chapter 3 qualitative research format

Chapter 1. Introduction

“Science is in danger, and for that reason it is becoming dangerous” -Pierre Bourdieu, Science of Science and Reflexivity

Why an Open Access Textbook on Qualitative Research Methods?

I have been teaching qualitative research methods to both undergraduates and graduate students for many years. Although there are some excellent textbooks out there, they are often costly, and none of them, to my mind, properly introduces qualitative research methods to the beginning student (whether undergraduate or graduate student). In contrast, this open-access textbook is designed as a (free) true introduction to the subject, with helpful, practical pointers on how to conduct research and how to access more advanced instruction.

Textbooks are typically arranged in one of two ways: (1) by technique (each chapter covers one method used in qualitative research); or (2) by process (chapters advance from research design through publication). But both of these approaches are necessary for the beginner student. This textbook will have sections dedicated to the process as well as the techniques of qualitative research. This is a true “comprehensive” book for the beginning student. In addition to covering techniques of data collection and data analysis, it provides a road map of how to get started and how to keep going and where to go for advanced instruction. It covers aspects of research design and research communication as well as methods employed. Along the way, it includes examples from many different disciplines in the social sciences.

The primary goal has been to create a useful, accessible, engaging textbook for use across many disciplines. And, let’s face it. Textbooks can be boring. I hope readers find this to be a little different. I have tried to write in a practical and forthright manner, with many lively examples and references to good and intellectually creative qualitative research. Woven throughout the text are short textual asides (in colored textboxes) by professional (academic) qualitative researchers in various disciplines. These short accounts by practitioners should help inspire students. So, let’s begin!

What is Research?

When we use the word research , what exactly do we mean by that? This is one of those words that everyone thinks they understand, but it is worth beginning this textbook with a short explanation. We use the term to refer to “empirical research,” which is actually a historically specific approach to understanding the world around us. Think about how you know things about the world. [1] You might know your mother loves you because she’s told you she does. Or because that is what “mothers” do by tradition. Or you might know because you’ve looked for evidence that she does, like taking care of you when you are sick or reading to you in bed or working two jobs so you can have the things you need to do OK in life. Maybe it seems churlish to look for evidence; you just take it “on faith” that you are loved.

Only one of the above comes close to what we mean by research. Empirical research is research (investigation) based on evidence. Conclusions can then be drawn from observable data. This observable data can also be “tested” or checked. If the data cannot be tested, that is a good indication that we are not doing research. Note that we can never “prove” conclusively, through observable data, that our mothers love us. We might have some “disconfirming evidence” (that time she didn’t show up to your graduation, for example) that could push you to question an original hypothesis , but no amount of “confirming evidence” will ever allow us to say with 100% certainty, “my mother loves me.” Faith and tradition and authority work differently. Our knowledge can be 100% certain using each of those alternative methods of knowledge, but our certainty in those cases will not be based on facts or evidence.

For many periods of history, those in power have been nervous about “science” because it uses evidence and facts as the primary source of understanding the world, and facts can be at odds with what power or authority or tradition want you to believe. That is why I say that scientific empirical research is a historically specific approach to understand the world. You are in college or university now partly to learn how to engage in this historically specific approach.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in Europe, there was a newfound respect for empirical research, some of which was seriously challenging to the established church. Using observations and testing them, scientists found that the earth was not at the center of the universe, for example, but rather that it was but one planet of many which circled the sun. [2] For the next two centuries, the science of astronomy, physics, biology, and chemistry emerged and became disciplines taught in universities. All used the scientific method of observation and testing to advance knowledge. Knowledge about people , however, and social institutions, however, was still left to faith, tradition, and authority. Historians and philosophers and poets wrote about the human condition, but none of them used research to do so. [3]

It was not until the nineteenth century that “social science” really emerged, using the scientific method (empirical observation) to understand people and social institutions. New fields of sociology, economics, political science, and anthropology emerged. The first sociologists, people like Auguste Comte and Karl Marx, sought specifically to apply the scientific method of research to understand society, Engels famously claiming that Marx had done for the social world what Darwin did for the natural world, tracings its laws of development. Today we tend to take for granted the naturalness of science here, but it is actually a pretty recent and radical development.

To return to the question, “does your mother love you?” Well, this is actually not really how a researcher would frame the question, as it is too specific to your case. It doesn’t tell us much about the world at large, even if it does tell us something about you and your relationship with your mother. A social science researcher might ask, “do mothers love their children?” Or maybe they would be more interested in how this loving relationship might change over time (e.g., “do mothers love their children more now than they did in the 18th century when so many children died before reaching adulthood?”) or perhaps they might be interested in measuring quality of love across cultures or time periods, or even establishing “what love looks like” using the mother/child relationship as a site of exploration. All of these make good research questions because we can use observable data to answer them.

What is Qualitative Research?

“All we know is how to learn. How to study, how to listen, how to talk, how to tell. If we don’t tell the world, we don’t know the world. We’re lost in it, we die.” -Ursula LeGuin, The Telling

At its simplest, qualitative research is research about the social world that does not use numbers in its analyses. All those who fear statistics can breathe a sigh of relief – there are no mathematical formulae or regression models in this book! But this definition is less about what qualitative research can be and more about what it is not. To be honest, any simple statement will fail to capture the power and depth of qualitative research. One way of contrasting qualitative research to quantitative research is to note that the focus of qualitative research is less about explaining and predicting relationships between variables and more about understanding the social world. To use our mother love example, the question about “what love looks like” is a good question for the qualitative researcher while all questions measuring love or comparing incidences of love (both of which require measurement) are good questions for quantitative researchers. Patton writes,

Qualitative data describe. They take us, as readers, into the time and place of the observation so that we know what it was like to have been there. They capture and communicate someone else’s experience of the world in his or her own words. Qualitative data tell a story. ( Patton 2002:47 )

Qualitative researchers are asking different questions about the world than their quantitative colleagues. Even when researchers are employed in “mixed methods” research ( both quantitative and qualitative), they are using different methods to address different questions of the study. I do a lot of research about first-generation and working-college college students. Where a quantitative researcher might ask, how many first-generation college students graduate from college within four years? Or does first-generation college status predict high student debt loads? A qualitative researcher might ask, how does the college experience differ for first-generation college students? What is it like to carry a lot of debt, and how does this impact the ability to complete college on time? Both sets of questions are important, but they can only be answered using specific tools tailored to those questions. For the former, you need large numbers to make adequate comparisons. For the latter, you need to talk to people, find out what they are thinking and feeling, and try to inhabit their shoes for a little while so you can make sense of their experiences and beliefs.

Examples of Qualitative Research

You have probably seen examples of qualitative research before, but you might not have paid particular attention to how they were produced or realized that the accounts you were reading were the result of hours, months, even years of research “in the field.” A good qualitative researcher will present the product of their hours of work in such a way that it seems natural, even obvious, to the reader. Because we are trying to convey what it is like answers, qualitative research is often presented as stories – stories about how people live their lives, go to work, raise their children, interact with one another. In some ways, this can seem like reading particularly insightful novels. But, unlike novels, there are very specific rules and guidelines that qualitative researchers follow to ensure that the “story” they are telling is accurate , a truthful rendition of what life is like for the people being studied. Most of this textbook will be spent conveying those rules and guidelines. Let’s take a look, first, however, at three examples of what the end product looks like. I have chosen these three examples to showcase very different approaches to qualitative research, and I will return to these five examples throughout the book. They were all published as whole books (not chapters or articles), and they are worth the long read, if you have the time. I will also provide some information on how these books came to be and the length of time it takes to get them into book version. It is important you know about this process, and the rest of this textbook will help explain why it takes so long to conduct good qualitative research!

Example 1 : The End Game (ethnography + interviews)

Corey Abramson is a sociologist who teaches at the University of Arizona. In 2015 he published The End Game: How Inequality Shapes our Final Years ( 2015 ). This book was based on the research he did for his dissertation at the University of California-Berkeley in 2012. Actually, the dissertation was completed in 2012 but the work that was produced that took several years. The dissertation was entitled, “This is How We Live, This is How We Die: Social Stratification, Aging, and Health in Urban America” ( 2012 ). You can see how the book version, which was written for a more general audience, has a more engaging sound to it, but that the dissertation version, which is what academic faculty read and evaluate, has a more descriptive title. You can read the title and know that this is a study about aging and health and that the focus is going to be inequality and that the context (place) is going to be “urban America.” It’s a study about “how” people do something – in this case, how they deal with aging and death. This is the very first sentence of the dissertation, “From our first breath in the hospital to the day we die, we live in a society characterized by unequal opportunities for maintaining health and taking care of ourselves when ill. These disparities reflect persistent racial, socio-economic, and gender-based inequalities and contribute to their persistence over time” ( 1 ). What follows is a truthful account of how that is so.

Cory Abramson spent three years conducting his research in four different urban neighborhoods. We call the type of research he conducted “comparative ethnographic” because he designed his study to compare groups of seniors as they went about their everyday business. It’s comparative because he is comparing different groups (based on race, class, gender) and ethnographic because he is studying the culture/way of life of a group. [4] He had an educated guess, rooted in what previous research had shown and what social theory would suggest, that people’s experiences of aging differ by race, class, and gender. So, he set up a research design that would allow him to observe differences. He chose two primarily middle-class (one was racially diverse and the other was predominantly White) and two primarily poor neighborhoods (one was racially diverse and the other was predominantly African American). He hung out in senior centers and other places seniors congregated, watched them as they took the bus to get prescriptions filled, sat in doctor’s offices with them, and listened to their conversations with each other. He also conducted more formal conversations, what we call in-depth interviews, with sixty seniors from each of the four neighborhoods. As with a lot of fieldwork , as he got closer to the people involved, he both expanded and deepened his reach –

By the end of the project, I expanded my pool of general observations to include various settings frequented by seniors: apartment building common rooms, doctors’ offices, emergency rooms, pharmacies, senior centers, bars, parks, corner stores, shopping centers, pool halls, hair salons, coffee shops, and discount stores. Over the course of the three years of fieldwork, I observed hundreds of elders, and developed close relationships with a number of them. ( 2012:10 )

When Abramson rewrote the dissertation for a general audience and published his book in 2015, it got a lot of attention. It is a beautifully written book and it provided insight into a common human experience that we surprisingly know very little about. It won the Outstanding Publication Award by the American Sociological Association Section on Aging and the Life Course and was featured in the New York Times . The book was about aging, and specifically how inequality shapes the aging process, but it was also about much more than that. It helped show how inequality affects people’s everyday lives. For example, by observing the difficulties the poor had in setting up appointments and getting to them using public transportation and then being made to wait to see a doctor, sometimes in standing-room-only situations, when they are unwell, and then being treated dismissively by hospital staff, Abramson allowed readers to feel the material reality of being poor in the US. Comparing these examples with seniors with adequate supplemental insurance who have the resources to hire car services or have others assist them in arranging care when they need it, jolts the reader to understand and appreciate the difference money makes in the lives and circumstances of us all, and in a way that is different than simply reading a statistic (“80% of the poor do not keep regular doctor’s appointments”) does. Qualitative research can reach into spaces and places that often go unexamined and then reports back to the rest of us what it is like in those spaces and places.

Example 2: Racing for Innocence (Interviews + Content Analysis + Fictional Stories)

Jennifer Pierce is a Professor of American Studies at the University of Minnesota. Trained as a sociologist, she has written a number of books about gender, race, and power. Her very first book, Gender Trials: Emotional Lives in Contemporary Law Firms, published in 1995, is a brilliant look at gender dynamics within two law firms. Pierce was a participant observer, working as a paralegal, and she observed how female lawyers and female paralegals struggled to obtain parity with their male colleagues.

Fifteen years later, she reexamined the context of the law firm to include an examination of racial dynamics, particularly how elite white men working in these spaces created and maintained a culture that made it difficult for both female attorneys and attorneys of color to thrive. Her book, Racing for Innocence: Whiteness, Gender, and the Backlash Against Affirmative Action , published in 2012, is an interesting and creative blending of interviews with attorneys, content analyses of popular films during this period, and fictional accounts of racial discrimination and sexual harassment. The law firm she chose to study had come under an affirmative action order and was in the process of implementing equitable policies and programs. She wanted to understand how recipients of white privilege (the elite white male attorneys) come to deny the role they play in reproducing inequality. Through interviews with attorneys who were present both before and during the affirmative action order, she creates a historical record of the “bad behavior” that necessitated new policies and procedures, but also, and more importantly , probed the participants ’ understanding of this behavior. It should come as no surprise that most (but not all) of the white male attorneys saw little need for change, and that almost everyone else had accounts that were different if not sometimes downright harrowing.

I’ve used Pierce’s book in my qualitative research methods courses as an example of an interesting blend of techniques and presentation styles. My students often have a very difficult time with the fictional accounts she includes. But they serve an important communicative purpose here. They are her attempts at presenting “both sides” to an objective reality – something happens (Pierce writes this something so it is very clear what it is), and the two participants to the thing that happened have very different understandings of what this means. By including these stories, Pierce presents one of her key findings – people remember things differently and these different memories tend to support their own ideological positions. I wonder what Pierce would have written had she studied the murder of George Floyd or the storming of the US Capitol on January 6 or any number of other historic events whose observers and participants record very different happenings.

This is not to say that qualitative researchers write fictional accounts. In fact, the use of fiction in our work remains controversial. When used, it must be clearly identified as a presentation device, as Pierce did. I include Racing for Innocence here as an example of the multiple uses of methods and techniques and the way that these work together to produce better understandings by us, the readers, of what Pierce studied. We readers come away with a better grasp of how and why advantaged people understate their own involvement in situations and structures that advantage them. This is normal human behavior , in other words. This case may have been about elite white men in law firms, but the general insights here can be transposed to other settings. Indeed, Pierce argues that more research needs to be done about the role elites play in the reproduction of inequality in the workplace in general.

Example 3: Amplified Advantage (Mixed Methods: Survey Interviews + Focus Groups + Archives)

The final example comes from my own work with college students, particularly the ways in which class background affects the experience of college and outcomes for graduates. I include it here as an example of mixed methods, and for the use of supplementary archival research. I’ve done a lot of research over the years on first-generation, low-income, and working-class college students. I am curious (and skeptical) about the possibility of social mobility today, particularly with the rising cost of college and growing inequality in general. As one of the few people in my family to go to college, I didn’t grow up with a lot of examples of what college was like or how to make the most of it. And when I entered graduate school, I realized with dismay that there were very few people like me there. I worried about becoming too different from my family and friends back home. And I wasn’t at all sure that I would ever be able to pay back the huge load of debt I was taking on. And so I wrote my dissertation and first two books about working-class college students. These books focused on experiences in college and the difficulties of navigating between family and school ( Hurst 2010a, 2012 ). But even after all that research, I kept coming back to wondering if working-class students who made it through college had an equal chance at finding good jobs and happy lives,

What happens to students after college? Do working-class students fare as well as their peers? I knew from my own experience that barriers continued through graduate school and beyond, and that my debtload was higher than that of my peers, constraining some of the choices I made when I graduated. To answer these questions, I designed a study of students attending small liberal arts colleges, the type of college that tried to equalize the experience of students by requiring all students to live on campus and offering small classes with lots of interaction with faculty. These private colleges tend to have more money and resources so they can provide financial aid to low-income students. They also attract some very wealthy students. Because they enroll students across the class spectrum, I would be able to draw comparisons. I ended up spending about four years collecting data, both a survey of more than 2000 students (which formed the basis for quantitative analyses) and qualitative data collection (interviews, focus groups, archival research, and participant observation). This is what we call a “mixed methods” approach because we use both quantitative and qualitative data. The survey gave me a large enough number of students that I could make comparisons of the how many kind, and to be able to say with some authority that there were in fact significant differences in experience and outcome by class (e.g., wealthier students earned more money and had little debt; working-class students often found jobs that were not in their chosen careers and were very affected by debt, upper-middle-class students were more likely to go to graduate school). But the survey analyses could not explain why these differences existed. For that, I needed to talk to people and ask them about their motivations and aspirations. I needed to understand their perceptions of the world, and it is very hard to do this through a survey.

By interviewing students and recent graduates, I was able to discern particular patterns and pathways through college and beyond. Specifically, I identified three versions of gameplay. Upper-middle-class students, whose parents were themselves professionals (academics, lawyers, managers of non-profits), saw college as the first stage of their education and took classes and declared majors that would prepare them for graduate school. They also spent a lot of time building their resumes, taking advantage of opportunities to help professors with their research, or study abroad. This helped them gain admission to highly-ranked graduate schools and interesting jobs in the public sector. In contrast, upper-class students, whose parents were wealthy and more likely to be engaged in business (as CEOs or other high-level directors), prioritized building social capital. They did this by joining fraternities and sororities and playing club sports. This helped them when they graduated as they called on friends and parents of friends to find them well-paying jobs. Finally, low-income, first-generation, and working-class students were often adrift. They took the classes that were recommended to them but without the knowledge of how to connect them to life beyond college. They spent time working and studying rather than partying or building their resumes. All three sets of students thought they were “doing college” the right way, the way that one was supposed to do college. But these three versions of gameplay led to distinct outcomes that advantaged some students over others. I titled my work “Amplified Advantage” to highlight this process.

These three examples, Cory Abramson’s The End Game , Jennifer Peirce’s Racing for Innocence, and my own Amplified Advantage, demonstrate the range of approaches and tools available to the qualitative researcher. They also help explain why qualitative research is so important. Numbers can tell us some things about the world, but they cannot get at the hearts and minds, motivations and beliefs of the people who make up the social worlds we inhabit. For that, we need tools that allow us to listen and make sense of what people tell us and show us. That is what good qualitative research offers us.

How Is This Book Organized?

This textbook is organized as a comprehensive introduction to the use of qualitative research methods. The first half covers general topics (e.g., approaches to qualitative research, ethics) and research design (necessary steps for building a successful qualitative research study). The second half reviews various data collection and data analysis techniques. Of course, building a successful qualitative research study requires some knowledge of data collection and data analysis so the chapters in the first half and the chapters in the second half should be read in conversation with each other. That said, each chapter can be read on its own for assistance with a particular narrow topic. In addition to the chapters, a helpful glossary can be found in the back of the book. Rummage around in the text as needed.

Chapter Descriptions

Chapter 2 provides an overview of the Research Design Process. How does one begin a study? What is an appropriate research question? How is the study to be done – with what methods ? Involving what people and sites? Although qualitative research studies can and often do change and develop over the course of data collection, it is important to have a good idea of what the aims and goals of your study are at the outset and a good plan of how to achieve those aims and goals. Chapter 2 provides a road map of the process.

Chapter 3 describes and explains various ways of knowing the (social) world. What is it possible for us to know about how other people think or why they behave the way they do? What does it mean to say something is a “fact” or that it is “well-known” and understood? Qualitative researchers are particularly interested in these questions because of the types of research questions we are interested in answering (the how questions rather than the how many questions of quantitative research). Qualitative researchers have adopted various epistemological approaches. Chapter 3 will explore these approaches, highlighting interpretivist approaches that acknowledge the subjective aspect of reality – in other words, reality and knowledge are not objective but rather influenced by (interpreted through) people.

Chapter 4 focuses on the practical matter of developing a research question and finding the right approach to data collection. In any given study (think of Cory Abramson’s study of aging, for example), there may be years of collected data, thousands of observations , hundreds of pages of notes to read and review and make sense of. If all you had was a general interest area (“aging”), it would be very difficult, nearly impossible, to make sense of all of that data. The research question provides a helpful lens to refine and clarify (and simplify) everything you find and collect. For that reason, it is important to pull out that lens (articulate the research question) before you get started. In the case of the aging study, Cory Abramson was interested in how inequalities affected understandings and responses to aging. It is for this reason he designed a study that would allow him to compare different groups of seniors (some middle-class, some poor). Inevitably, he saw much more in the three years in the field than what made it into his book (or dissertation), but he was able to narrow down the complexity of the social world to provide us with this rich account linked to the original research question. Developing a good research question is thus crucial to effective design and a successful outcome. Chapter 4 will provide pointers on how to do this. Chapter 4 also provides an overview of general approaches taken to doing qualitative research and various “traditions of inquiry.”

Chapter 5 explores sampling . After you have developed a research question and have a general idea of how you will collect data (Observations? Interviews?), how do you go about actually finding people and sites to study? Although there is no “correct number” of people to interview , the sample should follow the research question and research design. Unlike quantitative research, qualitative research involves nonprobability sampling. Chapter 5 explains why this is so and what qualities instead make a good sample for qualitative research.

Chapter 6 addresses the importance of reflexivity in qualitative research. Related to epistemological issues of how we know anything about the social world, qualitative researchers understand that we the researchers can never be truly neutral or outside the study we are conducting. As observers, we see things that make sense to us and may entirely miss what is either too obvious to note or too different to comprehend. As interviewers, as much as we would like to ask questions neutrally and remain in the background, interviews are a form of conversation, and the persons we interview are responding to us . Therefore, it is important to reflect upon our social positions and the knowledges and expectations we bring to our work and to work through any blind spots that we may have. Chapter 6 provides some examples of reflexivity in practice and exercises for thinking through one’s own biases.

Chapter 7 is a very important chapter and should not be overlooked. As a practical matter, it should also be read closely with chapters 6 and 8. Because qualitative researchers deal with people and the social world, it is imperative they develop and adhere to a strong ethical code for conducting research in a way that does not harm. There are legal requirements and guidelines for doing so (see chapter 8), but these requirements should not be considered synonymous with the ethical code required of us. Each researcher must constantly interrogate every aspect of their research, from research question to design to sample through analysis and presentation, to ensure that a minimum of harm (ideally, zero harm) is caused. Because each research project is unique, the standards of care for each study are unique. Part of being a professional researcher is carrying this code in one’s heart, being constantly attentive to what is required under particular circumstances. Chapter 7 provides various research scenarios and asks readers to weigh in on the suitability and appropriateness of the research. If done in a class setting, it will become obvious fairly quickly that there are often no absolutely correct answers, as different people find different aspects of the scenarios of greatest importance. Minimizing the harm in one area may require possible harm in another. Being attentive to all the ethical aspects of one’s research and making the best judgments one can, clearly and consciously, is an integral part of being a good researcher.

Chapter 8 , best to be read in conjunction with chapter 7, explains the role and importance of Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) . Under federal guidelines, an IRB is an appropriately constituted group that has been formally designated to review and monitor research involving human subjects . Every institution that receives funding from the federal government has an IRB. IRBs have the authority to approve, require modifications to (to secure approval), or disapprove research. This group review serves an important role in the protection of the rights and welfare of human research subjects. Chapter 8 reviews the history of IRBs and the work they do but also argues that IRBs’ review of qualitative research is often both over-inclusive and under-inclusive. Some aspects of qualitative research are not well understood by IRBs, given that they were developed to prevent abuses in biomedical research. Thus, it is important not to rely on IRBs to identify all the potential ethical issues that emerge in our research (see chapter 7).

Chapter 9 provides help for getting started on formulating a research question based on gaps in the pre-existing literature. Research is conducted as part of a community, even if particular studies are done by single individuals (or small teams). What any of us finds and reports back becomes part of a much larger body of knowledge. Thus, it is important that we look at the larger body of knowledge before we actually start our bit to see how we can best contribute. When I first began interviewing working-class college students, there was only one other similar study I could find, and it hadn’t been published (it was a dissertation of students from poor backgrounds). But there had been a lot published by professors who had grown up working class and made it through college despite the odds. These accounts by “working-class academics” became an important inspiration for my study and helped me frame the questions I asked the students I interviewed. Chapter 9 will provide some pointers on how to search for relevant literature and how to use this to refine your research question.

Chapter 10 serves as a bridge between the two parts of the textbook, by introducing techniques of data collection. Qualitative research is often characterized by the form of data collection – for example, an ethnographic study is one that employs primarily observational data collection for the purpose of documenting and presenting a particular culture or ethnos. Techniques can be effectively combined, depending on the research question and the aims and goals of the study. Chapter 10 provides a general overview of all the various techniques and how they can be combined.

The second part of the textbook moves into the doing part of qualitative research once the research question has been articulated and the study designed. Chapters 11 through 17 cover various data collection techniques and approaches. Chapters 18 and 19 provide a very simple overview of basic data analysis. Chapter 20 covers communication of the data to various audiences, and in various formats.

Chapter 11 begins our overview of data collection techniques with a focus on interviewing , the true heart of qualitative research. This technique can serve as the primary and exclusive form of data collection, or it can be used to supplement other forms (observation, archival). An interview is distinct from a survey, where questions are asked in a specific order and often with a range of predetermined responses available. Interviews can be conversational and unstructured or, more conventionally, semistructured , where a general set of interview questions “guides” the conversation. Chapter 11 covers the basics of interviews: how to create interview guides, how many people to interview, where to conduct the interview, what to watch out for (how to prepare against things going wrong), and how to get the most out of your interviews.

Chapter 12 covers an important variant of interviewing, the focus group. Focus groups are semistructured interviews with a group of people moderated by a facilitator (the researcher or researcher’s assistant). Focus groups explicitly use group interaction to assist in the data collection. They are best used to collect data on a specific topic that is non-personal and shared among the group. For example, asking a group of college students about a common experience such as taking classes by remote delivery during the pandemic year of 2020. Chapter 12 covers the basics of focus groups: when to use them, how to create interview guides for them, and how to run them effectively.

Chapter 13 moves away from interviewing to the second major form of data collection unique to qualitative researchers – observation . Qualitative research that employs observation can best be understood as falling on a continuum of “fly on the wall” observation (e.g., observing how strangers interact in a doctor’s waiting room) to “participant” observation, where the researcher is also an active participant of the activity being observed. For example, an activist in the Black Lives Matter movement might want to study the movement, using her inside position to gain access to observe key meetings and interactions. Chapter 13 covers the basics of participant observation studies: advantages and disadvantages, gaining access, ethical concerns related to insider/outsider status and entanglement, and recording techniques.

Chapter 14 takes a closer look at “deep ethnography” – immersion in the field of a particularly long duration for the purpose of gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of a particular culture or social world. Clifford Geertz called this “deep hanging out.” Whereas participant observation is often combined with semistructured interview techniques, deep ethnography’s commitment to “living the life” or experiencing the situation as it really is demands more conversational and natural interactions with people. These interactions and conversations may take place over months or even years. As can be expected, there are some costs to this technique, as well as some very large rewards when done competently. Chapter 14 provides some examples of deep ethnographies that will inspire some beginning researchers and intimidate others.

Chapter 15 moves in the opposite direction of deep ethnography, a technique that is the least positivist of all those discussed here, to mixed methods , a set of techniques that is arguably the most positivist . A mixed methods approach combines both qualitative data collection and quantitative data collection, commonly by combining a survey that is analyzed statistically (e.g., cross-tabs or regression analyses of large number probability samples) with semi-structured interviews. Although it is somewhat unconventional to discuss mixed methods in textbooks on qualitative research, I think it is important to recognize this often-employed approach here. There are several advantages and some disadvantages to taking this route. Chapter 16 will describe those advantages and disadvantages and provide some particular guidance on how to design a mixed methods study for maximum effectiveness.

Chapter 16 covers data collection that does not involve live human subjects at all – archival and historical research (chapter 17 will also cover data that does not involve interacting with human subjects). Sometimes people are unavailable to us, either because they do not wish to be interviewed or observed (as is the case with many “elites”) or because they are too far away, in both place and time. Fortunately, humans leave many traces and we can often answer questions we have by examining those traces. Special collections and archives can be goldmines for social science research. This chapter will explain how to access these places, for what purposes, and how to begin to make sense of what you find.

Chapter 17 covers another data collection area that does not involve face-to-face interaction with humans: content analysis . Although content analysis may be understood more properly as a data analysis technique, the term is often used for the entire approach, which will be the case here. Content analysis involves interpreting meaning from a body of text. This body of text might be something found in historical records (see chapter 16) or something collected by the researcher, as in the case of comment posts on a popular blog post. I once used the stories told by student loan debtors on the website studentloanjustice.org as the content I analyzed. Content analysis is particularly useful when attempting to define and understand prevalent stories or communication about a topic of interest. In other words, when we are less interested in what particular people (our defined sample) are doing or believing and more interested in what general narratives exist about a particular topic or issue. This chapter will explore different approaches to content analysis and provide helpful tips on how to collect data, how to turn that data into codes for analysis, and how to go about presenting what is found through analysis.

Where chapter 17 has pushed us towards data analysis, chapters 18 and 19 are all about what to do with the data collected, whether that data be in the form of interview transcripts or fieldnotes from observations. Chapter 18 introduces the basics of coding , the iterative process of assigning meaning to the data in order to both simplify and identify patterns. What is a code and how does it work? What are the different ways of coding data, and when should you use them? What is a codebook, and why do you need one? What does the process of data analysis look like?

Chapter 19 goes further into detail on codes and how to use them, particularly the later stages of coding in which our codes are refined, simplified, combined, and organized. These later rounds of coding are essential to getting the most out of the data we’ve collected. As students are often overwhelmed with the amount of data (a corpus of interview transcripts typically runs into the hundreds of pages; fieldnotes can easily top that), this chapter will also address time management and provide suggestions for dealing with chaos and reminders that feeling overwhelmed at the analysis stage is part of the process. By the end of the chapter, you should understand how “findings” are actually found.

The book concludes with a chapter dedicated to the effective presentation of data results. Chapter 20 covers the many ways that researchers communicate their studies to various audiences (academic, personal, political), what elements must be included in these various publications, and the hallmarks of excellent qualitative research that various audiences will be expecting. Because qualitative researchers are motivated by understanding and conveying meaning , effective communication is not only an essential skill but a fundamental facet of the entire research project. Ethnographers must be able to convey a certain sense of verisimilitude , the appearance of true reality. Those employing interviews must faithfully depict the key meanings of the people they interviewed in a way that rings true to those people, even if the end result surprises them. And all researchers must strive for clarity in their publications so that various audiences can understand what was found and why it is important.

The book concludes with a short chapter ( chapter 21 ) discussing the value of qualitative research. At the very end of this book, you will find a glossary of terms. I recommend you make frequent use of the glossary and add to each entry as you find examples. Although the entries are meant to be simple and clear, you may also want to paraphrase the definition—make it “make sense” to you, in other words. In addition to the standard reference list (all works cited here), you will find various recommendations for further reading at the end of many chapters. Some of these recommendations will be examples of excellent qualitative research, indicated with an asterisk (*) at the end of the entry. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. A good example of qualitative research can teach you more about conducting research than any textbook can (this one included). I highly recommend you select one to three examples from these lists and read them along with the textbook.

A final note on the choice of examples – you will note that many of the examples used in the text come from research on college students. This is for two reasons. First, as most of my research falls in this area, I am most familiar with this literature and have contacts with those who do research here and can call upon them to share their stories with you. Second, and more importantly, my hope is that this textbook reaches a wide audience of beginning researchers who study widely and deeply across the range of what can be known about the social world (from marine resources management to public policy to nursing to political science to sexuality studies and beyond). It is sometimes difficult to find examples that speak to all those research interests, however. A focus on college students is something that all readers can understand and, hopefully, appreciate, as we are all now or have been at some point a college student.

Patton’s Ten Suggestions for Doing Qualitative Research

The following ten suggestions were made by Michael Quinn Patton in his massive textbooks Qualitative Research and Evaluations Methods . This book is highly recommended for those of you who want more than an introduction to qualitative methods. It is the book I relied on heavily when I was a graduate student, although it is much easier to “dip into” when necessary than to read through as a whole. Patton is asked for “just one bit of advice” for a graduate student considering using qualitative research methods for their dissertation. Here are his top ten responses, in short form, heavily paraphrased, and with additional comments and emphases from me:

Make sure that a qualitative approach fits the research question. The following are the kinds of questions that call out for qualitative methods or where qualitative methods are particularly appropriate: questions about people’s experiences or how they make sense of those experiences; studying a person in their natural environment; researching a phenomenon so unknown that it would be impossible to study it with standardized instruments or other forms of quantitative data collection.
Study qualitative research by going to the original sources for the design and analysis appropriate to the particular approach you want to take (e.g., read Glaser and Straus if you are using grounded theory )
Find a dissertation adviser who understands or at least who will support your use of qualitative research methods. You are asking for trouble if your entire committee is populated by quantitative researchers, even if they are all very knowledgeable about the subject or focus of your study (maybe even more so if they are!)
Really work on design. Doing qualitative research effectively takes a lot of planning. Even if things are more flexible than in quantitative research, a good design is absolutely essential when starting out.
Practice data collection techniques, particularly interviewing and observing. There is definitely a set of learned skills here! Do not expect your first interview to be perfect. You will continue to grow as a researcher the more interviews you conduct, and you will probably come to understand yourself a bit more in the process, too. This is not easy, despite what others who don’t work with qualitative methods may assume (and tell you!)
Have a plan for analysis before you begin data collection. This is often a requirement in IRB protocols , although you can get away with writing something fairly simple. And even if you are taking an approach, such as grounded theory, that pushes you to remain fairly open-minded during the data collection process, you still want to know what you will be doing with all the data collected – creating a codebook? Writing analytical memos? Comparing cases? Having a plan in hand will also help prevent you from collecting too much extraneous data.
Be prepared to confront controversies both within the qualitative research community and between qualitative research and quantitative research. Don’t be naïve about this – qualitative research, particularly some approaches, will be derided by many more “positivist” researchers and audiences. For example, is an “n” of 1 really sufficient? Yes! But not everyone will agree.
Do not make the mistake of using qualitative research methods because someone told you it was easier, or because you are intimidated by the math required of statistical analyses. Qualitative research is difficult in its own way (and many would claim much more time-consuming than quantitative research). Do it because you are convinced it is right for your goals, aims, and research questions.
Find a good support network. This could be a research mentor, or it could be a group of friends or colleagues who are also using qualitative research, or it could be just someone who will listen to you work through all of the issues you will confront out in the field and during the writing process. Even though qualitative research often involves human subjects, it can be pretty lonely. A lot of times you will feel like you are working without a net. You have to create one for yourself. Take care of yourself.
And, finally, in the words of Patton, “Prepare to be changed. Looking deeply at other people’s lives will force you to look deeply at yourself.”
We will actually spend an entire chapter ( chapter 3 ) looking at this question in much more detail! ↵
Note that this might have been news to Europeans at the time, but many other societies around the world had also come to this conclusion through observation. There is often a tendency to equate “the scientific revolution” with the European world in which it took place, but this is somewhat misleading. ↵
Historians are a special case here. Historians have scrupulously and rigorously investigated the social world, but not for the purpose of understanding general laws about how things work, which is the point of scientific empirical research. History is often referred to as an idiographic field of study, meaning that it studies things that happened or are happening in themselves and not for general observations or conclusions. ↵
Don’t worry, we’ll spend more time later in this book unpacking the meaning of ethnography and other terms that are important here. Note the available glossary ↵

An approach to research that is “multimethod in focus, involving an interpretative, naturalistic approach to its subject matter. This means that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of, or interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them. Qualitative research involves the studied use and collection of a variety of empirical materials – case study, personal experience, introspective, life story, interview, observational, historical, interactional, and visual texts – that describe routine and problematic moments and meanings in individuals’ lives." ( Denzin and Lincoln 2005:2 ). Contrast with quantitative research .

In contrast to methodology, methods are more simply the practices and tools used to collect and analyze data. Examples of common methods in qualitative research are interviews , observations , and documentary analysis . One’s methodology should connect to one’s choice of methods, of course, but they are distinguishable terms. See also methodology .

A proposed explanation for an observation, phenomenon, or scientific problem that can be tested by further investigation. The positing of a hypothesis is often the first step in quantitative research but not in qualitative research. Even when qualitative researchers offer possible explanations in advance of conducting research, they will tend to not use the word “hypothesis” as it conjures up the kind of positivist research they are not conducting.

The foundational question to be addressed by the research study. This will form the anchor of the research design, collection, and analysis. Note that in qualitative research, the research question may, and probably will, alter or develop during the course of the research.

An approach to research that collects and analyzes numerical data for the purpose of finding patterns and averages, making predictions, testing causal relationships, and generalizing results to wider populations. Contrast with qualitative research .

Data collection that takes place in real-world settings, referred to as “the field;” a key component of much Grounded Theory and ethnographic research. Patton ( 2002 ) calls fieldwork “the central activity of qualitative inquiry” where “‘going into the field’ means having direct and personal contact with people under study in their own environments – getting close to people and situations being studied to personally understand the realities of minutiae of daily life” (48).

The people who are the subjects of a qualitative study. In interview-based studies, they may be the respondents to the interviewer; for purposes of IRBs, they are often referred to as the human subjects of the research.

The branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. For researchers, it is important to recognize and adopt one of the many distinguishing epistemological perspectives as part of our understanding of what questions research can address or fully answer. See, e.g., constructivism , subjectivism, and objectivism .

An approach that refutes the possibility of neutrality in social science research. All research is “guided by a set of beliefs and feelings about the world and how it should be understood and studied” (Denzin and Lincoln 2005: 13). In contrast to positivism , interpretivism recognizes the social constructedness of reality, and researchers adopting this approach focus on capturing interpretations and understandings people have about the world rather than “the world” as it is (which is a chimera).

The cluster of data-collection tools and techniques that involve observing interactions between people, the behaviors, and practices of individuals (sometimes in contrast to what they say about how they act and behave), and cultures in context. Observational methods are the key tools employed by ethnographers and Grounded Theory .

Research based on data collected and analyzed by the research (in contrast to secondary “library” research).

The process of selecting people or other units of analysis to represent a larger population. In quantitative research, this representation is taken quite literally, as statistically representative. In qualitative research, in contrast, sample selection is often made based on potential to generate insight about a particular topic or phenomenon.

A method of data collection in which the researcher asks the participant questions; the answers to these questions are often recorded and transcribed verbatim. There are many different kinds of interviews - see also semistructured interview , structured interview , and unstructured interview .

The specific group of individuals that you will collect data from. Contrast population.

The practice of being conscious of and reflective upon one’s own social location and presence when conducting research. Because qualitative research often requires interaction with live humans, failing to take into account how one’s presence and prior expectations and social location affect the data collected and how analyzed may limit the reliability of the findings. This remains true even when dealing with historical archives and other content. Who we are matters when asking questions about how people experience the world because we, too, are a part of that world.

The science and practice of right conduct; in research, it is also the delineation of moral obligations towards research participants, communities to which we belong, and communities in which we conduct our research.

An administrative body established to protect the rights and welfare of human research subjects recruited to participate in research activities conducted under the auspices of the institution with which it is affiliated. The IRB is charged with the responsibility of reviewing all research involving human participants. The IRB is concerned with protecting the welfare, rights, and privacy of human subjects. The IRB has the authority to approve, disapprove, monitor, and require modifications in all research activities that fall within its jurisdiction as specified by both the federal regulations and institutional policy.

Research, according to US federal guidelines, that involves “a living individual about whom an investigator (whether professional or student) conducting research: (1) Obtains information or biospecimens through intervention or interaction with the individual, and uses, studies, or analyzes the information or biospecimens; or (2) Obtains, uses, studies, analyzes, or generates identifiable private information or identifiable biospecimens.”

One of the primary methodological traditions of inquiry in qualitative research, ethnography is the study of a group or group culture, largely through observational fieldwork supplemented by interviews. It is a form of fieldwork that may include participant-observation data collection. See chapter 14 for a discussion of deep ethnography.

A form of interview that follows a standard guide of questions asked, although the order of the questions may change to match the particular needs of each individual interview subject, and probing “follow-up” questions are often added during the course of the interview. The semi-structured interview is the primary form of interviewing used by qualitative researchers in the social sciences. It is sometimes referred to as an “in-depth” interview. See also interview and interview guide .

A method of observational data collection taking place in a natural setting; a form of fieldwork . The term encompasses a continuum of relative participation by the researcher (from full participant to “fly-on-the-wall” observer). This is also sometimes referred to as ethnography , although the latter is characterized by a greater focus on the culture under observation.

A research design that employs both quantitative and qualitative methods, as in the case of a survey supplemented by interviews.

An epistemological perspective that posits the existence of reality through sensory experience similar to empiricism but goes further in denying any non-sensory basis of thought or consciousness. In the social sciences, the term has roots in the proto-sociologist August Comte, who believed he could discern “laws” of society similar to the laws of natural science (e.g., gravity). The term has come to mean the kinds of measurable and verifiable science conducted by quantitative researchers and is thus used pejoratively by some qualitative researchers interested in interpretation, consciousness, and human understanding. Calling someone a “positivist” is often intended as an insult. See also empiricism and objectivism.

A place or collection containing records, documents, or other materials of historical interest; most universities have an archive of material related to the university’s history, as well as other “special collections” that may be of interest to members of the community.

A method of both data collection and data analysis in which a given content (textual, visual, graphic) is examined systematically and rigorously to identify meanings, themes, patterns and assumptions. Qualitative content analysis (QCA) is concerned with gathering and interpreting an existing body of material.

A word or short phrase that symbolically assigns a summative, salient, essence-capturing, and/or evocative attribute for a portion of language-based or visual data (Saldaña 2021:5).

Usually a verbatim written record of an interview or focus group discussion.

The primary form of data for fieldwork , participant observation , and ethnography . These notes, taken by the researcher either during the course of fieldwork or at day’s end, should include as many details as possible on what was observed and what was said. They should include clear identifiers of date, time, setting, and names (or identifying characteristics) of participants.

The process of labeling and organizing qualitative data to identify different themes and the relationships between them; a way of simplifying data to allow better management and retrieval of key themes and illustrative passages. See coding frame and codebook.

A methodological tradition of inquiry and approach to analyzing qualitative data in which theories emerge from a rigorous and systematic process of induction. This approach was pioneered by the sociologists Glaser and Strauss (1967). The elements of theory generated from comparative analysis of data are, first, conceptual categories and their properties and, second, hypotheses or generalized relations among the categories and their properties – “The constant comparing of many groups draws the [researcher’s] attention to their many similarities and differences. Considering these leads [the researcher] to generate abstract categories and their properties, which, since they emerge from the data, will clearly be important to a theory explaining the kind of behavior under observation.” (36).

A detailed description of any proposed research that involves human subjects for review by IRB. The protocol serves as the recipe for the conduct of the research activity. It includes the scientific rationale to justify the conduct of the study, the information necessary to conduct the study, the plan for managing and analyzing the data, and a discussion of the research ethical issues relevant to the research. Protocols for qualitative research often include interview guides, all documents related to recruitment, informed consent forms, very clear guidelines on the safekeeping of materials collected, and plans for de-identifying transcripts or other data that include personal identifying information.

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CHAPTER 3 QUALITATIVE RESEARCH

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Readings and videos.

Video: How to Write a Research Question: Full Explainer with Clear Examples Grad Coach. (2023, November 23). How to write a research question: Full explainer with clear examples [Video]. YouTube.

Null & Alternative Hypotheses National University. (2024, April 19). Null & alternative hypotheses . Academic Success Center.
Quantitative Research Questions National University. (2024, April 24). Quantitative research questions . Academic Success Center.
Qualitative Research Questions National University. (2024, April 24). Qualitative research questions . Academic Success Center.
Best Practice Guide for Quantitative Research Design and Methods in Dissertations National University School of Business and Economics. (2020). Best practice guide for quantitative research design and methods in dissertations. Graduate Studies Support Center, National University.
Best Practice Guide for Qualitative Research Design and Methods in Dissertations National University School of Business and Economics. (2021). Best practice guide for qualitative research design and methods in dissertations (2nd ed.). Graduate Studies Support Center, National University.
Ways of Constructing Research Questions: Gap-Spotting or Problematization? Sandberg, J., & Alvesson, M. (2011). Ways of constructing research questions: Gap-spotting or problematization? Organization, 18 (1), 23-44.
Video: How to Develop a Strong Research Question Scribbr. (2020, January 2). How to develop a strong research question [Video]. YouTube.

Developing the Research Hypothesis Toledo, A. H., Flikkema, R., & Toledo-Pereyra, L. H. (2011). Developing the Research Hypothesis.  Journal of Investigative Surgery, 24 (5), 191–194.

Week 4 Required Resources

Purpose Statement National University. (2024, April 24). Purpose statement. Academic Success Center.

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Academic Success Center (group coaching sessions on writing a Purpose Statement)
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Home > Books > Innovation and Evolution in Tertiary Education [Working Title]

A Heuristic Determination of Innovative Pedagogical Practices for an Online or Blended Context

Submitted: 09 April 2024 Reviewed: 09 April 2024 Published: 23 May 2024

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.1005342

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Exploring innovative pedagogical practices always includes the matter of how to seek the rationale for engagement, ways of dealing with a concept and how to approach solving a problem. Innovation is viewed as a particular type of problem-solving behaviour that entails refocus of attention and search for alternatives outside the existing domain of standard operations. Exploring innovative pedagogical practices always includes the matter of how to seek the rationale for engagement, ways of dealing with a concept and how to approach solving a problem. This qualitative study was undertaken by a renowned higher education institution in South Africa to explore innovative pedagogical and assessment practices in an online and blended context across beginner student development programmes. It was a heuristic inquiry mainly situated within the social constructivist theory of knowledge and aligned with a phenomenological research model and understanding. The study first explored the existing and standard routines to assist in heuristic-based discovery and action towards making suggestions for improvement and recommendations to enhance practice and ensure increased engagement. The findings point to the need for students’ improved ability to reflect on their own learning by making them more conscious of their own learning and levels of understanding (“I know what I’ve learnt and why”). Deeper insight is needed to develop students’ ability in self-reflection and self-directed learning and to seek insights and gain new skills. The recommendations included reference to collective sense-making, discovery-based and experiential instructional designs, a flipped classroom approach and engaging students in reflective practices through project- and research-based pedagogy.

innovative pedagogical practices
online context
blended context
self-regulation
flipped classrooms
student engagement
project- and research-based pedagogy
holistic approach

Author Information

Rajendran govender *.

Faculty of Education, School of Science and Mathematics Education, University of Western Cape, Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa

Celia Booyse

Akademia, Gauteng, South Africa

*Address all correspondence to: [email protected]

1. Introduction

Through centuries, pedagogical practices were underpinned by approaches varying in focus on what and how teaching and learning need to take place. With a changing landscape, the higher education sector now faces a critical necessity for systemic transformation to promote teaching, learning and assessment practices in a differently framed context and offered on alternative platforms. A holistic approach to the system’s transformation as ultimate goal must also incorporate social justice principles such as inclusivity, equitability, accessibility and connectivity due to the technological divide. Considering that the need for change can happen overnight, as it happened during the COVID-19 context, quick and decisive decision-making is of utmost importance. Decisions about the appropriateness of pedagogies and assessment practices were mainly the most pressing matters in the higher education environment.

Exploring innovative pedagogical practices always includes the matter of how to deal with a concept, seeking the rationale for engagement and solving a problem. Herbert Simon viewed innovation as a particular type of problem-solving behaviour that entails refocus of attention and search for alternatives outside the existing domain of standard operations. This exploration outside of standard routines involves heuristic-based discovery and action, such as satisficing search for information and options [ 1 ].

Recent research on problem-solving has emphasised the connection between reasoning and various cognitive abilities such as intelligence [ 2 ], intellect, attention and working memory. Related issues concern the relationship between beliefs and reasoning, the strength of explanations and evidence in generating and evaluating arguments [ 3 ] and the role of fast, automatic, unconscious reasoning processes versus processes, which are slow, conscious and effortful. There is also the issue of the impact of the group in modifying individual cognitive biases. In all these heuristics, a Greek concept, which means ‘to discover’ stays central.

Another matter that came to the fore is how to cultivate creative and innovative thinking through the implementation of innovative pedagogies. As early as 1929, Alfred North Whitehead warned that teaching and learning were too dominated by a slavish addiction to routine and the presentation of ‘inert ideas—ideas that are merely received into the mind without being utilised, tested thrown into fresh combinations’ [ 4 ]. In the 1970s, Charles Silberman argued that what is mostly wrong with how teaching and learning are taking place is ‘mindlessness.’ Although a persuasive argument can be made that employing principles of mindful instruction aids retention, this sells the power of mindfulness short. Mindfulness is a facilitative state that promotes increased creativity, flexibility and use of information, as well as memory and retention [ 5 ]. It is an enabling state in which individuals tend to feel more in control of their lives. Consequently, the real educational potential of mindfulness lies not in increased performance or raising test scores per se but in addressing some of the other intractable problems of education such as the flexible transfer of skills and knowledge to new contexts, the development of deep understanding, student motivation and engagement, the ability to think critically and creatively and the development of more self-directed students [ 6 , 7 , 8 ].

The consideration of mindfulness, framed in a social constructivist paradigm, could assist in substantially altering the educational landscape.

All the above prompted thinking about a possible change strategy in terms of pedagogy innovation in a blended and online teaching and learning environment. A change strategy not only provides a framework to express long-term goals but also to map and connect backwards the preconditions or requirements necessary to achieve the end goal.

2. Research objective

A study by a renowned higher education institution was undertaken in 2021 to explore innovative pedagogical and assessment practices. The study aimed at identifying innovative pedagogical practices in an online and blended context across beginner student development programmes.

Identify, select and articulate mental models to explain, predict, infer and reflect on their usefulness;

Scaffolding and social negotiation as a process of sharing a reality and understanding;

Consideration of the students’ context and level of prior learning to promote active and independent learning;

Using real life, authentic contexts for learning and assessment. Determining the level of supported case-based (simulated) problems;

A variety of problem-solving methods in various contexts;

Collaboration among students to encourage peer learning, social cohesiveness and understanding;

Collaboration between student and lecturer as mentor and mediator;

Collaborative, project-based learning with complex and real-world problems;

Acknowledge and address issues of equity, including gender, ethnic, geographic or socio-economic contexts.

A second aim was to work in a socio-constructivist paradigm to conceptually unpack ‘innovative pedagogical practices’ and expectancies for online and blended tuition in beginner student development programmes.

Thirdly, the study aims to determine suitable instructional pedagogies to enhance teaching, learning and assessment in online or in blended platforms.

It should be noted that although the full study included both pedagogical and assessment practices, the main focus on the reporting in this article is on teaching and learning.

3. Research paradigm and broad conceptual framework for the research

This qualitative study was situated mainly within the epistemological framework of social constructivist thinking, which concerns itself with the process of how people construct meaning [ 9 , 10 , 11 ] and understanding. Heuristics (to discover or find) were applied to discover appropriate strategies, which include problem/project-based learning, open-ended learning environments, flexible learning and structured and authentic tasks. Frimodig [ 12 ] describes heuristic inquiry as a qualitative, social constructivist and phenomenologically aligned research model. While the investigation embraced human interaction and meaning-making as temporal, embodied and a perceptual act, the phenomenology of perception as elaborated by [ 13 ]was taken into consideration. In the context of educational research, heuristic inquiry has also been described among others, as non-linear, holistic, as well as process- and content-focused. Heuristics is an approach to problem-solving in which the objective is to produce a working solution within a reasonable time frame. The heuristic character of the investigation was empirical, investigative, observational and practical, and the participants were viewed as co-researchers as described by [ 14 ]. The main researcher fulfilled a reflexive role in the interpretation of data to ensure collaboration in the sense-making of the findings. Informed consent was determined and transparency was maintained.

The literature study contained evidence that designing from within a constructivist approach requires a product that is much more facilitative in nature than prescriptive. Assessment should, therefore, also be more formative in character because it does not depend on specific quantitative criteria, but rather the process which includes self-assessment of the student.

3.1 Innovative pedagogical practice (IPP) in ICTs

Practically, IPPs can be modelled, shared and replicated elsewhere, but they need to be instituted properly and ensure that changes are meaningful. As a ‘process,’ IPP involves the implementation of the curriculum innovatively. IPP is an emerging practice that continues to evolve and is open-ended [ 15 ].

In [ 16 ], a study of one hundred and seventy-four cases from 28 different countries found that the use of ICTs in educational institutions is intricately linked with innovative practices. Yuen et al. [ 17 ] argue that effectively, in the absence of ICTs, no IPPs would have happened. Research done by [ 18 ] confirmed that the lack of facilities, infrastructure, technical tools and the internet access is the major drawback for conducting online sessions innovatively. It is, therefore, important to acknowledge that the delivery of quality online education requires a multi-factorial and tailored approach to ensure innovative pedagogical practice [ 19 ]. Findings from research done by [ 20 ] stress the importance of authentic, reflective and collaborative online learning experiences that should be incorporated into the design of online courses. To ensure innovative online practice, [ 21 ] suggests employing design strategies that effectively adapt the course content and pedagogy to a digital context.

3.2 Self-regulation and motivation of students

Self-regulated learning entails the ways how students prepare for take steps in and monitor and evaluate their own learning for self-feedback [ 22 ] while also motivating themselves [ 23 , 24 ]. ICT is considered a crucial lever in school change and educational reform, which can improve student learning opportunities [ 25 , 26 ]. In order to participate effectively in the information society, lecturers and students alike should have new knowledge, work and skills approaches [ 27 ]. Yet one of the key factors that inhibit lecturers from incorporating ICT in class is a knowledge deficiency. Lecturers have two important roles (i) a supportive role, which involves supporting students to make sense of new ideas and cultural tools and (ii) a diagnostic role whereby they continue to examine and monitor the interpretations of actions with a view to put in place better activities and practices in future. There is ample evidence, which shows the significance of encouraging students’ control of the entire learning process [ 28 ]. The need to study self-directed learning is in line with research that shows a growing appreciation of the necessity to encourage student control of the learning process [ 29 ]. Yet for self-regulated learning to materialise, need to be able to choose and personalise from the available the content and tools and also receive the pertinent scaffolding to aid their learning [ 28 ].

Stubbé et al. [ 30 ] are of opinion that self-regulated students can execute learning activities that engender knowledge production, understanding and high-order learning. Case studies showed that the customisation of activities where students made their own commentaries, for example, helped to motivate students. The choice of topics, which are personally meaningful motivated students; in other cases, students could personalise the information using a variety of digital media. Allowing students to convey their ideas at their own pace provided them with the necessary flexibility. Although students produce meaningful and authentic content, they have the freedom to choose various forms from a raft of tools, modalities and media, which could include pictures, text, video and voice.

4. Research methodology

Questionnaires in excel format on both pedagogical and assessment practices assisted in a situational analysis determining the most prominent existing pedagogies in the online teaching and learning environment. Staff members of the Faculty of Education from a prominent higher education institution participated in the study.

Questions included reference to instructional design choices, features of the online practice, the level of student participation in preparatory work prior to the online sessions and the kind of engagement during sessions. Questions on the assessment practice include aspects pertaining to characteristics of assessment tasks, the use of feedback and the expected engagement of students.

The spread sheets on existing pedagogy and assessment practices were submitted per department. All the spread sheets in a department were consolidated in a combined spread sheet per department for the visual presentation of the occurrence of pedagogical and assessment practices.

The online survey was followed up with semi-structured interviews with a sample of the participants representing all the departments in the Faculty of Education. This qualitative input served not only as verification of findings from the survey but was also an opportunity to engage participants in deeper discussions on matters pertaining to instructional design choices, underpinning approaches and assessment practices.

The general framing of their instructional design choices;

Ways in which pedagogy choices differ from the face-to-face offering when the tuition moved online;

The most prominent teaching and learning approaches informing their pedagogy choices;

The kind of preparatory work that they require students to do prior to online sessions;

Kind and level of participation expected of students during the online sessions;

The structure and format of the tuition, learning and assessment tasks and activities during online sessions;

The purpose of feedback;

The format of the feedback provision;

The degree of alignment between assessment tasks and feedback;

The use of feedback during online sessions;

The degree of alignment between intended learning, assessment and feedback;

The kind of reflective processes incorporated in teaching, learning and assessment practices.

Some pointers were found to how a socio-constructivist paradigm could frame innovative pedagogical and assessment practices and expectancies for online and blended tuition. The responses also provided justification of the instructional pedagogies that would be suitable to enhance teaching, learning and assessment in an online or blended teaching and learning environment.

5. Research findings

The responses have been not only analysed on an individual level but also per department in a consolidated spread sheet. The analysis of the individual responses brought insights about concepts not familiar to the participant, practices rarely used and practices mostly used.

The consolidated sheets provided a visual presentation of the percentage of practices never used up to the practices mostly used in a respective department. There were instances where an individual participant deviated from the departmental average. The latter was taken into consideration then establishing the general trends and outliers.

5.1 General trends emanating from the online survey

Research-based courses mostly utilise project briefs. The course character requires investigative practices and action-based activities.

In terms of the structure of online sessions and the place of reflective practices, comments and feedback on tasks and activities are rarely used as introduction to online sessions. Journaling occurs mostly as a reflective activity but is not often used as a pedagogy. Furthermore, journaling is utilised as a tool for students to express understanding of concepts, but not to reflect on challenges or to determine what they still would require guidance to gain a deeper grasp/understanding. By including guiding questions in the journaling would assist the lecturer to monitor not only what the students understand but also to identify gaps in understanding. This means that a greater emphasis on the how and application is necessary.

Focus group discussions are rarely used. Groupwork is mostly incorporated in Years 3 and 4 and seldom in Year 1.

Peer engagement is in instances utilised as assessment practice, but very seldom as pedagogy. Peer participation and motivation are seldom and by exception included in the practice. Peer motivation and assessment seem not in practice at all.

Authentic simulated activities are rarely used as part of instructional design; this should be incorporated in preparation for TP as mini teaching sessions, role play, simulated critical responses, debate and dialogue. It could be that narration of understanding is viewed as part of discussion. Inquiry-based investigations are rarely used in courses other than research methodology.

Lecture and explanation

Narration of concepts

Topic-based discussions

Action-oriented activities

Critical analysis

Inquiry-based investigations

Observation

Problem-based strategies

In instances it seems that ‘’prior knowledge’ is increasingly introduced from the first year up to the fourth year. It is not clear whether the concept is understood to include knowledge in a course or module previously engaged as an abstract knowledge element or concrete everyday knowledge.

Observation and analysis rarely appear as a pedagogy but are in some departments incrementally introduced in assessment tasks.

Feedback is rarely used as a pedagogy. Although feedback is utilised in some instances to motivate and encourage students, feedback as remedial practice or used to monitor and identify knowledge gaps is only utilised by some of the lecturers.

5.2 Findings from departmental responses

5.2.1 department a.

Although a very small sample represents this department, there is still evidence of a consistent instructional choice structure across the offerings. Focus group engagement is rarely included as instructional design choice, but the use of peer engagement and inquiry-based investigations (observations, analysis) are increasingly introduced across the study years.

Peer assessment rarely appears as part of the assessment practices. The higher occurrence quantifier of 3.49 in Year 3 is due to the inclusion of problem-solving activities and authentic simulated activities that appear more often in instructional design choices. Peer discussions of key concepts and group work also appear more often.

The reference to prior knowledge mostly appears in part of Year 4 offerings. It is evident from the participant responses that reflective practices are incrementally introduced across the study years. For instance, students are required to provide a critical analysis in essay format often in Year 3 and 4 assessment tasks. Another element that seems to be incrementally introduced is to require students to analyse and evaluate source material. This could be related to the reading and interpretation as part of the preparatory work required of students prior to tuition sessions.

Students in Years 3 and 4 are also more required to deal with the analysis of tasks prior to commencement. Peer motivation does not appear that often, and Year 3 and 4 students are more required to observe and narrate findings ( Table 1 ).

Department A: Pedagogy profile and assessment alignment in online and blended practices.

5.2.2 Department B

In terms of pedagogical practices, the instructional design choices mostly used are lecturing, explanations and topic-based discussions. Participants rarely include focus group discussions as a design choice. Although research-based tasks are often used in assessment practices, participants indicated that they seldomly use inquiry-based investigations as an instructional design choice. It seems that research is not viewed as a pedagogy, which could have a fast impact on the level of academic literacy of students. Participants prompt student engagement in tuition sessions through the preparatory reading on topics of discussion, and this could be coined into research-based investigations ( Table 2 ).

Department B: Pedagogy and assessment profile.

The responses from the participants show a variance in the choices of instructional design across offerings. Participants offering Year 1 and 2 courses seem to use peer tutoring and collaboration more often. Year 1 and 2 students are expected to engage in peer learning and participate in action-oriented activities. Participants offering courses in Year 2 indicated that they often or mostly use ‘observation and analysis’ and ‘interpretation of a stated problem to provide a solution’ as part of their instructional design choices. The inclusion is evident in the higher occurrence quantifier of 3.56. It could be assumed that observation and analysis would form part of the research in preparation to sessions that resulted in a 3.61 occurrence rating.

Individual remedial feedback is given, mistakes are identified and commented on and feedback is used to encourage students. There is no evidence found that feedback is used as a pedagogy to engage with the depth of learning or to use it as part of reflective practices. Reflection forms part of assessment practices but does not appear often as instructional design choice.

5.2.3 Department C

Peer tutoring and collaboration

Scaffolding of concepts

Observation and analysis

Interpretation of a stated problem to provide a solution

Preparatory reading by students

Department C: Pedagogy and assessment profile.

Although nearly all respondents indicated that they include the narration of concepts and discussion as instructional design choices, it is clear that the narration is not done in focus groups. On average, 43.75% of the respondents across the study years indicated that they do not at all include focus group discussions as an instructional design choice. The highest occurrence was for Year 1 at 57.1%. Although ‘lecturing and explanation’ is mostly included in the delivery choices, only 25% of the respondents indicated that the tuition and online sessions are characterised as ‘transmission of content.’ Contributing to the 3.39 occurrence quantifier in Year 2 is the application of ‘inquiry-based investigations’ and ‘project-based briefs’ as part of tuition and online sessions.

With the exception of offerings to Year 2 students where 75% of the respondents indicated that their tuition sessions are characterised by ‘authentic simulated activities,’ simulations are rarely included in tuition or online sessions. The characteristics of online sessions in high occurrence in Year 2 and 3 offerings are ‘defining concepts’ and ‘topic-based discussions.’ Peer discussions of key concepts are rarely or not at all part of Year 1 tuition sessions. An incremental application to use peer discussions mostly is done by 28,6% and 33.3% of the respondents, respectively in Year 3 and Year 4 offerings. The same tendency is evident regarding the application of group work.

On average, around 65% of the respondents offering tuition to Year 2, 3 and 4 students indicated that they require students to observe, analyse, provide a critical analysis in essay format, deal with problem statements and do preparatory reading and research. The highest occurrence of ‘inquiry-based investigations (observations, analysis)’ appears in offering to Year 2 students. Although it seems that an emphasis is placed on research-based engagements, the requirement to observe and narrate findings is not highly rated.

5.2.4 Department D

Defining concepts

Posing a problem to interpret and make decisions

Transmission of content ( Table 4 )

Department D: Pedagogy and assessment profile.

Varied responses were given regarding the application of reflection and the inclusion of peer tutoring and collaboration as instructional design choices. The application across study years varies as well, where 75% of the respondents offering tuition to Year 2 students seldom or by exception include these in tuition, 43% for Year 3 tuition and 29% for Year 4 tuition.

Focus group discussions

Research in preparation to sessions

Project-based briefs

In terms of pedagogical practice, the use of ‘scaffolding of concepts’ and ‘interpretation of a stated problem to provide a solution’ that are more often used in tuition for Year 4 students contributed to the 2.78 occurrence quantifier.

Tasks to be completed by peers

Research based

Inquiry-based investigations (observations, analysis)

Single answer questions

Simulations

Responses on research done

Journal reflections seldom include a requirement to verbalise the understanding of assessment requirements. This is also evident in the fact that tasks are rarely analysed prior to commencement.

5.2.5 Department E

5.2.5.1 introductory notes.

The student cohort in department E differs from the rest of the departments in the faculty in terms of age, context, student profiles and the qualifications on offer that would include certificate and diploma studies. The cohort includes first-degree studies, as well as mature students and TVET lecturers following courses towards enhancing pedagogical practice in the TVET environment. The principles of andragogy and theories pertaining to supporting lifelong education of adults need to be considered in this regard. Furthermore, the humanistic perspective of self-directed and autonomous learning. as well as the facilitation of learning need to be a core focus in the interpretation of the pedagogy profile and the alignment with assessment practices in this department.

Adult learners usually would like to know why they need to learn about something.

Adults base learning on past experiences and errors made in the learning process.

Adults need to be accountable for their own learning ; this includes decisions on education, involvement in the planning and evaluation of their instruction, as well as the development of autonomy and agency.

Learning that has an immediate relevance to their work and/or personal lives will interest adults most.

Adult learning should be problem-centred rather than content oriented.

Internal motivators mostly drive adult learning to develop a new skill or acquire a particular type of knowledge.

The interpretation of the responses was done in terms of the degree of adherence to the core principles of andragogy and that adult learning is based upon comprehension, organisation and synthesis of knowledge rather than rote memory. Active participation not only in the planning of their learning but also in practical application would be necessary to include in the andragogy and the choices of instructional design. Meaningful engagement, such as posing and answering realistic questions and problems, would be necessary for deeper learning. Adult learners would need to find the reason for learning and would mostly seek information that would improve their situation. Prior experience and context will for sure have an effect on adult learning, therefore the importance to deal with diagnostic assessment practices to determine the completeness and appropriateness of prior learning in a course on offer.

Groupwork, socialisation and peer learning would be beneficial. This means that being in an inviting, collaborative and networking environment as an active participant in the learning process makes it efficient.

5.2.5.2 Findings from survey

The use of prior experience, prior knowledge, the narration of concepts and discussion occur in a high degree as part of the instructional design choices. Reflection is applied in various ways and formats across the offering and the qualification. The same could be said about the scaffolding of concepts which needs to be utilised differently in an andragogy facilitation. The various instructional design choices would mostly be aligned with the requirements of a first degree or whether adult learners are engaged in certification studies or a higher diploma. The variants in the instructional design choices are evident in Table 5 above.

Department E: Pedagogy and assessment profile.

The respondents indicated that they rarely include the interpretation of a stated problem to provide a solution as an instructional design choice. This could be an important value add in enhancing andragogy because of adults’ tendency to seek solutions to improve their current situations. Although narration of concepts and discussion appear as mostly included in the instructional design, it seems not to be done as focus group discussion. The latter could also contribute to more effective engagement of the adult learners.

Another element that is rarely included is preparatory reading. It is not clear whether the lecturers/ facilitators are steering away because of the life-context of most of the adult learners and the possibility of a low engagement because the adults did not engage with the source material or the structure of online sessions as a reason.

6. Recommendations

Collaboration and collective sense-making

Discovery-based and experiential instructional designs

Engaging students through a flipped classroom approach

Project- and research-based pedagogy

Problem-solving as pedagogy

Social just assessment practices

Feedback as feed forward practices

Reflective practices

6.1 Collaboration and collective sense-making

The study pointed to a need for greater collaboration and cross-pollination of good practice across departments and to move away from the silo approach. A study done by [ 31 ] on the experiences and perceptions of students on online learning affirm the effect of collaboration and sharing expertise. The students in the study expressed appreciation for the affordance of an online and open-source learning platform to also engage with seasoned lecturers and field experts that are not attached to their institutions. The ‘lessons learnt’ approach to find evidence of effective experience or what [ 32 ] refers to as ‘collective sense-making and reflection’ would be worthwhile exercises to use in building a knowledge and experience hub. The experts could include representation from professional bodies, clinical expertise or industry field specialists.

Part of the establishment of learning ecosystems and collaboration would be through the establishment of study groups, ‘buddy’ learning and peer learning and assessment, as well as cross-study-year engagement. Ecosystemic changes ought to be visible in improved lecturer-student relationships, as well as the alignment of module content with intended application and assessment tasks.

module reviews to ensure alignment with the rationale of the qualification

content and skill selection and the sequencing thereof

intended learning progression determination

application of suggested pedagogies

student collaboration in peer-observation, tuition, assessment and project-based engagement

6.2 Discovery-based and experiential instructional designs

True to a constructivist epistemology, learning is an active process in which students should learn to discover principles, concepts and facts for themselves. Another proponent of the notion that students should be active participants who construct their own learning [ 33 ], and experience centred in the learning process [ 34 ]. Adopting an experiential learning theory shifts the focus from student-centredness to learning-centredness based on the propositions that learning is a holistic and continuous process of creating knowledge grounded in experience [ 33 ]. Furthermore, that learning results from synergistic transactions between the person and the environment. This means that the students’ ideas, beliefs and practices will be reflected in to the learning environment because individuals make meaning through the interactions with one another and with the environment they live in [ 35 ]. Through practical activity, a student constructs meaning at an intrapersonal level.

6.3 Engaging students through a flipped classroom approach

A number of responses from respondents pointed to the low degree of student engagement prior to and during the online sessions. When moving to an alternative mode of delivery, students need to gain intrinsic motivation for learning and the ability to be self-directed and develop a sense of autonomy. According to the responses students lack in instances self-motivation, self-directed learning and to take responsibility for and initiative in their own learning. The question is then how could student engagement be enhanced? The quest for answers brought the essence of Feuerstein’s theory on the effect of mediated learning experiences [ 36 ]. He claims that ‘ mediated learning experience is an intergenerational relationship determined by the strong need for ensuring continuity beyond the biological existence of the individual to also include cultural and spiritual continuity ’ [ 36 ]. This emphasises the importance of acknowledging the teaching and learning context and different learning styles in instructional design practices and in particular in blended and online teaching and learning environments. It also means considering students’ past experiences and cultural backgrounds in order to connect disparate aspects of experience in a meaningful way. Students can be further guided towards the following that can lead to deepening learning: the sense of competence, regulation and control of behaviour, the sense of belonging, willingness to accept challenges, goal setting and goal planning and finding optimistic alternatives.

Aligned with the discussion on mediation, it is worthwhile mentioning that mediation is centre to the application of a flipped classroom in increasing student motivation, confidence and engagement [ 22 , 37 ]. As we know, a flipped classroom is an instructional strategy that steers away from lecturing as the only mode of delivery by aiming to increase student engagement and learning. The characteristics of the flipped classroom method are active participative learning, student involvement, mixed course design and podcasting. Pre-recorded lessons could be used to inform further discussion or as preparatory work towards class activities, assignments or further discussions.

The main goal of the flipped classroom approach is to reverse traditional models by having the students to complete readings and do preparatory work prior to in class or online engagement. The ‘flipped classroom’ method could also result in students deploying the skills and bringing about more effective engagement with the subject matter and fellow students, necessary for any work environment. However, care and attention will need to be given to supporting students, guiding them through the course material and providing meaningful forms of assessment that maximise the benefits of co-creating their learning [ 37 ]. The focus in the latter would be on problem-solving, reporting on analysis/research/ investigation, reporting on peer engagement, providing feedback to peers, contributing to a discussion, etc. The use of case studies and simulations is appropriate for preparation prior to whole group engagement.

Students need to be involved from the planning stage of a flipped classroom model and commit to the implementation of the model. For the lecturer, some additional thinking and preparation in guiding students would be necessary. It requires a systematic and evidence-based approach in instructional design and the choice of teaching and learning strategies. Philip et al. [ 38 ] reiterates that providing a clear definition of learning objectives from the start and ensuring that all activities are aligned to achieve the desired objectives will result in deep learning.

In many instances, lecturers following a flipped classroom model would post short video lectures online for students to view at home prior to the next class session. Questions and additional reading material would flow from the online lecture to guide students in their preparation for the whole group engagement. These online sessions (in-class sessions) would then be devoted to expanding on and mastering the material through discussions, reporting on findings, collaborative learning exercises and projects.

Findings from research on the effect of flipped classrooms point to the positive influences of this approach on the level of student satisfaction, as well as the extent of engagement in in-session activities [ 39 ]. Specific aspects of the learning experience can be identified for improvement. The research furthermore revealed that students have more control over their own learning because they can review expectancies in their own time without the time pressure in an online session. The grasping of concepts becomes easier as well. There are reports on an increase in student performance and attitude towards learning. Lecturers reported on a more positive behaviour and engagement.

The application of the flipped classroom pedagogy will compel students to take responsibility for learning and manage preparatory tasks. The pedagogy prompts students to actively participate in learning and increases peer learning, collaboration and a sense of own meaning-making. The latter encourages students to become more self-directed in their learning. In respect of peer learning, the introduction of a ‘buddy’ system in class will ensure that students look after their ‘buddies’ if they are absent from class engagement. In this way, students will not fall behind on class activities, even if they are not in class/ online due to ill health or other reasons.

Alternative forms of student participation, for instance, tasks to be completed in pairs, tasks to be completed in small groups and tasks requiring individual preparation for whole-classroom discussion could be used for flipped classroom activities. Preparation, pre-reading and research tasks done before class would enhance classroom discussions and engagement and allow for more reflection on the depth of understanding of concepts and learning material.

6.4 Project- and research-based pedagogy

Project-based learning (PBL) is an innovative approach to learning that teaches a multitude of strategies critical for success in the twenty-first century. Students drive their own learning through inquiry, as well as work collaboratively to research and create projects that reflect their knowledge. From gleaning new, viable technology skills, to becoming proficient communicators and advanced problem solvers, students benefit from this approach to instruction [ 40 ].

Project-based learning provides the opportunity to embrace various ways of learning through the inclusion of, for instance, theories of play, biomimicry and sociotechnical approaches. The effect of project-based teaching on learning could lead to students being more motivated to engage in learning activities, even if the activities are challenging and require deeper thinking. This will also lead to a more positive attitude towards learning and their willingness to engage in more challenging tasks might improve when engaged in a project [ 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 ].

Low achievers’ academic performance improves through project-based learning [ 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 ]. This is also true for the academic performance of students with a low socio-economic status and minority students [ 49 , 50 ].

Students’ level of collaboration and the willingness to narrate their own understanding will improve through participation in project-based teaching, learning and assessment [ 31 , 40 , 47 , 51 , 52 ].

Students learn to analyse, evaluate and make assumptions and become able to synthesise understanding [ 40 , 53 , 54 , 55 ].

Students learn to apply new knowledge and skills in unfamiliar situations and environments [ 48 , 50 , 56 ].

The experiential nature of project-based learning improves long-term knowledge retention, thus improving the ability of students to recall learnt information during summative assessments [ 47 , 48 ].

Critical and innovative thinking skills, collaboration and the ability to solve problems are developed [ 57 ].

Technology skills are developed [ 58 ].

Language skill development takes place through authentic communication activities and engagement in interpreting expectancies of a brief or project requirements [ 42 , 59 ].

As indicated in item i above, project-based learning increases students’ level of motivation, which includes internal and external motivation. Internal motivation would also include how students deal with learning and goal setting, as well as the attitude towards assessment [ 22 ]. External motivation would include peer learning, lecturer/ facilitator encouragement and the teaching environment to assist in students taking responsibility for their own learning.

Guiding students through the application of project-based learning deepens self-directedness, the responsibility for learning and the cognition of what they still need to work on to gain a good understanding of the content dealt with. Students’ interaction with peers through project-based learning develops their belief in what they can do (self-efficacy). The social interaction and teamwork involve persuasion and encouragement to participate and might just foster courage in the shy or insecure student to engage in group discussions and to speak in front of the bigger group [ 60 ]. Most students will find project-based learning enjoyable, stimulating and encouraging.

The major features of project-based learning are aligned with socio-constructivist thinking, namely, that a student can construct knowledge in a social environment and use language as a narrative tool to express understanding. As indicated in item iii above, collaboration is one of the key features of project-based learning. In a project-based tuition setting, the students are divided into groups and given different roles and responsibilities, while the lecturer remains the facilitator and provides guidance throughout the learning process [ 61 ]. The lecturer needs to ensure that dynamics are managed in such a way that the environment is conducive for all group members to participate. Group dynamics must be managed well to ensure that students will participate fully during the completion of projects. In this regard, group members need to agree on processes, responsibilities and actions to ensure academic performance of the whole group [ 62 ].

Findings from literature reveal that when a lecturer facilitates group work effectively, and there is cooperation and discussion among groups, students will be able to deal with the subjects thoroughly and contribute to each other’s learning [ 47 , 52 , 63 ]. Through collaboration, students become friends with the openness to give each other constructive feedback and help each other reach personal goals [ 40 ]. In this way, the students become a community of practice who help each other when they are faced with academic challenges. This also provides the opportunity to introduce peer learning, peer assessment and small study groups. A concern could be raised over the difficulty of evaluating each member of a group; criterion-referenced modelling, as well as taxonomies and rubrics, are of great value in this regard. Of importance is that lecturers need to conceptualise projects effectively to allow students to gain substantially from the benefits of project-based learning.

Project-based learning also assists in developing interdisciplinary knowledge and solving interdisciplinary problems [ 64 , 65 , 66 ]. This could be a useful tool to assist in steering away from a silo approach and embrace interdepartmental collaboration and contributions towards the enhancement of teaching and learning in the Faculty of Education.

Since learning takes place in a social environment in project-based learning, it is important for the teaching to incorporate content and skills development in the instructional design. The aim is to ensure lasting skills that are transferable and can be applied in different settings. Project-based learning is a tool that encourages collaborative thinking and sense-making, critical thinking and the creation of new ideas to approach and solve problems. There are many examples of how social skills are developed through the application of project-based learning [ 60 , 63 ]. One could, therefore, argue that these skills advance the holistic development of students, thus positioning them to be well-rounded individuals. What is important to note is that if these skills are learnt consistently over time, students will master and develop long-term learning strategies [ 40 ]. This implies that project-based learning can facilitate real-life learning experiences and create an environment that hosts an authoritative learning community focused on academic achievement, self-development and communal interests. Modelling authentic problems for students provides them an opportunity to apply knowledge and skills by making connections between real-life experiences and the teaching-learning environment [ 50 , 56 ].

In accordance with the real-life context, the project-based learning approach permits students to respond to questions through a prolonged investigative process [ 48 ]. This reiterates the close alignment between project-based teaching, learning and assessment, research and academic literacy. A project expects the student to follow a brief, search for applicable and appropriate information, mapping a response path, test possibilities and seek solutions to hypotheses and questions posed. The adoption of project-based teaching, learning and assessment would incorporate the development of research skills, interpretation, critical analysis and the writing up of findings. The embedment of research-based activities and assignments and the prominent development of academic literacy from the first year of study will deepen the modelling of research on practice and strengthen academic literacies. The progressive strengthening of academic reading and writing through scaffolding reading, critical questioning, the design of analysis tools and mapping an investigative path would impact positively on research methodology and the ability to develop a strong research proposal in later years.

6.5 Problem-solving as pedagogy

Seeking alternative pedagogical practices makes it necessary to find different ways to deal with a concept, how deeper engagement could be established and how to use problem-solving as a pedagogy. The role of reasoning and how to generate opinions and evidence-based arguments is crucial.

The connection between reasoning and various cognitive abilities such as intelligence, intellect, attention and working memory is reiterated by research done by [ 2 ]. Related issues in considering problem-solving as a pedagogy are the relationship between beliefs and reasoning, the strength of explanations and evidence in generating and evaluating arguments [ 3 ]. This means that the kind of problem that needs solving will require fast, automatic and unconscious reasoning processes, but complex problems might require conscious and effortful engagement and interpretation.

There is also the issue of the impact of the group in modifying individual cognitive biases in addressing a problem that needs solving. From the respondents’ responses to the survey questions, all the above became evident. Respondents made it clear that they had to find new ways to engage, to motivate, to communicate and to find support.

6.6 Self-directedness and thinking dispositions

From the respondents’ responses, it seems that self-regulation needs to be instilled in many of the students to also be willing to adapt to new learning environments. Self-management, responsibility of own learning and being accountable for managing own time effectively, the ability to develop sound working relationships and the ability to work effectively as part of a group are abilities highlighted in the [ 67 ] level descriptors. The accountability includes supervisory responsibility for others and for the responsible use of resources, where appropriate.

The management of own learning also entails the ability to evaluate his or her performance or the performance of others in an effort to promote the learning of others too. This also means that students need to identify, evaluate and address his or her learning needs in a self-directed manner and to facilitate collaborative learning processes [ 67 ].

Examples of the effect and worth of self-regulation, self-management and self-directed learning include research by [ 68 ] and the reporting of [ 69 ] on a case where information technology (IT) fundamental course students replaced textbooks with pocket PCs; they used the PCs to search for IT words in an active, student-centred approach. As peer/reciprocal form of teaching, the students selected topics of interest to them and worked in pairs to produce video podcasts on a topic in the module and would share their assignment with the whole class. Sample video podcasts were provided as examples and the lecturer provided scaffolding in technical parts of the assignments.

Another report is where students studying towards a Master of Library and Information Studies worked collaboratively using a wiki to produce a web-based information guide. Working autonomously, groups of students used instructor guidelines to produce three deliverables, a resource guide, a presentation to the rest of the class and an online journal in which students documented and reflected on their experiences. In another instance, students worked on lecturer-directed (top down) and student-directed (bottom up) activities, which allowed for high levels of empowerment and freedom. Some of the activities were not directly graded, rather students had to show evidence of accomplishing the activities. Students had a particular time period in which they had to contribute 500 words fortnightly. These examples just show that online and blended learning requires student participation to keep them motivated, engaged and focused.

Moving to an alternative mode of delivery also requires the development of new dispositions of thinking about teaching and learning [ 22 ]. This would include a new way of interpreting programme content and in what sequence the offering needs to be planned. Even something so simplistic as allowing students to convey their ideas provided them with the necessary flexibility and motivation to participate. Staff’s deeper thinking in terms of various forms of engagement needs to be addressed, which could be anything from media such as pictures, text, video and voice to a work-integrated learning strategies, teaching and clinical practices.

7. Concluding remarks

As indicated in the background and introduction, exploring innovative pedagogical relates to a change in approach that entails a refocus of attention and search for alternatives outside the existing domain of standard operations. This study first explored the existing and standard routines to assist in heuristic-based discovery and action towards making suggestions for improvement and recommendations to enhance practice and ensure increased engagement. The findings point to the need for students’ improved ability to reflect on their own learning by making them more conscious of their own learning and levels of understanding (“I know what I’ve learnt and why”). Deeper insight is needed to develop the ability to engage in self-reflection and for students to be able to identify the next step in their learning and to deepen the ability to seek out and gain new skills.

An increase in occurrence of mediated and reflective processes. This will be evident in the lecturers’ choice of models as based on descriptions that need to be included in the modules of how to negotiate and articulate mental models, using those models to explain, predict infer and reflect on their utility;

The degree of students’ online engagement and level of preparedness on pre-platform reading;

The inclusion of students in data analysis and reflection processes and to determine the level of engagement in self-reflection about their competencies, as well as decision-making and problem-solving activities;

The acceptance of socio-constructivist co-meaning-making engagements and degree of introduction of peer tutoring and reflection;

Lecturers’ utilisation of authentic contexts for learning, supported by case-based (simulated) problems, which have been derived from and situated in the real world (this will be evident in the alignment of content, task and assessment practices);

The inclusion of a variety of problem-solving methods because problems in one context are different from problems in other contexts;

The establishment of study groups and buddy learning;

The incorporation of various learning and assessment tasks aligned with socio-constructivist principles.

The changes that the innovative pedagogies should bring about and ought to be evident in the improved lecturer-student relationships, as well as the alignment of module content with intended application, learning outcomes and assessment tasks. Student performance and the monitoring of throughput rate would be a quantitative measurement indicator.

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research design. The study adopts a qualitative research design. The qualitative design is a holistic process of inquiry that seeks to understand a social or human " problem" rather thanbeing "based on a theorytesting composed of variables, measured with numbers and analyzed with statistical procedures," as occurs in the quantitative ...
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Chapter 2. Research Design. Chapter 3. A Short Chapter on Epistemology (How Do We Know What We Know?) ... Finding a Research Question and Approaches to Qualitative Research. Chapter 4. Finding a Research Question and Approaches to Qualitative Research ... Examples of "Sample" Sections in Journal Articles . 70 . Final Words . 72 . Further ...
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Chapter 3. Designing a Qualitative Study 45 they espouse for doing a qualitative study. As compared to a similar table I designed almost 10 years ago in the first edition of this book (drawing on other authors), qualitative research today involves closer attention to the interpretive nature of inquiry and situating the study within the political,
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use of methods. Qualitative methods such as interviews and focus groups, as CHAPTER THREE Qualitative Methods This chapter explores: (1) How researchers may formulate their research questions. (2) Qualitative methods that can be used to elicit information and data from activists—including interviews and focus groups, and ethnography and fi eld-
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3.2.2.1 Conceptual phase. In the conceptual phase the research question namely what is the perception of nurses of pain in the elderly suffering from Alzheimer's disease and objectives were formulated for the purpose of the study (see chapter 1, sections 1.5.1 and 1.6). The research question evolved due to the researcher's involvement in ...
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Chapter 5 explains why this is so and what qualities instead make a good sample for qualitative research. Chapter 6 addresses the importance of reflexivity in qualitative research. Related to epistemological issues of how we know anything about the social world, qualitative researchers understand that we the researchers can never be truly ...
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3.1 INTRODUCTION. The qualitative research design was used in the study. In-depth individual interviews were conducted with loveLife counselors to understand the impact of HIV and AIDS on adolescent sexual conduct (Struwig & Stead, 2001). The method was based on the phenomenological methodology, as the researcher wished to describe the ...
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This is followed by stating the population, the sample and sampling procedures. The chapter also outlines the methods of data collection and the plan for data analysis. Lastly issues related to the reliability, validity and bias are discussed. 3.2 RESEARCH DESIGN According to Cormack (1996), the research design represents the major methodological
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Graduate Studies Support Center, National University. Best Practice Guide for Qualitative Research Design and Methods in Dissertations. National University School of Business and Economics. (2021). Best practice guide for qualitative research design and methods in dissertations (2nd ed.).
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3. Research paradigm and broad conceptual framework for the research. This qualitative study was situated mainly within the epistemological framework of social constructivist thinking, which concerns itself with the process of how people construct meaning [9, 10, 11] and understanding. Heuristics (to discover or find) were applied to discover ...
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A case study is an in-depth, detailed examination of a particular case (or cases) within a real-world context. For example, case studies in medicine may focus on an individual patient or ailment; case studies in business might cover a particular firm's strategy or a broader market; similarly, case studies in politics can range from a narrow happening over time like the operations of a specific ...
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The validity test technique in this study uses data source triangulation and method triangulation. This research was carried out for three cycles with four stages each, namely planning, implementation, observation, and reflection. The steps for implementing Quizizz's media-assisted talking stick model use the 11 steps described in chapter 2.
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This chapter orients the reader towards the book's research objectives, sociological approach, methodology, theoretical framework, and general arguments. It provides important justifications on why sociological perspectives and research methods are necessary to translate the theological concepts of Pope Francis's Synod on Synodality into ...
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