Online Graduate Students' Use of Research Strategies in a Cross-Cultural Action Research Project

Abstract

In January 2012, I accompanied 5 doctoral computer science students to Nicaragua where they embarked on an action research study to assess and evaluate the usage and conditions for 300 computers that had been donated to a nonprofit, InnerCHANGE WORKS for schools, libraries, health centers, and prisons in Nicaragua. The students worked under the auspice of an online blended course offered by Colorado Technical University. Colorado Technical University agreed to provide assessment, strategy assistance, and intervention design for the ongoing computer donation program. The students observed, evaluated, collected, and reported data. They first prepared for the action research by reading and discussing the materials and the implications of cross-cultural research and by practicing assessment observations, interview, and data collection techniques. The students provided a comprehensive assessment and evaluation report to InnerCHANGE WORKS and published and presented results at both a national and an international computers in education conference. Following is a case study of the methods used.

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