Time matters: explicating temporal awareness for higher education students conducting research aimed at change

Throughout higher education, students increasingly engage in research activities. Fields such as teacher education, social work and nursing often introduce students to practitioner research that seeks to improve practice as part of professional competence. Studies have highlighted practical and conceptual challenges associated with these efforts. This article addresses a conceptual challenge: the relationship between time and change. We propose temporal awareness as a concept to deepen ontological and epistemological understandings of research-based change. To offer a concrete application of the concept, we analyse portrayals of action research in research method textbooks in education. Our analysis indicates that the relationship between time and change is rarely addressed, and we identify four potential problems with implications for designing and conducting research intended to bring about change. We conclude by presenting a temporal awareness model that can support students in managing the conceptual and practical challenges of research aimed at instigating change.