Allison JoAnn Lester

• AI Education
• Action Research
  • Youth Participatory Action Research
  • Community-based Participatory Action Research
  • Practitioner Action Research
• Design Thinking
• Transformative Educational Practices
• University-School-Community Partnerships
• Urban Learning

Guiding Research Questions

1. How can generative AI be ethically and responsibly integrated into action research frameworks to amplify student voice, deepen reflection, and advance community impact?
2. How can action research methodologies be harnessed to transform urban educational settings and promote equity and inclusion?
3. What innovative practices in participatory action research can effectively bridge university-school-community partnerships to support historically marginalized communities?
4. How can experiential and community-based learning environments foster critical thinking and adaptive leadership among educators and students in urban contexts?
5. In what ways can YPAR methodologies be used to envision and create sustainable and socially just educational futures in urban areas?

Funded Research and Community-based Initiatives

Transforming Education and Community Engagement through AI

• Role: Principal Investigator
• Funding: AI Innovation Challenge at Arizona State University
• Duration: January 2025 – Present
  This practitioner inquiry study explores how generative AI can support educational transformation and community impact through a dual-course model. In Creative Solutions in Action (ASU 121), students design AI-driven solutions to real-world challenges, while Mindset Connections (UNI 220) uses AI to co-create personalized learning plans with students on academic probation. The project centers ethical AI use, student voice, and interdisciplinary collaboration.

Studying Learning Trajectories of Educators in Professional Development: A Practitioner Action Research Study

• Role: Co-Principal Investigator with Dr. Miriam Raider-Roth
• Funding: Mandel Teacher Educator Institute
• Duration: October 2019 - 2024

Creating a Thriving Inclusive Teen Ecosystem: An Action Research Project

• Role: Grant Writer, Director, & Evaluator
• Funding: $900,000 from the Jim Joseph Foundation
• Duration: December 2020 - 2023

“Where Do I Belong?”: A Youth Participatory Action Research Project by Multi-Faith BIPOC, Latine/X, & LGBTQIA+ Young People Resulting in the Development of the Garage

• Role: Grant Writer, Youth Participatory Action Research Methodologist, & Lead Facilitator
• Duration: May 2021 - 2023

"Be About It, Love is a Practice": A Youth Participatory Action Research Photovoice Exhibit on Stories of Relationships & Belonging of Teens

• Role: Grant Writer, Youth Participatory Action Research Methodologist
• Funding: $2,000 by Women Helping Women, Cincinnati
• Duration: January 2023

Two Programs Across the Country: Practitioner Research Partnership with Tisch Fellowship & ish's Emerging Artist Fellowship

• Role: Learning Partner with Tisch Fellowship
• Funding: $10,000 from Upstart's Spring Partnership Grant
• Duration: November 2021 - 2022

Building Bridges in the Virtual Classroom: Pre-Service Teachers Investigating Relationship-Building Practices with Learners Online During COVID in a Summer Academic Enrichment Program

• Role: Principal Investigator
• Funding: $4,000 from University of Cincinnati
• Duration: May 2019 - 2022

National Academy of Medicine Art Exhibit on Clinician Resilience: University of Cincinnati College of Medicine's (UCCM) Culture of Resiliency Study

• Role: Participatory Arts-based Research Method Consultant
• Project: Studied UCCM's culture of resiliency using a participatory arts-based research method
• Duration: February 2020

Study to Assess Impact of Computational Thinking for Adolescents in Out-Of-School-Time STEM/STEAM Programming

• Role: Grant Writer, Curriculum Designer, & Evaluator
• Funding: $1,900 from University of Cincinnati CECH Technology and Instructional Design Grant
• Duration: February 2019 - 2020

Digital Playscape: STEM/STEAM Center for Social Impact in Greater Cincinnati Area

• Role: Grant Writer, Co-Director, Curriculum Designer, & Evaluator
• Funding: $15,000 from the People's Liberty Globe Grant
• Duration: November 2018 - August 2019

Digital Dimensions in Education: Integrating VR & AR within a 6th Grade STEM/STEAM Curriculum Aligned to Ohio State Standards

• Role: Grant Writer, Curriculum Designer, & Evaluator
• Funding: $4,000 from the Greater Cincinnati STEM Collaborative
• Duration: June 2018 - August 2018

Shadows and Algorithms: AI-Driven Shade Structure Redesign for 7th Grade STEM/STEAM Integration, in Partnership with Cincinnati Zoo & Aligned to Ohio State Standards

• Role: Grant Writer, Curriculum Designer, & Evaluator
• Funding: $3,800 from the Greater Cincinnati STEM Collaborative
• Duration: June 2018 - August 2018

Integrating Raspberry Pi Programming into 7th Grade STEM/STEAM Curriculum Aligned with Ohio State Standard

• Role: Grant Writer, Curriculum Designer, & Evaluator
• Funding: $4,000 from the Greater Cincinnati STEM Collaborative
• Duration: June 2018 - August 2018

Youth Built Change: Public Health Disparities Impacting Youth in Cincinnati

• Role: Youth Participatory Action Research Methodologist
• Duration: May 2018 - December 2018

Empowering Cultural Sustainability in High School Education: A YPAR Approach Using AI and Poetry in the 'Breakthrough Cincinnati TRIBE' Curriculum

• Role: Grant Writer, Curriculum Designer, & Evaluator
• Funding: $2,000 from University of Cincinnati CECH Technology and Instructional Design Grant
• Duration: June 2017 - August 2017

Leveraging VR & AR for Social Change in Multidisciplinary Middle School Curriculum

• Role: Grant Writer, Curriculum Designer, & Evaluator
• Funding: $2,000 from University of Cincinnati CECH Technology and Instructional Grant
• Duration: June 2017 - August 2017

Photovoice with Preschoolers: A Teacher Action Research Project

• Role: Action Researcher & Grant Writer
• Funding: $2,000 from University of Cincinnati CECH Technology and Instructional Design Grant
• Duration: August 2015 to May 2016

Using Big Data to Track Arlitt Student Kindergarten Success

• Role: Research Assistant & Grant Writer
• Funding: $3,000 from Arlitt Best Practices in Teaching Research Grant
• Duration: September 2014 to May 2016

Exclusion within Inclusion: Social Experiences of Preschoolers with IEPs

• Role: Principal Investigator & Grant Writer
• Funding: $1,800 from Arlitt Best Practices in Teaching Research Grant
• Duration: October 2014 - May 2015

Empowering Voices Against Violence: A BIPOC-centered Youth Participatory Action Research Initiative on Gun Violence in Cincinnati

• Role: Youth Participatory Action Research Methodologist
• Duration: June 2016 to August 2016

Presentations

Lester, A.J. & Rubinstein, A. (2024). Fomentando el Activismo Ambiental y la Participación Comunitaria a través de YPAR y LARP. Igniting Environmental Activism and Community Engagement through YPAR and LARP. Action Research Network of the Americas. Hybrid. Presented in English and Spanish.

Lester, A.J., Ahmad, S., Hassan, S., Rubinstein, A., & Suarez, A. (2023). Our Community Safe Space: A Youth Participatory Action Research Project by Cincinnati's Teen Think Tank. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL. 

Lester, A.J., Raider-Roth, M.B., Feiman-Nemser, S., Dorph, G.Z., & Stanzler, J. (2023). Exploring the Learning Trajectories of Educators in a Two-Year Program: A Practitioner Research Study. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL. 

Raider-Roth, M.B., Lester, A.J., Yates, S., Rodgers, C.R. (2023). Creating a Relational Learning Community Online with Undergraduate Teaching Fellows During COVID-19 in Building Relational Learning Communities in Higher Education: Lessons from Practitioner and Self-Study Research, American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL. 

Lester, A.J. (2022). Immersive Theater & Live Action Role Play Panel, Playable Theatre Symposium, Virtual, Invited.

Lester, A.J. & Glaser, N. (2021). Designing for Play: Reflections on Creating an Immersive Free STEAM Makerspace in an Urban Community. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Virtual. 

Lester, A., Wade, L., Guenthner, R., LeBlanc, A., Overkamp, S., Wane, M. & Delaney, R. (2020). Holding S.P.A.C.E. Online During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Preservice Teacher Action Research Study. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA.

Lester, A., Wade, L., Guenthner, R., LeBlanc, A., Overkamp, S., Wane, M. & Delaney, R. (2020). Teaching During COVID-19: Portraits of Preservice Teachers Creating and Sustaining Virtual Holding Environments. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Virtual. 

Glaser, N. & Lester, A.J. (2020). Responding to Community Needs in the Design of the Digital Playscape: A Free STEAM Makerspace. International Convention of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology, Virtual.

Lester, A.J. (2019). Why Designers Need to Work with Teachers: Digital Playscape Free Immersive STEAM Center. Re-imagining New Worlds: The Future of Digital Art. Re- Imagined Worlds Digital Art Panel, Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, OH.

Wight, R. A., Lester, A.J., Shannon-Baker, P., & Jorgenson, S. (2019). Poetry as Truth-DeSchooling the USA, AERA, & Ivan Illich. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, Toronto, CA.

Lester, A.J. (2018). Using Group-Level Assessment to Amplify Student Voice in a Summer Academic Enrichment Program for Adolescents. American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting, New York City, NY.

Lester, A.J. & Horowitz, J. (2015). The Social Experiences of Early Childhood for Children with IEPs: Supporting Inclusivity. University of Cincinnati Diversity Day Conference, Cincinnati, OH.