased levels of understanding and personal investment in project outcomes. This project also demonstrated that participants felt increased personal agency, communication, and problem-solving skills. Participation has also emphasized contributions to the next piece of PALAR, Action Learning (AL). AL refers to a problem-solving approach centered around “learning by doing,” in which investigators take action and then reflect on results afterward. This action-based analysis allowed student participants to feel their contributions were meaningful while simultaneously focusing on collaboration and critical reflection. Once again, the participatory nature encouraged researchers on all levels to challenge existing understanding and maintain dynamic assessment. Finally, Action Research (AR) provides a more systematic aspect to PALAR, intentionally cycling through a series of techniques seeking to achieve transformative social change. This cycle involves the following steps: taking action, observing, reflecting on those results, and then retaking action with reflection-based reevaluations. Repeating reflective cycles provide organization to the approach as a whole, articulating steps to take while maintaining adaptability and cumulative knowledge building.

PALAR combines techniques to create a research method that is highly flexible, collaborative, and involved while providing the structure and organization that is important to the success of large projects. This paper analyzes the success of each technique and how they worked together to blend and encourage participation on multiple levels. Testing and analyzing this framework in an engineering context is vital because it is rarely extended beyond social community engagement issues. PALAR is explicitly designed to provide structure and flexibility, and will encourage the contextual adaptability many engineering education projects struggle to achieve.
AU - Jessica Rush Leeker
AU - Lyndsay Rose Ruane
AU - Marlene Sulema Palomar
AU - Hannah Sanders
CY - Portland, Oregon
DA - 2024/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Board 344: PALAR in Pieces: An Informal Framework to Encourage Multifaceted Engagement
UR - https://peer.asee.org/46926
ER -