Value of Participatory Action Research Methodology in Investigating Design Process within Undergraduate Management Education

The paper evaluates the effectiveness of participatory action research (PAR) methodology utilised in a study investigating the delivery of design management module within the context of undergraduate management education. The paper presents the benefits and challenges of PAR as a methodological choice for conducting research into a design management curriculum delivery. It draws on six research cycles between 2009 and 2014 to offer its critical analysis by comparing the key implemented changes to the curriculum delivery resulting from each cycle with formal disseminations of research findings, as points of self-refection following each cycle. Authors draw on Cunningham (2008), who asserts that ‘… action research gives us an iterative, systematic, analytic way to
reflect on what we are doing in class, to evaluate our success at achieving our classroom goals, and to chart the direction of future classroom strategies based
on what we have learned’ (p. 1). Thus, the authors argue that in the case of the undertaken research, the PAR methodology enabled them to conduct a self-reflective
inquiry into design management module delivery in order to improve the quality and effectiveness of their own teaching practices, their understanding of those practices, and the classroom situations and experiences such practices
engendered. The underlying aim of the paper is to explore the potential of PAR methodology in design research, whilst offering a contribution to recent broader debates shaping design and management education.