A constructive Approach to Managing Faculty Conflict: An Action Research Study

Action/Intervention

An action plan is defined as a “framework or blueprint that is implemented to improve practice, conditions, or the environment in general. The purpose of an action plan is to “target information gleaned from the action research study findings in order to set goals and establish a plan for meeting the goals” (Craig, 2009 as cited by Ivankova, 2015).

The intervention is carried out (the “action” in action research) during which time, pertinent observations are collected in various forms. The new interventional strategies are carried out, and this cyclic process repeats, continuing until a sufficient

understanding of the problem is achieved (USCLibraries, 2021). The following steps were conducted to implement the intervention.

Step One. The researcher created a plan for action which included a timeline in which the implemented study was conducted. The timeline included the submission of the IRB application for approval of the study, workshop curriculum development, research design, plan for data collection and analysis, what would occur at each stage of the implemented study, and a report of the findings from the intervention. The IRB approved the action research study, with a new mode of workshop delivery via the online platform Zoom. The transition from face-to-face delivery of the intervention to online delivery was to adhere to the health and safety guidelines implemented due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Step Two. The researcher created pre-and post-questionnaires and a workshop assessment based on the research literature regarding how to conduct various types of training workshops, the researcher’s knowledge of creating and hosting academic workshops, and the researcher’s experience with academic assessments. The questionnaires and assessments were designed to measure and evaluate the participants knowledge of conflict and of conflict management strategies and effectiveness of the workshops. Additionally, these data sources were used as evaluation tools to provide evidence of change and direction of change in the intervention while collecting quantitative data. These questionnaires and assessments were uploaded to Qualtrics and distributed through the Qualtrics site.