Evaluation of Units Established for Curriculum Support: A Collaborative Action Research

Abstract

The curriculum includes educational activities that determine the struggle for survival and sustainability of a university's departments. Approaches that seek more flexible solutions and have a post-positivist understanding are needed to manage this system. One of these approaches is action research, first used by Kurt Lewin (1946) to solve social problems. In this study, four offices were established to make the curriculum at a state university in Turkey more functional, and the contributions of regulating these offices with Collaborative Action Research (CAR) were discussed. The most valuable outcome of the study is that it has presented a model for collaborative teaching in higher education that can be used as a guide to support curriculum studies. On the other hand, CAR has made valuable contributions to office operations, collaboration, consultation, continuous improvement cycle, and problem identification (needs assessment). This research, which lasted for two years, has provided important services to participants in addressing current difficulties in office operations.

Keywords

• Curriculum
• Collaborative action research
• Higher education
• Instruction