Action Research

The present study aimed to investigate the interaction among grade dropping and reflective thinking abilities of the participants and to also check if action research enhances learners’ reflective thinking. A cyclic action research was run for 8 sessions. Kember et al.’s (2010) reflective thinking questionnaire and three in-term quizzes were administered. Students also made questions based on their course book passages and develop reflective thinking journals. Although the results suggested no linear relation between grade dropping and reflective thinking, students strategically decided to drop their lowest score and receive a replacement exam. Furthermore, analyses of students’ questions based on Bloom’s (1956) Taxonomy and their reflections revealed that learners’ reflective thinking level was enhanced. Such results might be conducive to highlighting students’ role in assessment policies.

Speaking and listening are essential language skills used as a measure for evaluating the students’ proficiency level. These skills receive more importance in the Iranian new educational curriculum by the publication of new English book series. However, as noticed in some of the classes, the purpose of mastering oral language abilities is not efficiently fulfilled. Accordingly, the present collaborative action research aimed to firstly identify the reasons underlying students’ inability to perform oral skills in order to do the online activities in classes and secondly provide some suggestions to solve the existing problem. The study was conducted in a junior high school in Marand, Iran. The participants included 36 female 9th-grade students, who met on the Shad application and were selected based on convenience sampling. Class observations, interviews, and students’ performance in language tasks were used to collect the required data. Gaming was implemented as the selected solution in a separate class planned for focused speaking and listening activities. More specifically, sentence-expanding games on different levels (adding words to a simple sentence to expand it and also adding sentences to the initiating sentence and making a short story) were used as the main methods in these sessions. The findings from the descriptive statistics indicated an improvement in students’ motivation and engagement in speaking activities, as well as their accuracy in making sentences. They also showed positive attitudes toward the use of these game-based tasks in EFL classes. The study provides practical implications for materials developers and language teachers.

The role of games in improving EFL students’ motivation to participate in interactive practices has been highly emphasized in past research. Although Iranian students are reluctant to interact in online language classes, the current study explored the impact of using game-based tasks on Iranian students' virtual interaction in EFL classes. The subjects included 35 female students in the seventh grade of a junior high school in Tabriz, Iran were selected by convenience sampling method. Classroom Action Research was conducted in four stages: planning, acting, observing, and reflecting. Innovative game-based activities, such as Roleplay, This or That, Café Owner, and Let's Make Salad were used to improve students’ interaction. Interviews, tests, and class observations were used to collect and triangulate the data. In this study, descriptive statistics were used to analyze the obtained data. The findings revealed that the use of games could improve students’ interaction in online language classes. The results can yield useful implications for language teachers and materials developers in increasing EFL students' virtual interaction through different game-based techniques.

In the contemporary world, education is recognized as a fundamental tool for fostering active, responsible, and capable citizens who require processes that strengthen participation, mutual understanding, and rational dialogue. The present study aims to examine the application of Rousseau’s participatory democracy and Habermas’ communicative action in the teaching of spatial sciences, with a particular focus on geography. The research adopts an action research design with an applied orientation. The study population consisted of 24 undergraduate geography students enrolled in the course Urban Geography of Iran. Data were collected and analyzed across 14 instructional sessions through observation, evaluation, and the interpretation of lived experiences within an interpretive framework. The research process followed a cyclical pattern, including problem identification, theoretical review, formation of focus groups, and dialogue-oriented consensus building. Findings indicate that democratic, participatory, and communicative approaches to spatial education emerge gradually and require a process-oriented foundation. Accordingly, the integration of Rousseau’s participatory democracy with Habermas’ communicative action demands active facilitation by instructors and the reinforcement of intra- and inter-group interactions. The results further reveal that combining these two approaches in geography education—particularly in spatially oriented courses—creates a pathway for transitioning from teacher-centered learning to participatory–discursive learning. This shift enhances skills of spatial analysis, critique, collaboration, and debate, thereby deepening learning and understanding of spatial concepts. Ultimately, the study proposes a practical framework for democratic, interactive, and active education, serving as an illustrative example of implementing these philosophical approaches in higher education.