Elevating educational action research
The Action Research Unity of UCATT supports classroom-based action research methodologies seeking answers to current educational problems and promoting transformative change in physical and virtual learning environments.
Educational Research Support Services
Our mission is to support inquiries related to teaching and learning with technology and to use this research to identify and implement data-driven practices that improve the quality of individual courses and entire academic programs. This support will lead to improved guidance to our faculty, our peer institutions, and the broader academic community.
We support researchers through our free consulting service. During this consultation, you receive guidance on best practices from experts in our educational development, multimedia, instructional design, and instructional technology teams. We advise on instructional content and pedagogical approaches. This advice adds credibility to your grant and ensures you adhere to best practices in your research design. We can also help you design a budget and arrange post-grant support from us.
How to Receive Research Support from UCATT
Any researcher can request support, including tenured and tenure track faculty, career track faculty, staff with research backgrounds, and graduate students conducting original teaching and learning research.
Requests can be submitted anytime and are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Requests should be submitted before the applicant begins their grant application so we can discuss the project design together.
Requestors will be notified about the status of their request within one month of the request submission. Please note that shorter requests involving ten or fewer consultation hours are more likely to be approved. For more extensive research collaborations, consider writing our services into your grant.
Collaboration Expectations
If we invite you to move forward with a research collaboration, you will receive tailored support from our office. This may include:
- Technology resources
- Technical support
- Research support (publishing, data analysis)
- Funding
- Consultation with UCATT’s instructional technologists, instructional designers, pedagogical experts, and multimedia specialists
In exchange, you will oversee your proposed study. This involves recruiting and organizing participants, collecting and analyzing data, and publishing results.
We can also be written into current internal and external grants.
Supported Projects
Researcher: Caleb Simmons, Executive Director of Arizona Online
Summary: This study seeks to 1) determine which aspects of video production yield the highest impact on the achievement of learning outcomes; 2) produce a report that provides recommendations to the University community that outlines the cost-benefit ratios of different production strategies, all with eye toward aiding teaching personnel in the selection of optimal course material production strategies; 3) clarify at the University level (e.g., OIA, Arizona Online, Digital Learning) the most effective ways to invest in online education.
Researcher: Kathleen Kennedy, Associate Professor of Practice, Retailing & Consumer Science
Summary: In this study, differentiated instruction (DI) and adaptive learning (AL) methods are used to foster individual student success, broaden access to quality education, and build a more equitable learning environment. This study involves the creation of 16 Personalized and Adaptive Learning System (PALS) courses. Qualitative data about PALS intervention experiences and the overall course will also be gathered to analyze the impact of this tool.
Researcher: Nicole Schmidt, Assistant Director of Research, Innovation, and Quality Assurance, UCATT
Summary: This multi-institutional case study explores the impact of Quality Matters (QM) professional development on student success, using Lane et al.’s (2019) framework. Using the online QM workshop Improving Your Online Course and guidances from instructional designers, we explore how faculty integrate aspects of student success into their course revisions after completing QM professional development and how those revisions impact students’ perceptions of their academic success.
Contact our specialist to request a consultation
Nicole Schmidt
Assistant Director, Research, Innovation, and Quality Assurance
nicoleschmidt@arizona.edu
520.621.5614