Action Research for Industry Academia Collaboration : A replication Study

Abstract

Collaboration between industry and academic communities requires considerable work but has the power to foster innovation. This relationship with joint trust promotes knowledge exchange that helps develop more qualified researchers and professionals. The Action Research (AR) method combines theory and practice, and studies involving industry-academia collaboration (IAC) have shown encouraging results. Nevertheless, further investigation is required to verify the effects of applying this method. This research investigates the perceptions of academic master’s and doctoral program students and professionals involved in projects that applied the AR method as a strategy to foster IAC. This article replicates a case study with different projects that conducted an AR in software companies. This study indicated high satisfaction among students (83%) when using action research in the course. All students considered the practical knowledge very relevant and would like to use the method again in other opportunities throughout their academic and professional life. This investigation showed that conducting IAC projects using the AR method within the industry in an educational context was challenging. That occurred due to the lack of experience in using empirical methods. Also, the professional’s unavailability delayed the results and, consequently, the activities in the project that already had a very tight schedule.