On July 22, 2026, the Office of Academic Research (OAR) welcomed Dr. Roswita Dressler, Professor and Associate Dean (International) at the Werklund School of Education, University of Calgary, as the latest guest in our Research in Action speaker series. Faculty members from across Yorkville University’s programs, including MACP, joined the session, which was hosted by Thu Le, Director of OAR.
About the Series
Research in Action connects Yorkville faculty with distinguished external researchers, educators, and scholars to support research capacity-building across the university. Each session is designed as an interactive space where faculty can engage directly with an expert’s methods and experience.
Highlights from the Talk
Dr. Dressler opened by tracing her own research journey from early mixed-methods and grounded theory work during her Master’s, to nexus analysis in her doctoral studies, to her current focus on action research, which she first encountered while teaching as a sessional instructor. She framed action research as a “signature pedagogy” for education, much as simulation is for medicine or case inquiry is for law.
What makes a problem “researchable”? Drawing on the work of action research scholar Terry Logan, Dr. Dressler introduced the concept of an action researchable problem — one that deviates from a standard or expectation, has an unknown cause, causes ongoing concern, and recurs over time. She walked participants through a series of real-world scenarios in an interactive polling exercise, asking them to weigh in on whether each qualified, and used the discussion to sharpen the distinction between a problem that calls for simple problem-solving versus one that warrants a full action research study.
Why choose action research? Dr. Dressler outlined the appeal of action research for faculty: it allows researchers to investigate real problems of practice, offers flexibility in methods and scale, and draws on the strengths of iterative qualitative inquiry. She reviewed several methodological frameworks that participants might draw on, including Stringer’s “look, think, act” cycle and Mertler’s “plan, act, develop, reflect” model.
Case studies from her own work:
- A self-study with fellow instructors (“Practicing What We Teach,” Brown et al.) examining their own teaching of a graduate-level action research course — surfacing challenges around student understanding of research ethics, academic writing, and the need to explicitly teach peer feedback skills.
- A five-year collaboration (2018–2023) with Dr. Katherine Mueller and a team of K–6 teachers in a bilingual German program, using a neuro-linguistic approach to strengthen students’ oral language production. The team ran three action research cycles each school year, iterating through observation, interviews, and reflection alongside the teachers.
Discussion and Q&A The session closed with a lively discussion on the ethical dimensions of classroom-based action research, including how to manage the power dynamics between teacher-researchers and their students, and how to structure studies so participation is never coerced.
The OAR thanks Dr. Dressler for sharing her expertise, and thanks all faculty who joined the discussion. Stay tuned for the next Research in Action.
Interested in suggesting a future speaker or topic for the series? Contact the Office of Academic Research at oar@yorkvilleu.ca
