CATE Action Research Scholars: Leading the Way through Research-Based Teaching
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“I wanted to be a better facilitator. That is what I do. So the program is fantastic, because it really focuses on the very essential thing that universities are for, which is to facilitate learning.”
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The second cohort of CATE Janet Riddle Action Research Scholars entered the program in Spring 2023 with a range of interests and motivations.
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Claudia Fernández, Clinical Associate Professor of Spanish and Director of the Spanish Basic Language Program, wanted to conduct research to “better understand language learning through tasks .” She had recently led the transformation of the Spanish Basic Language Program and wanted to see how the shift to task-based language teaching was impacting students. For her, program evaluation was top of mind.
Sajna Razi, Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Marketing, College of Business and Director of the Marketing Technology Hub, had developed the Marketing Technology Hub initiative to bring real-world marketing technologies into the classroom. She had created marketing technology learning packages that other marketing faculty could adopt and thought that systematically studying this work had “the potential to convince other faculty, my department, to make sure that we roll this initiative into many more classes.”
Trischa Duke, formerly Senior Lecturer at UIC’s Tutorium and now Instructional Development Specialist with UIC Business Online, had worked with her team to support international students learning academic English. They aimed to assess the effectiveness of feedback provided to students, but they faced challenges. “In the field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), a MA degree is the terminal degree and so we just really don’t have that opportunity to research the way that doctoral students do.” Duke made it her mission to lower the barriers for colleagues in her department to conduct research.
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The three scholars refined their research ideas into proposals with support from CATE staff and diverse partners from across the university. In Fall 2023, they gathered and analyzed data, and shared their work in the Learning Sciences Research Institute Speaker Series in Spring 2024 and in the CATE Seminar Series this Fall 2024.
But the impact of the Action Research Scholars program has extended beyond the work that Fernández, Razi, and Duke completed as part of the program.
Affirming Researcher and Teacher Identities
For Fernández, teaching is at the center of her professional identity. “I am a teacher more than anything else…I see myself as someone who facilitates learning.” The Action Research Scholars program validated her teacher identity as not only personally relevant, but also valued by UIC. “I wanted to be a better facilitator. That is what I do. So the program is fantastic, because it really focuses on the very essential thing that universities are for, which is to facilitate learning.”
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Razi is invested in authentic learning – ensuring that her students leave her classes equipped with real-world marketing skills that give them a competitive edge. At the core of her professional identity, she is also a researcher. She describes the impact that the program has on teaching faculty who, like her, also value their researcher identities. “I’m a trained researcher…so this [program] is a very good way to channel that part of it…I can make an impact within the department and the college and be of use to them.”
Developing Research and Practice Leadership
Duke built pathways for her colleagues from UIC’s Tutorium to participate in research. She served as a mentor for colleagues, helping them navigate the IRB process for their own research and explore opportunities for more collaborative research. “We’re thinking about doing a study with all of our students on all levels. And that’s something that wouldn’t have occurred to us previously.”
Fernández is vocal about the transformative potential of her action research project. “Although it is for my class, it can be inspiring for others, and it could be something that maybe others could try and maybe modify for their own context. And I would like to say, ‘Look, it is possible to be done, right?’” Fernández has since disseminated her work widely, publishing and presenting for national and international audiences. Her work has become foundational among scholars of task-based language learning.
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Sustaining Research-Based Teaching Practice
Razi’s innovative spirit has helped her sustain the habit of research-based teaching that she cultivated during her time in the program. It’s no surprise, then, that she is already thinking of her next line of research “where I think AI is also going to become an important part, because it’s part of marketing technology.” Her research has interdisciplinary applications and she is exploring this avenue to have a lasting impact across disciplines.
Duke sustains her practice through continued engagement with fellow scholars and professional communities dedicated to scholarly teaching. She speaks about how her time in the Action Research Scholars program has reinvigorated her joy in teaching: “I so look forward to the times that we’re able to chat, and I’m eager to share what’s going on. I’m excited about it…Having taught for over 30 years, that’s kind of a new feeling for me.”
Visit our website to learn more about the program and to meet our past and current Action Research Scholars.
Interested in studying your teaching?
CATE is interested in developing a community of practice in future semesters for instructors who want to engage in reflective and research-based teaching. If you are interested, please fill out the interest form.