Defining Collaborative Problem Solving Research: Common Values and Distinctive Approaches

Item

Title

Defining Collaborative Problem Solving Research: Common Values and Distinctive Approaches

Abstract/Description

This white paper defines the values that animate a set of approaches to education research that we are calling Collaborative Problem Solving Research (CPSR). The name describes some attributes shared among these approaches at a high level. The approaches are collaborative, in that they share a commitment to drawing on the voices and expertise of different stakeholders in education in defining and conducting research. They are focused on solving problems related to equity in education. What defines them as approaches to research is that they use systematic forms of inquiry into education problems and solutions to those problems. These approaches stand in contrast to forms of research in which participants in research and other educational stakeholders have little opportunity to define the aims of, select methods for, or present conclusions from research.

We review four approaches to CPSR in this white paper. We selected them purposefully both for their breadth and their relative maturity as approaches to research and development. These approaches are: (1) Strategic Education Research Partnership (SERP); (2) Design-Based Implementation Research (DBIR); (3) Improvement Science in Networked Improvement Communities (IS/NICs); and (4) Community-Based Design Research (CBDR).

Naming the complete set of approaches to research and development that share these characteristics is a challenging task, and this white paper details both the potential value of naming these as a family of approaches and the pitfalls of attempting to bring them together.

For each approach, we describe how values that we identified as common to CPSR approaches are embodied in specific exemplar projects, and we look across accounts of CPSR research to identify themes with respect to what is and isn’t described in projects. We used a participatory strategy for identifying common values, engaging advocates of each approach in a collaborative process for identifying potential commonalities and differences among the approaches.

Author/creator

Penuel, William R.

See all items with this valuePeurach, Donald J.

LeBouef, Whitney A.

Riedy, Robbin

Barber, Michael S.

Clark, Tiffany

Gabriele, Kathryn

Date

2017

Pages

1-77

Publisher

LearnDBIR.org

Institution

University of Colorado

Resource type

Research/Scholarly Media

Scholarship genre

en Other

IRE Approach/Concept

Strategic Education Research Partnership (SERP)

Design-Based Implementation Research (DBIR)

Improvement Science

Networked Improvement Community (NIC)

Community-Based Design Research (CBDR)

Collaborative Problem Solving Research (CPSR)

Featured case/project

Strategic Education Research Partnership (SERP)

SunBay Digital Mathematics Project

Carnegie Math Pathways (CMP)

PRIMES (Parents Rediscovering and Interacting with Math and Engaging Schools) Project

Language

en

URL

Report Webpage (via LearnDBIR.org)

Open Access Report (via LearnDBIR.org)

Grant funding

Spencer Foundation

Citation

Penuel, W. R., Peurach, D. J., LeBoeuf, W. A., Riedy, R., Barber, M., Clark, T., & Gabriele, K. (2017). Defining Collaborative Problem Solving Research: Common Values and Distinctive Approaches. University of Colorado.

Item sets

Open Access Resource (IRE)

Site pages

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