chapter 1 research 2

Research Methods

Chapter 2 introduction.

Maybe you have already gained some experience in doing research, for example in your bachelor studies, or as part of your work.

The challenge in conducting academic research at masters level, is that it is multi-faceted.

The types of activities are:

• Finding and reviewing literature on your research topic;
• Designing a research project that will answer your research questions;
• Collecting relevant data from one or more sources;
• Analyzing the data, statistically or otherwise, and
• Writing up and presenting your findings.

Some researchers are strong on some parts but weak on others.

We do not require perfection. But we do require high quality.

Going through all stages of the research project, with the guidance of your supervisor, is a learning process.

The journey is hard at times, but in the end your thesis is considered an academic publication, and we want you to be proud of what you have achieved!

Probably the biggest challenge is, where to begin?

• What will be your topic?
• And once you have selected a topic, what are the questions that you want to answer, and how?

In the first chapter of the book, you will find several views on the nature and scope of business research.

Since a study in business administration derives its relevance from its application to real-life situations, an MBA typically falls in the grey area between applied research and basic research.

The focus of applied research is on finding solutions to problems, and on improving (y)our understanding of existing theories of management.

Applied research that makes use of existing theories, often leads to amendments or refinements of these theories. That is, the applied research feeds back to basic research.

In the early stages of your research, you will feel like you are running around in circles.

You start with an idea for a research topic. Then, after reading literature on the topic, you will revise or refine your idea. And start reading again with a clearer focus ...

A thesis research/project typically consists of two main stages.

The first stage is the research proposal .

Once the research proposal has been approved, you can start with the data collection, analysis and write-up (including conclusions and recommendations).

Stage 1, the research proposal consists of he first three chapters of the commonly used five-chapter structure :

• Chapter 1: Introduction
• An introduction to the topic.
• The research questions that you want to answer (and/or hypotheses that you want to test).
• A note on why the research is of academic and/or professional relevance.
• Chapter 2: Literature
• A review of relevant literature on the topic.
• Chapter 3: Methodology

The methodology is at the core of your research. Here, you define how you are going to do the research. What data will be collected, and how?

Your data should allow you to answer your research questions. In the research proposal, you will also provide answers to the questions when and how much . Is it feasible to conduct the research within the given time-frame (say, 3-6 months for a typical master thesis)? And do you have the resources to collect and analyze the data?

In stage 2 you collect and analyze the data, and write the conclusions.

• Chapter 4: Data Analysis and Findings
• Chapter 5: Summary, Conclusions and Recommendations

This video gives a nice overview of the elements of writing a thesis.

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7 Writing the Research Paper

Writing in a formal, academic, and technical manner can prove a difficult transition for clinicians turned researchers; however, there are several ways to improve your professional writing skills.  This chapter should be considered a collection of tools to consider as you work to articulate and disseminate your research.

Chapter 7: Learning Objectives

This is it! You’re ready to tell the world of the work you’ve done. As you prepare to write your research paper, you’ll be able to

• Discuss the most general components of a research paper
• Articulate the importance of framing your work for the reader using a template based on the research approach
• Identify the major components of a manuscript describing original research
• Identify the major components of a manuscript describing quality improvement projects
• Contrast the specifications of guidelines and protocols
• Identify the major components of a narrative review

Guiding Principles

Although it is wise to identify a potential journal or like avenue as you begin to write up you research, this is not always feasible. For this reason, it is a good idea to have an adequate understanding of the general expectations of what is required of written research articles and manuscripts. Here are some things to keep in mind:

Consider the articles you read

As you begin to research potential research interests, pay close attention to the style of writing found in peer-reviewed and academic journals.  You will notice that the ‘tone’ of ‘voice’ is often formal and rarely uses the first-person narrative.  You will be expected to develop writing of this caliber in order to be published in a reputable peer-reviewed forum.  One of the most difficult concepts for novice researchers to understand is that professional or technical writing is very different from casual or conversational writing.  There is little room for anecdotes, opinions, or overly descriptive narratives.  Keep your writing succinct and focused.

Keep it simple, silly! (KISS)

Recall when you were first introduced to writing a paper in an early English Composition course.  It is likely that you were told that the key components of a paper are the introduction, body, and conclusion.  This is truly the foundational structure of any good paper.  Consider the following outline for your writing assignments:

Introduction

• Brief overview of the topic which identifies the gap of understanding about a particular topic that you hope to address (why is it important?)
• Statement of problem (what issue are you going to address?)
• Purpose statement/thesis statement (what is the objective of this paper?)

Typically the body of the paper will be broken down into themes or elements outlined in the introduction.  Occasionally rather than themes or topics to be addressed, the ‘body’ of the paper will have specific components such as a literature review, methodology, data analysis, discussion, and/or recommendation section.  Each of these sections may have specific requirements within that section. Later in this chapter, you will be introduced to specific requirements of different types of research papers.

The body of any paper is the ‘meat and potatoes’ of the work.  That is, this is the section wherein you both present and explain your ideas in support of the purpose of the paper (described in the introduction).  The body of your paper, regardless of specific structure, is where the majority of your evidentiary base should be included.  That is, many of the statements you make in these sections will require substantiation from outside resources.  It is vital to include appropriate citations of all references used. To save yourself time, cite and reference correctly as you write. Doing so will help ensure that you stay organized as your work evolves.

Sections such as methods or data analyses, will not require as much substantiation and should be considered very ‘cut and dry’. That is, there will be little to no discussion or interpretation of the evidence here. Results sections, similarly, should be focused on the presentation of results specific to your investigation, including statistical analyses. When reporting results of your work consider the format and whether it makes sense to summarize results in a table, figure, or appendix. The appropriate method will depend on both the type and amount of information that you are trying to convey.

The discussion section is the point at which you should frame your results in the context of your interpretation of the existing literature and how your work addresses the gap in knowledge. You’ll work to substantiate your interpretation by utilizing references to present evidence to support your rational. Pay close attention to your approach as you discuss your results and the impact of your work. Be careful not to make declarative statements if your data does not support a cause-and-effect relationship. Additionally, be careful not to draw inference as a result of bias. That is, use caution in skewing the evidence to support your hypothesis.

The conclusion is exactly that.  This is your opportunity to wrap your thoughts up succinctly.  A good conclusion will remind the reader of the point or focus of the paper, reiterate the arguments outlined in the body as well as summarize any discussion or recommendations posed in those respective sections, and articulate what the content of the paper added to the knowledge base of the subject.  This is not a time to introduce new arguments, concepts, or evidence.  The reader should be able to finish the paper understanding the purpose of the paper, the main arguments, and the impact of the work on the subject.

References should be cited correctly in text as well as appropriately formatted at the end of each body of work. The format of your references will depend on the guidelines required of the intended journal or forum you’re submitting to. For example, papers written utilizing the American Psychological Association (APA) formatting standards will include reference pages which are organized on a separate page, titled ‘References’, and organized alphabetically by author surname. If you’re not quite sure of where you’ll be submitting your paper for publication, it may be best to write using APA format; because the references are listed in ascending alphabetical order, adding or removing references during the revision process will be minimally impactful on the designation of subsequent references. Altering your references can then be done once you identify a method of dissemination and review specific guidelines.

Understanding how to present your work can be difficult. It’s one thing to plan and do the research; it’s quite another to put it down on paper in a logical and articulate way. As we discussed in chapters 1 and 2, planning is essential to the success of your research. Similarly, planning the layout of your manuscript will help ensure that you stay both organized and focused. Although most articles can be generalized as having an introduction, body, and conclusion; the specific components within each of those sections varies depending on the approach to research.

Original Research

Although many journals may outline specific requirements for how your manuscript or research paper is to be formatted, there are some generally acceptable formats. One of the most generalizable formats is referred to as IMRaD. IMRaD is an acronym and includes the following elements:

• Introduction- 25%
• Methods- 25%
• Results- 35%
• Discussion/conclusion- 15%
• Clearly state the focus for the work. Provide a brief overview of the issue and the gap in knowledge identified; including both a problem and purpose statement in the context of what is currently understood about the topic. This is where you ‘reel’ the reader in and also highlight the important themes which are consistently addressed in the existing literature.
• General and specific approaches
• Participant selection/randomization
• Instrumentation/measurements utilized
• Here is where you report specific findings and outcomes of your work. There should be very little discussion in this section. Rather, you should present your results and comment, briefly, on how this may relate to the existing literature and state the bottom line. That is, what do these findings suggest. These succinct comments should frame the lens of the discussion section.
• In the discussion section you can further elaborate on your interpretation, based in the evidence, of how your findings relate to what other researchers have found. You can discuss flaws in your work as well as suggestions for direction of future research. You should address each of the main points you presented in your introduction section(s).

QI Projects

When presenting your QI project; a systematic reporting tool, such as the SQUIRE method , is helpful to ensure that you appropriately present the information in a way that both adds to the understanding of the problem as well as a descriptive approach to solving the issue.

SQUIRE Method

Titling your QI project

• Your title should indicate that the project addresses a specific initiative to improve healthcare.

Example of QI Project title

Quality Improvement Initiative to Standardize High Flow Nasal Cannula for Bronchiolitis: Decreases Hospital and Intensive Care Stay

• Addresses specific initiative to improve healthcare
• Directly identifies the bounds and focus of the project
• Provide enough information to help with searching and indexing of your work
• Summarize all key findings in the format required by the publication. Typical sections include background (including statement of the problem), methods, intervention, results, and conclusion
• Include a description on the nature and significance of the problem
• Summary of what is currently understood about the problem
• Overview of framework, model, concepts and/or theory used to explain the problem. Include an assumptions, delimitations, or definitions used to both describe the problem as well as develop the intervention and why the intervention was intended to work.
• Describe the purpose of the project
• Describe the contextual elements relevant to both the problem and intervention (e.g. environmental factors contributing to the problem)
• Include team-based approach, if applicable
• Describe the approach used to assess the impact of the intervention as well as what approach was used to evaluate/assess the intervention
• What tools did you use to study both the process and intervention and why?
• What tools are in place for ongoing assessment of efficacy of the project?
• How is completeness and accuracy of the data measured?
• Describe the quantitative/qualitative methods used to draw inference from the data collected
• Describe how ethical considerations were addressed and whether the project was overseen by an Institutional Review Board (IRB)
• Initial steps of intervention and evolution over time; including modifications to the intervention or project
• Details of the process measures and outcome
• Key findings including relevance to the rational and specific aims
• Strengths of the projects
• Nature of the association between intervention and outcome
• Comparison of the findings with those of other publications
• Impact of the project
• Reasons for differences between observed and anticipated outcomes; include contextual rationale
• Costs and strategic implications
• Limits to the generalizability of the work
• Factors that may have limited internal validity (e.g. confounding variables, bias, design)
• Efforts made to minimize or adjust for limitations
• Usefulness of the work
• Sustainability
• Potential for application to other contexts
• Implications for practice and further study
• Suggested next steps
• This section would be included if you received funding for the projects.

Narrative Reviews

As mentioned in chapter 2, development of either guidelines or protocols is an intensive process which often requires a systematic team approach to ensure that the scope and purpose of the work is as generalizable as possible. The best approach for the development of guidelines can be found by reviewing the World Health Organization handbook for guideline development .

Presenting a narrative review of a topic is an excellent way to contribute to the knowledge base on a particular subject as well as to provide framework for development of a protocol or guideline. The elements included in presentation of a narrative review are not all that different from those of traditional research studies; however, there are some notable differences. Here is a brief outline of what should be included in a quality narrative review, adapted from Green, Johnson, and Adams (2006) and Ferarri (2015):

• Objective: State the purpose of the paper
• Background: Describe why the paper is being written; include problem statement and/or research question
• Methods: Include methods used to conduct the review; including those used to evaluate articles for inclusion into your work
• Discussion: Frame the findings of the review in the context of the problem
• Conclusion: State what new information your work contributes as a result of your review and synthesis
• Key words: List MeSH terms and words that may help organize and/or locate your work
• Clearly state the focus for the work. Provide a brief overview of the issue and the gap in knowledge identified; including both a problem and purpose statement
• Provide an overview of how information related to the review was located. This includes what terms were searched and where as well as why studies were included in your review. Delimiting your search is important to describe the scope of the review
• Themes or constructs should be identified throughout the review of the literature and arranged in a way such that the discussion of the theme and the link to the evidence should directly address the purpose of your inquiry
• What sets a review apart from an annotated bibliography is synthesis of the evidence around major points identified consistently throughout the research (i.e. themes). Both consensus and diverging approaches should be included in the discussion of the evidence. This should not be considered simply a comparison of the existing evidence, but should be framed through the lens of the author’s interpretation of that evidence.
• Tie back to the purpose as well as the major conclusions identified in the review. No new information should be discussed here, apart from suggestions for future research opportunities

An extremely important part of disseminating your work is ensuring that you have correctly attributed thoughts and content that you did not create. Depending on the nature of your research, discipline, or intended publication, the format by which you list your references or outline resources utilized may differ. Regardless of referencing formatting guidelines, it is imperative to keep your references organized as you draft different iterations of your work. For example, it may be easier to draft your work utilizing American Psychological Association (APA) formatting guidelines, which arrange references by author’s last name, in ascending alphabetical order, than in other formats which require that references be numbered in order of appearance in the text. As you add, delete, or rearrange references within the text of your manuscript, it may be both difficult and time consuming to constantly re-number each of your references. Note : Depending on the reference guidelines for your intended journal, you may be required to list the abbreviated names of journals. Finding this information can be difficult. Consider this resource for locating and identifying how best to list journal titles within a reference.

Key Takeaways

• Identifying an appropriate outline for the research approach you selected is essential to developing a publishable manuscript
• Academic writing is formal in both voice and tone
• Academic writing is technical
• Refrain from the use of the first person narratives, including anecdotes, or interjecting your unsubstantiated opinion
• All research papers have an introduction, body, and conclusion
• Specific components of the introduction and body will vary depending on the approach
• Proper citation, referencing, or attributing must be included in all work

Green, B.N., Johnson, C.D., & Adams, A. (2006). Writing narrative literature reviews for peer-reviewed journals: Secrets of the trade. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, 3 (5), 101-117.

Ferrari, R. (2015). Writing narrative style literature reviews. The European Medical Writers Association, 2 4(4), 230-235. doi: 10.1179/2047480615Z.000000000329

SQUIRE. (2017). Explanation and elaboration of SQUIRE 2.0 guidelines . SQUIRE. http://www.squire-statement.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Page.ViewPage&pageId=504

World Health Organization. (2020). WHO handbook for guideline development, 2nd Ed . World Health Organization. https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/145714

Practical Research: A Basic Guide to Planning, Doing, and Writing Copyright © by megankoster. All Rights Reserved.

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• Research paper

Writing a Research Paper Introduction | Step-by-Step Guide

Published on September 24, 2022 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on March 27, 2023.

The introduction to a research paper is where you set up your topic and approach for the reader. It has several key goals:

• Present your topic and get the reader interested
• Provide background or summarize existing research
• Position your own approach
• Detail your specific research problem and problem statement
• Give an overview of the paper’s structure

The introduction looks slightly different depending on whether your paper presents the results of original empirical research or constructs an argument by engaging with a variety of sources.

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Table of contents

Step 1: introduce your topic, step 2: describe the background, step 3: establish your research problem, step 4: specify your objective(s), step 5: map out your paper, research paper introduction examples, frequently asked questions about the research paper introduction.

The first job of the introduction is to tell the reader what your topic is and why it’s interesting or important. This is generally accomplished with a strong opening hook.

The hook is a striking opening sentence that clearly conveys the relevance of your topic. Think of an interesting fact or statistic, a strong statement, a question, or a brief anecdote that will get the reader wondering about your topic.

For example, the following could be an effective hook for an argumentative paper about the environmental impact of cattle farming:

A more empirical paper investigating the relationship of Instagram use with body image issues in adolescent girls might use the following hook:

Don’t feel that your hook necessarily has to be deeply impressive or creative. Clarity and relevance are still more important than catchiness. The key thing is to guide the reader into your topic and situate your ideas.

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This part of the introduction differs depending on what approach your paper is taking.

In a more argumentative paper, you’ll explore some general background here. In a more empirical paper, this is the place to review previous research and establish how yours fits in.

Argumentative paper: Background information

After you’ve caught your reader’s attention, specify a bit more, providing context and narrowing down your topic.

Provide only the most relevant background information. The introduction isn’t the place to get too in-depth; if more background is essential to your paper, it can appear in the body .

Empirical paper: Describing previous research

For a paper describing original research, you’ll instead provide an overview of the most relevant research that has already been conducted. This is a sort of miniature literature review —a sketch of the current state of research into your topic, boiled down to a few sentences.

This should be informed by genuine engagement with the literature. Your search can be less extensive than in a full literature review, but a clear sense of the relevant research is crucial to inform your own work.

Begin by establishing the kinds of research that have been done, and end with limitations or gaps in the research that you intend to respond to.

The next step is to clarify how your own research fits in and what problem it addresses.

Argumentative paper: Emphasize importance

In an argumentative research paper, you can simply state the problem you intend to discuss, and what is original or important about your argument.

Empirical paper: Relate to the literature

In an empirical research paper, try to lead into the problem on the basis of your discussion of the literature. Think in terms of these questions:

• What research gap is your work intended to fill?
• What limitations in previous work does it address?
• What contribution to knowledge does it make?

You can make the connection between your problem and the existing research using phrases like the following.

Now you’ll get into the specifics of what you intend to find out or express in your research paper.

The way you frame your research objectives varies. An argumentative paper presents a thesis statement, while an empirical paper generally poses a research question (sometimes with a hypothesis as to the answer).

Argumentative paper: Thesis statement

The thesis statement expresses the position that the rest of the paper will present evidence and arguments for. It can be presented in one or two sentences, and should state your position clearly and directly, without providing specific arguments for it at this point.

Empirical paper: Research question and hypothesis

The research question is the question you want to answer in an empirical research paper.

Present your research question clearly and directly, with a minimum of discussion at this point. The rest of the paper will be taken up with discussing and investigating this question; here you just need to express it.

A research question can be framed either directly or indirectly.

• This study set out to answer the following question: What effects does daily use of Instagram have on the prevalence of body image issues among adolescent girls?
• We investigated the effects of daily Instagram use on the prevalence of body image issues among adolescent girls.

If your research involved testing hypotheses , these should be stated along with your research question. They are usually presented in the past tense, since the hypothesis will already have been tested by the time you are writing up your paper.

For example, the following hypothesis might respond to the research question above:

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The final part of the introduction is often dedicated to a brief overview of the rest of the paper.

In a paper structured using the standard scientific “introduction, methods, results, discussion” format, this isn’t always necessary. But if your paper is structured in a less predictable way, it’s important to describe the shape of it for the reader.

If included, the overview should be concise, direct, and written in the present tense.

• This paper will first discuss several examples of survey-based research into adolescent social media use, then will go on to …
• This paper first discusses several examples of survey-based research into adolescent social media use, then goes on to …

Full examples of research paper introductions are shown in the tabs below: one for an argumentative paper, the other for an empirical paper.

• Argumentative paper
• Empirical paper

Are cows responsible for climate change? A recent study (RIVM, 2019) shows that cattle farmers account for two thirds of agricultural nitrogen emissions in the Netherlands. These emissions result from nitrogen in manure, which can degrade into ammonia and enter the atmosphere. The study’s calculations show that agriculture is the main source of nitrogen pollution, accounting for 46% of the country’s total emissions. By comparison, road traffic and households are responsible for 6.1% each, the industrial sector for 1%. While efforts are being made to mitigate these emissions, policymakers are reluctant to reckon with the scale of the problem. The approach presented here is a radical one, but commensurate with the issue. This paper argues that the Dutch government must stimulate and subsidize livestock farmers, especially cattle farmers, to transition to sustainable vegetable farming. It first establishes the inadequacy of current mitigation measures, then discusses the various advantages of the results proposed, and finally addresses potential objections to the plan on economic grounds.

The rise of social media has been accompanied by a sharp increase in the prevalence of body image issues among women and girls. This correlation has received significant academic attention: Various empirical studies have been conducted into Facebook usage among adolescent girls (Tiggermann & Slater, 2013; Meier & Gray, 2014). These studies have consistently found that the visual and interactive aspects of the platform have the greatest influence on body image issues. Despite this, highly visual social media (HVSM) such as Instagram have yet to be robustly researched. This paper sets out to address this research gap. We investigated the effects of daily Instagram use on the prevalence of body image issues among adolescent girls. It was hypothesized that daily Instagram use would be associated with an increase in body image concerns and a decrease in self-esteem ratings.

The introduction of a research paper includes several key elements:

• A hook to catch the reader’s interest
• Relevant background on the topic
• Details of your research problem

and your problem statement

• A thesis statement or research question
• Sometimes an overview of the paper

Don’t feel that you have to write the introduction first. The introduction is often one of the last parts of the research paper you’ll write, along with the conclusion.

This is because it can be easier to introduce your paper once you’ve already written the body ; you may not have the clearest idea of your arguments until you’ve written them, and things can change during the writing process .

The way you present your research problem in your introduction varies depending on the nature of your research paper . A research paper that presents a sustained argument will usually encapsulate this argument in a thesis statement .

A research paper designed to present the results of empirical research tends to present a research question that it seeks to answer. It may also include a hypothesis —a prediction that will be confirmed or disproved by your research.

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Chapter 2. Research Design

Getting started.

When I teach undergraduates qualitative research methods, the final product of the course is a “research proposal” that incorporates all they have learned and enlists the knowledge they have learned about qualitative research methods in an original design that addresses a particular research question. I highly recommend you think about designing your own research study as you progress through this textbook. Even if you don’t have a study in mind yet, it can be a helpful exercise as you progress through the course. But how to start? How can one design a research study before they even know what research looks like? This chapter will serve as a brief overview of the research design process to orient you to what will be coming in later chapters. Think of it as a “skeleton” of what you will read in more detail in later chapters. Ideally, you will read this chapter both now (in sequence) and later during your reading of the remainder of the text. Do not worry if you have questions the first time you read this chapter. Many things will become clearer as the text advances and as you gain a deeper understanding of all the components of good qualitative research. This is just a preliminary map to get you on the right road.

Research Design Steps

Before you even get started, you will need to have a broad topic of interest in mind. [1] . In my experience, students can confuse this broad topic with the actual research question, so it is important to clearly distinguish the two. And the place to start is the broad topic. It might be, as was the case with me, working-class college students. But what about working-class college students? What’s it like to be one? Why are there so few compared to others? How do colleges assist (or fail to assist) them? What interested me was something I could barely articulate at first and went something like this: “Why was it so difficult and lonely to be me?” And by extension, “Did others share this experience?”

Once you have a general topic, reflect on why this is important to you. Sometimes we connect with a topic and we don’t really know why. Even if you are not willing to share the real underlying reason you are interested in a topic, it is important that you know the deeper reasons that motivate you. Otherwise, it is quite possible that at some point during the research, you will find yourself turned around facing the wrong direction. I have seen it happen many times. The reason is that the research question is not the same thing as the general topic of interest, and if you don’t know the reasons for your interest, you are likely to design a study answering a research question that is beside the point—to you, at least. And this means you will be much less motivated to carry your research to completion.

Researcher Note

Why do you employ qualitative research methods in your area of study? What are the advantages of qualitative research methods for studying mentorship?

Qualitative research methods are a huge opportunity to increase access, equity, inclusion, and social justice. Qualitative research allows us to engage and examine the uniquenesses/nuances within minoritized and dominant identities and our experiences with these identities. Qualitative research allows us to explore a specific topic, and through that exploration, we can link history to experiences and look for patterns or offer up a unique phenomenon. There’s such beauty in being able to tell a particular story, and qualitative research is a great mode for that! For our work, we examined the relationships we typically use the term mentorship for but didn’t feel that was quite the right word. Qualitative research allowed us to pick apart what we did and how we engaged in our relationships, which then allowed us to more accurately describe what was unique about our mentorship relationships, which we ultimately named liberationships ( McAloney and Long 2021) . Qualitative research gave us the means to explore, process, and name our experiences; what a powerful tool!

How do you come up with ideas for what to study (and how to study it)? Where did you get the idea for studying mentorship?

Coming up with ideas for research, for me, is kind of like Googling a question I have, not finding enough information, and then deciding to dig a little deeper to get the answer. The idea to study mentorship actually came up in conversation with my mentorship triad. We were talking in one of our meetings about our relationship—kind of meta, huh? We discussed how we felt that mentorship was not quite the right term for the relationships we had built. One of us asked what was different about our relationships and mentorship. This all happened when I was taking an ethnography course. During the next session of class, we were discussing auto- and duoethnography, and it hit me—let’s explore our version of mentorship, which we later went on to name liberationships ( McAloney and Long 2021 ). The idea and questions came out of being curious and wanting to find an answer. As I continue to research, I see opportunities in questions I have about my work or during conversations that, in our search for answers, end up exposing gaps in the literature. If I can’t find the answer already out there, I can study it.

—Kim McAloney, PhD, College Student Services Administration Ecampus coordinator and instructor

When you have a better idea of why you are interested in what it is that interests you, you may be surprised to learn that the obvious approaches to the topic are not the only ones. For example, let’s say you think you are interested in preserving coastal wildlife. And as a social scientist, you are interested in policies and practices that affect the long-term viability of coastal wildlife, especially around fishing communities. It would be natural then to consider designing a research study around fishing communities and how they manage their ecosystems. But when you really think about it, you realize that what interests you the most is how people whose livelihoods depend on a particular resource act in ways that deplete that resource. Or, even deeper, you contemplate the puzzle, “How do people justify actions that damage their surroundings?” Now, there are many ways to design a study that gets at that broader question, and not all of them are about fishing communities, although that is certainly one way to go. Maybe you could design an interview-based study that includes and compares loggers, fishers, and desert golfers (those who golf in arid lands that require a great deal of wasteful irrigation). Or design a case study around one particular example where resources were completely used up by a community. Without knowing what it is you are really interested in, what motivates your interest in a surface phenomenon, you are unlikely to come up with the appropriate research design.

These first stages of research design are often the most difficult, but have patience . Taking the time to consider why you are going to go through a lot of trouble to get answers will prevent a lot of wasted energy in the future.

There are distinct reasons for pursuing particular research questions, and it is helpful to distinguish between them.  First, you may be personally motivated.  This is probably the most important and the most often overlooked.   What is it about the social world that sparks your curiosity? What bothers you? What answers do you need in order to keep living? For me, I knew I needed to get a handle on what higher education was for before I kept going at it. I needed to understand why I felt so different from my peers and whether this whole “higher education” thing was “for the likes of me” before I could complete my degree. That is the personal motivation question. Your personal motivation might also be political in nature, in that you want to change the world in a particular way. It’s all right to acknowledge this. In fact, it is better to acknowledge it than to hide it.

There are also academic and professional motivations for a particular study.  If you are an absolute beginner, these may be difficult to find. We’ll talk more about this when we discuss reviewing the literature. Simply put, you are probably not the only person in the world to have thought about this question or issue and those related to it. So how does your interest area fit into what others have studied? Perhaps there is a good study out there of fishing communities, but no one has quite asked the “justification” question. You are motivated to address this to “fill the gap” in our collective knowledge. And maybe you are really not at all sure of what interests you, but you do know that [insert your topic] interests a lot of people, so you would like to work in this area too. You want to be involved in the academic conversation. That is a professional motivation and a very important one to articulate.

Practical and strategic motivations are a third kind. Perhaps you want to encourage people to take better care of the natural resources around them. If this is also part of your motivation, you will want to design your research project in a way that might have an impact on how people behave in the future. There are many ways to do this, one of which is using qualitative research methods rather than quantitative research methods, as the findings of qualitative research are often easier to communicate to a broader audience than the results of quantitative research. You might even be able to engage the community you are studying in the collecting and analyzing of data, something taboo in quantitative research but actively embraced and encouraged by qualitative researchers. But there are other practical reasons, such as getting “done” with your research in a certain amount of time or having access (or no access) to certain information. There is nothing wrong with considering constraints and opportunities when designing your study. Or maybe one of the practical or strategic goals is about learning competence in this area so that you can demonstrate the ability to conduct interviews and focus groups with future employers. Keeping that in mind will help shape your study and prevent you from getting sidetracked using a technique that you are less invested in learning about.

STOP HERE for a moment

I recommend you write a paragraph (at least) explaining your aims and goals. Include a sentence about each of the following: personal/political goals, practical or professional/academic goals, and practical/strategic goals. Think through how all of the goals are related and can be achieved by this particular research study . If they can’t, have a rethink. Perhaps this is not the best way to go about it.

You will also want to be clear about the purpose of your study. “Wait, didn’t we just do this?” you might ask. No! Your goals are not the same as the purpose of the study, although they are related. You can think about purpose lying on a continuum from “ theory ” to “action” (figure 2.1). Sometimes you are doing research to discover new knowledge about the world, while other times you are doing a study because you want to measure an impact or make a difference in the world.

Basic research involves research that is done for the sake of “pure” knowledge—that is, knowledge that, at least at this moment in time, may not have any apparent use or application. Often, and this is very important, knowledge of this kind is later found to be extremely helpful in solving problems. So one way of thinking about basic research is that it is knowledge for which no use is yet known but will probably one day prove to be extremely useful. If you are doing basic research, you do not need to argue its usefulness, as the whole point is that we just don’t know yet what this might be.

Researchers engaged in basic research want to understand how the world operates. They are interested in investigating a phenomenon to get at the nature of reality with regard to that phenomenon. The basic researcher’s purpose is to understand and explain ( Patton 2002:215 ).

Basic research is interested in generating and testing hypotheses about how the world works. Grounded Theory is one approach to qualitative research methods that exemplifies basic research (see chapter 4). Most academic journal articles publish basic research findings. If you are working in academia (e.g., writing your dissertation), the default expectation is that you are conducting basic research.

Applied research in the social sciences is research that addresses human and social problems. Unlike basic research, the researcher has expectations that the research will help contribute to resolving a problem, if only by identifying its contours, history, or context. From my experience, most students have this as their baseline assumption about research. Why do a study if not to make things better? But this is a common mistake. Students and their committee members are often working with default assumptions here—the former thinking about applied research as their purpose, the latter thinking about basic research: “The purpose of applied research is to contribute knowledge that will help people to understand the nature of a problem in order to intervene, thereby allowing human beings to more effectively control their environment. While in basic research the source of questions is the tradition within a scholarly discipline, in applied research the source of questions is in the problems and concerns experienced by people and by policymakers” ( Patton 2002:217 ).

Applied research is less geared toward theory in two ways. First, its questions do not derive from previous literature. For this reason, applied research studies have much more limited literature reviews than those found in basic research (although they make up for this by having much more “background” about the problem). Second, it does not generate theory in the same way as basic research does. The findings of an applied research project may not be generalizable beyond the boundaries of this particular problem or context. The findings are more limited. They are useful now but may be less useful later. This is why basic research remains the default “gold standard” of academic research.

Evaluation research is research that is designed to evaluate or test the effectiveness of specific solutions and programs addressing specific social problems. We already know the problems, and someone has already come up with solutions. There might be a program, say, for first-generation college students on your campus. Does this program work? Are first-generation students who participate in the program more likely to graduate than those who do not? These are the types of questions addressed by evaluation research. There are two types of research within this broader frame; however, one more action-oriented than the next. In summative evaluation , an overall judgment about the effectiveness of a program or policy is made. Should we continue our first-gen program? Is it a good model for other campuses? Because the purpose of such summative evaluation is to measure success and to determine whether this success is scalable (capable of being generalized beyond the specific case), quantitative data is more often used than qualitative data. In our example, we might have “outcomes” data for thousands of students, and we might run various tests to determine if the better outcomes of those in the program are statistically significant so that we can generalize the findings and recommend similar programs elsewhere. Qualitative data in the form of focus groups or interviews can then be used for illustrative purposes, providing more depth to the quantitative analyses. In contrast, formative evaluation attempts to improve a program or policy (to help “form” or shape its effectiveness). Formative evaluations rely more heavily on qualitative data—case studies, interviews, focus groups. The findings are meant not to generalize beyond the particular but to improve this program. If you are a student seeking to improve your qualitative research skills and you do not care about generating basic research, formative evaluation studies might be an attractive option for you to pursue, as there are always local programs that need evaluation and suggestions for improvement. Again, be very clear about your purpose when talking through your research proposal with your committee.

Action research takes a further step beyond evaluation, even formative evaluation, to being part of the solution itself. This is about as far from basic research as one could get and definitely falls beyond the scope of “science,” as conventionally defined. The distinction between action and research is blurry, the research methods are often in constant flux, and the only “findings” are specific to the problem or case at hand and often are findings about the process of intervention itself. Rather than evaluate a program as a whole, action research often seeks to change and improve some particular aspect that may not be working—maybe there is not enough diversity in an organization or maybe women’s voices are muted during meetings and the organization wonders why and would like to change this. In a further step, participatory action research , those women would become part of the research team, attempting to amplify their voices in the organization through participation in the action research. As action research employs methods that involve people in the process, focus groups are quite common.

If you are working on a thesis or dissertation, chances are your committee will expect you to be contributing to fundamental knowledge and theory ( basic research ). If your interests lie more toward the action end of the continuum, however, it is helpful to talk to your committee about this before you get started. Knowing your purpose in advance will help avoid misunderstandings during the later stages of the research process!

The Research Question

Once you have written your paragraph and clarified your purpose and truly know that this study is the best study for you to be doing right now , you are ready to write and refine your actual research question. Know that research questions are often moving targets in qualitative research, that they can be refined up to the very end of data collection and analysis. But you do have to have a working research question at all stages. This is your “anchor” when you get lost in the data. What are you addressing? What are you looking at and why? Your research question guides you through the thicket. It is common to have a whole host of questions about a phenomenon or case, both at the outset and throughout the study, but you should be able to pare it down to no more than two or three sentences when asked. These sentences should both clarify the intent of the research and explain why this is an important question to answer. More on refining your research question can be found in chapter 4.

Chances are, you will have already done some prior reading before coming up with your interest and your questions, but you may not have conducted a systematic literature review. This is the next crucial stage to be completed before venturing further. You don’t want to start collecting data and then realize that someone has already beaten you to the punch. A review of the literature that is already out there will let you know (1) if others have already done the study you are envisioning; (2) if others have done similar studies, which can help you out; and (3) what ideas or concepts are out there that can help you frame your study and make sense of your findings. More on literature reviews can be found in chapter 9.

In addition to reviewing the literature for similar studies to what you are proposing, it can be extremely helpful to find a study that inspires you. This may have absolutely nothing to do with the topic you are interested in but is written so beautifully or organized so interestingly or otherwise speaks to you in such a way that you want to post it somewhere to remind you of what you want to be doing. You might not understand this in the early stages—why would you find a study that has nothing to do with the one you are doing helpful? But trust me, when you are deep into analysis and writing, having an inspirational model in view can help you push through. If you are motivated to do something that might change the world, you probably have read something somewhere that inspired you. Go back to that original inspiration and read it carefully and see how they managed to convey the passion that you so appreciate.

At this stage, you are still just getting started. There are a lot of things to do before setting forth to collect data! You’ll want to consider and choose a research tradition and a set of data-collection techniques that both help you answer your research question and match all your aims and goals. For example, if you really want to help migrant workers speak for themselves, you might draw on feminist theory and participatory action research models. Chapters 3 and 4 will provide you with more information on epistemologies and approaches.

Next, you have to clarify your “units of analysis.” What is the level at which you are focusing your study? Often, the unit in qualitative research methods is individual people, or “human subjects.” But your units of analysis could just as well be organizations (colleges, hospitals) or programs or even whole nations. Think about what it is you want to be saying at the end of your study—are the insights you are hoping to make about people or about organizations or about something else entirely? A unit of analysis can even be a historical period! Every unit of analysis will call for a different kind of data collection and analysis and will produce different kinds of “findings” at the conclusion of your study. [2]

Regardless of what unit of analysis you select, you will probably have to consider the “human subjects” involved in your research. [3] Who are they? What interactions will you have with them—that is, what kind of data will you be collecting? Before answering these questions, define your population of interest and your research setting. Use your research question to help guide you.

Let’s use an example from a real study. In Geographies of Campus Inequality , Benson and Lee ( 2020 ) list three related research questions: “(1) What are the different ways that first-generation students organize their social, extracurricular, and academic activities at selective and highly selective colleges? (2) how do first-generation students sort themselves and get sorted into these different types of campus lives; and (3) how do these different patterns of campus engagement prepare first-generation students for their post-college lives?” (3).

Note that we are jumping into this a bit late, after Benson and Lee have described previous studies (the literature review) and what is known about first-generation college students and what is not known. They want to know about differences within this group, and they are interested in ones attending certain kinds of colleges because those colleges will be sites where academic and extracurricular pressures compete. That is the context for their three related research questions. What is the population of interest here? First-generation college students . What is the research setting? Selective and highly selective colleges . But a host of questions remain. Which students in the real world, which colleges? What about gender, race, and other identity markers? Will the students be asked questions? Are the students still in college, or will they be asked about what college was like for them? Will they be observed? Will they be shadowed? Will they be surveyed? Will they be asked to keep diaries of their time in college? How many students? How many colleges? For how long will they be observed?

Recommendation

Take a moment and write down suggestions for Benson and Lee before continuing on to what they actually did.

Have you written down your own suggestions? Good. Now let’s compare those with what they actually did. Benson and Lee drew on two sources of data: in-depth interviews with sixty-four first-generation students and survey data from a preexisting national survey of students at twenty-eight selective colleges. Let’s ignore the survey for our purposes here and focus on those interviews. The interviews were conducted between 2014 and 2016 at a single selective college, “Hilltop” (a pseudonym ). They employed a “purposive” sampling strategy to ensure an equal number of male-identifying and female-identifying students as well as equal numbers of White, Black, and Latinx students. Each student was interviewed once. Hilltop is a selective liberal arts college in the northeast that enrolls about three thousand students.

How did your suggestions match up to those actually used by the researchers in this study? It is possible your suggestions were too ambitious? Beginning qualitative researchers can often make that mistake. You want a research design that is both effective (it matches your question and goals) and doable. You will never be able to collect data from your entire population of interest (unless your research question is really so narrow to be relevant to very few people!), so you will need to come up with a good sample. Define the criteria for this sample, as Benson and Lee did when deciding to interview an equal number of students by gender and race categories. Define the criteria for your sample setting too. Hilltop is typical for selective colleges. That was a research choice made by Benson and Lee. For more on sampling and sampling choices, see chapter 5.

Benson and Lee chose to employ interviews. If you also would like to include interviews, you have to think about what will be asked in them. Most interview-based research involves an interview guide, a set of questions or question areas that will be asked of each participant. The research question helps you create a relevant interview guide. You want to ask questions whose answers will provide insight into your research question. Again, your research question is the anchor you will continually come back to as you plan for and conduct your study. It may be that once you begin interviewing, you find that people are telling you something totally unexpected, and this makes you rethink your research question. That is fine. Then you have a new anchor. But you always have an anchor. More on interviewing can be found in chapter 11.

Let’s imagine Benson and Lee also observed college students as they went about doing the things college students do, both in the classroom and in the clubs and social activities in which they participate. They would have needed a plan for this. Would they sit in on classes? Which ones and how many? Would they attend club meetings and sports events? Which ones and how many? Would they participate themselves? How would they record their observations? More on observation techniques can be found in both chapters 13 and 14.

At this point, the design is almost complete. You know why you are doing this study, you have a clear research question to guide you, you have identified your population of interest and research setting, and you have a reasonable sample of each. You also have put together a plan for data collection, which might include drafting an interview guide or making plans for observations. And so you know exactly what you will be doing for the next several months (or years!). To put the project into action, there are a few more things necessary before actually going into the field.

First, you will need to make sure you have any necessary supplies, including recording technology. These days, many researchers use their phones to record interviews. Second, you will need to draft a few documents for your participants. These include informed consent forms and recruiting materials, such as posters or email texts, that explain what this study is in clear language. Third, you will draft a research protocol to submit to your institutional review board (IRB) ; this research protocol will include the interview guide (if you are using one), the consent form template, and all examples of recruiting material. Depending on your institution and the details of your study design, it may take weeks or even, in some unfortunate cases, months before you secure IRB approval. Make sure you plan on this time in your project timeline. While you wait, you can continue to review the literature and possibly begin drafting a section on the literature review for your eventual presentation/publication. More on IRB procedures can be found in chapter 8 and more general ethical considerations in chapter 7.

Once you have approval, you can begin!

Research Design Checklist

Before data collection begins, do the following:

• Write a paragraph explaining your aims and goals (personal/political, practical/strategic, professional/academic).
• Define your research question; write two to three sentences that clarify the intent of the research and why this is an important question to answer.
• Review the literature for similar studies that address your research question or similar research questions; think laterally about some literature that might be helpful or illuminating but is not exactly about the same topic.
• Find a written study that inspires you—it may or may not be on the research question you have chosen.
• Consider and choose a research tradition and set of data-collection techniques that (1) help answer your research question and (2) match your aims and goals.
• Define your population of interest and your research setting.
• Define the criteria for your sample (How many? Why these? How will you find them, gain access, and acquire consent?).
• If you are conducting interviews, draft an interview guide.
•  If you are making observations, create a plan for observations (sites, times, recording, access).
• Acquire any necessary technology (recording devices/software).
• Draft consent forms that clearly identify the research focus and selection process.
• Create recruiting materials (posters, email, texts).
• Apply for IRB approval (proposal plus consent form plus recruiting materials).
• Block out time for collecting data.
• At the end of the chapter, you will find a " Research Design Checklist " that summarizes the main recommendations made here ↵
• For example, if your focus is society and culture , you might collect data through observation or a case study. If your focus is individual lived experience , you are probably going to be interviewing some people. And if your focus is language and communication , you will probably be analyzing text (written or visual). ( Marshall and Rossman 2016:16 ). ↵
• You may not have any "live" human subjects. There are qualitative research methods that do not require interactions with live human beings - see chapter 16 , "Archival and Historical Sources." But for the most part, you are probably reading this textbook because you are interested in doing research with people. The rest of the chapter will assume this is the case. ↵

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 methodological tradition of inquiry and research design that focuses on an individual case (e.g., setting, institution, or sometimes an individual) in order to explore its complexity, history, and interactive parts.  As an approach, it is particularly useful for obtaining a deep appreciation of an issue, event, or phenomenon of interest in its particular context.

The controlling force in research; can be understood as lying on a continuum from basic research (knowledge production) to action research (effecting change).

In its most basic sense, a theory is a story we tell about how the world works that can be tested with empirical evidence.  In qualitative research, we use the term in a variety of ways, many of which are different from how they are used by quantitative researchers.  Although some qualitative research can be described as “testing theory,” it is more common to “build theory” from the data using inductive reasoning , as done in Grounded Theory .  There are so-called “grand theories” that seek to integrate a whole series of findings and stories into an overarching paradigm about how the world works, and much smaller theories or concepts about particular processes and relationships.  Theory can even be used to explain particular methodological perspectives or approaches, as in Institutional Ethnography , which is both a way of doing research and a theory about how the world works.

Research that is interested in generating and testing hypotheses about how the world works.

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).

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 .

Research that contributes knowledge that will help people to understand the nature of a problem in order to intervene, thereby allowing human beings to more effectively control their environment.

Research that is designed to evaluate or test the effectiveness of specific solutions and programs addressing specific social problems.  There are two kinds: summative and formative .

Research in which an overall judgment about the effectiveness of a program or policy is made, often for the purpose of generalizing to other cases or programs.  Generally uses qualitative research as a supplement to primary quantitative data analyses.  Contrast formative evaluation research .

Research designed to improve a program or policy (to help “form” or shape its effectiveness); relies heavily on qualitative research methods.  Contrast summative evaluation research

Research carried out at a particular organizational or community site with the intention of affecting change; often involves research subjects as participants of the study.  See also participatory action research .

Research in which both researchers and participants work together to understand a problematic situation and change it for the better.

The level of the focus of analysis (e.g., individual people, organizations, programs, neighborhoods).

The large group of interest to the researcher.  Although it will likely be impossible to design a study that incorporates or reaches all members of the population of interest, this should be clearly defined at the outset of a study so that a reasonable sample of the population can be taken.  For example, if one is studying working-class college students, the sample may include twenty such students attending a particular college, while the population is “working-class college students.”  In quantitative research, clearly defining the general population of interest is a necessary step in generalizing results from a sample.  In qualitative research, defining the population is conceptually important for clarity.

A fictional name assigned to give anonymity to a person, group, or place.  Pseudonyms are important ways of protecting the identity of research participants while still providing a “human element” in the presentation of qualitative data.  There are ethical considerations to be made in selecting pseudonyms; some researchers allow research participants to choose their own.

A requirement for research involving human participants; the documentation of informed consent.  In some cases, oral consent or assent may be sufficient, but the default standard is a single-page easy-to-understand form that both the researcher and the participant sign and date.   Under federal guidelines, all researchers "shall seek such consent only under circumstances that provide the prospective subject or the representative sufficient opportunity to consider whether or not to participate and that minimize the possibility of coercion or undue influence. The information that is given to the subject or the representative shall be in language understandable to the subject or the representative.  No informed consent, whether oral or written, may include any exculpatory language through which the subject or the representative is made to waive or appear to waive any of the subject's rights or releases or appears to release the investigator, the sponsor, the institution, or its agents from liability for negligence" (21 CFR 50.20).  Your IRB office will be able to provide a template for use in your study .

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.

Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods Copyright © 2023 by Allison Hurst is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Chapter 1: What is Research and Research Writing?

Write here, write now.

Developing your skills as a writer will make you more successful in ALL of your classes. Knowing how to think critically, organize your ideas, be concise, ask questions, perform research and back up your claims with evidence is key to almost everything you will do at university.

Writing is life

Solid writing skills will help you wow your family and friends with your well-articulated ideas, ace job interviews, build confidence in yourself, and feel part of a community of writers.

Beyond University

Whether you go on to graduate school, teach, work for the government or a non-profit, start your own business or your own heavy metal band, becoming a stronger writer will give you a solid foundation you can keep building on.

This chapter:

• Defines research and gives examples
• Describes the writing process
• Introduces writing using research
• Introduces simple research writing
• Prompts you to think about research and writing meaningful to you

 Kimmerer, Robin Wall. Braiding Sweetgrass : Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants . Milkweed Editions, 2013.

From “ Why Writing Matters “ .   Writing Place: A Scholarly Writing Textbook by Lindsay Cuff. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. 2023.

Reading and Writing Research for Undergraduates Copyright © 2023 by Stephanie Ojeda Ponce is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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References for Chapter 2

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An Introduction to Research Methods for Undergraduate Health Profession Students Copyright © 2023 by Faith Alele and Bunmi Malau-Aduli is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

• Open access
• Published: 09 April 2024

Flipped online teaching of histology and embryology with design thinking: design, practice and reflection

• Yan Guo 1 ,
• Xiaomei Wang 1 ,
• Yang Gao 1 ,
• Haiyan Yin 1 ,
• Qun Ma 1 &
• Ting Chen 2  

BMC Medical Education volume  24 , Article number:  388 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Flexible hybrid teaching has become the new normal of basic medical education in the postepidemic era. Identifying ways to improve the quality of curriculum teaching and achieve high-level talent training is a complex problem that urgently needs to be solved. Over the course of the past several semesters, the research team has integrated design thinking (DT) into undergraduate teaching to identify, redesign and solve complex problems in achieving curriculum teaching and professional talent training objectives.

This study is an observational research. A total of 156 undergraduate stomatology students from Jining Medical University in 2021 were selected to participate in two rounds of online flipped teaching using the design thinking EDIPT (empathy, definition, idea, prototype, and test) method. This approach was applied specifically to the chapters on the respiratory system and female reproductive system. Data collection included student questionnaires, teacher-student interviews, and exam scores. GraphPad Prism software was used for data analysis, and the statistical method was conducted by multiple or unpaired t test.

According to the questionnaire results, the flipped classroom teaching design developed using design thinking methods received strong support from the majority of students, with nearly 80% of students providing feedback that they developed multiple abilities during the study process. The interview results indicated that teachers generally believed that using design thinking methods to understand students' real needs, define teaching problems, and devise instructional design solutions, along with testing and promptly adjusting the effectiveness through teaching practices, played a highly positive role in improving teaching and student learning outcomes. A comparison of exam scores showed a significant improvement in the exam scores of the class of 2021 stomatology students in the flipped teaching chapters compared to the class of 2020 stomatology students, and this difference was statistically significant. However, due to the limitation of the experimental chapter scope, there was no significant difference in the overall course grades.

The study explores the application of design thinking in histology and embryology teaching, revealing its positive impact on innovative teaching strategies and students' learning experience in medical education. Online flipped teaching, developed through design thinking, proves to be an effective and flexible method that enhances student engagement and fosters autonomous learning abilities.

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Research background and motivation

Histology is the study of the microstructure and related functions of the human body [ 1 ], while embryology studies the laws and mechanisms of ontogenesis and development; these two sciences are interrelated and self-contained [ 2 ]. As one of the important professional core programs of most medical specialties, Histology and Embryology (HE) has been an indispensable curriculum bridge between normal microstructure and pathological changes in tissue and organs.

The teaching targets of HE are mainly first-year undergraduate students in clinical medicine, psychiatry, stomatology, nursing, etc. The importance of fostering the development of empathy in undergraduate students is continuously emphasized in international recommendations for medical education [ 3 ]. Freshmen have a certain ability to think logically and analyse problems, but this ability is limited, and they have a yet to develop familiarity with scientific research hotspots. Moreover, they are often unaware of their creative potential, and this phenomenon often causes them to passively accept knowledge, and their autonomous learning ability and student participation in class are less than that of upperclassmen. These first year students face the need to develop scientific literacy and the ability to integrate theory with practice [ 4 ]. However, traditional teaching methods may have failed to fully meet students' need for a profound understanding of these abstract concepts, leading to challenges such as low interest in learning and inadequate knowledge absorption. Consequently, educators urgently need to seek innovative teaching strategies to enhance students' learning experience and academic performance.

In the information age, teacher teaching is no longer a simple superposition of knowledge and teaching methods but a fusion innovation of technology and teaching oriented to a more complex learning environment. The Teacher Standards issued by the American Educational Technology International Association note that the important role of future teachers is that of a "designer" [ 5 ]. DT combines a creative and innovative approach to dealing with complex problems, which serves as a valuable tool for those seeking to improve the challenging issues in medical education [ 6 ]. DT is a process of analysis that relies on the deconstruction of ideas and a creative process that relies on the construction of ideas. There are no judgements in DT. This eliminates the fear of failure and encourages maximum input and participation. Wild ideas are welcome since they often lead to the most creative solutions. Everyone is a designer, and DT is a way to apply design methodologies to any situation [ 5 ].

In the field of education, DT has been advocated as a means to promote the cultivation of innovative talent through innovative teaching methods. With the help of DT, and adhering learning as the concept in teaching, the transformation of teaching allows learners to explore real needs in real life scenes, to propose innovative solutions to meet those needs through teamwork, and to test the effectiveness of those solutions through prototype production. This process facilitates the further application of constructivism [ 7 ].

In the process of both conventional teaching and teaching innovation, the research team utilizes the “EDIPT” (Empathy, Define, Ideate, Prototype and TEST) DT theory [ 8 ] which originating in the Stanford University Design School to design teacher activities and student activities and select technical tools [ 9 ]. The basic process is shown in Fig.  1 . The team is very accustomed to consciously applying DT methodology when facing difficulties and challenges to consistently obtain the desired results [ 10 ]. This study sets the teaching objectives and plans of a large cycle (one semester) to guide the teaching implementation of a small cycle (one section or one chapter); Then, small-cycle teaching feedback and achievement accumulation promote the progress of large-cycle teaching to ensure the coherence, effectiveness and improvement of teaching reform. For example, the difficult problem in the process of cardiovascular system embryogenesis is atrial separation; the team uses cardboard and plastic film to construct room partition "products" [ 11 ] to provide vivid explanations and body movements for clearer explication. In another example, they integrate scattered knowledge points including cleavage, blastocyst formation and implantation into a unified narrative called "the initial journey." It solves the pain point that the dynamic abstraction of embryology knowledge is difficult to intuitively understand. The above are two examples of using EDIPT steps of design thinking to solve teaching pain points.

Problem solving steps incorporating DT

Research objectives and significance

In the 2021 Horizon Report: Teaching and Learning Edition, blended learning was once again selected as the key technology affecting the future development and practice of higher education [ 12 ], demonstrating great application potential. In this format, the teaching team adheres to the following practical principles to promote more blended learning courses to ensure high-quality outcomes [ 13 ]. In the recent period of epidemic prevention and control, effective online teaching combines asynchronous and synchronous delivery modes, addresses knowledge learning and ability development, and highlights interaction in teaching activities to improve the online teaching experience for both teachers and students and enhance the overall quality of online teaching. Online teaching is not simply an emergency measure taken during the epidemic but rather represents the future trend of education.

The aim of this study is to explore the application of design thinking in the teaching of histology and embryology courses. By investigating the impact of design thinking in the teaching process, we aim to gain a deeper understanding of the effects of this innovative teaching strategy on students' learning experience and academic performance, as well as its potential applications in medical education.

The significance of this research lies in its contribution to medical education with novel teaching methods and strategies. By incorporating design thinking, educators can better cater to students' learning needs and enhance their comprehension and mastery of the subject matter. Furthermore, this study contributes to the expansion of teaching research in the field of medical education, providing valuable insights for educational reform and improvements in teaching quality.

The analysis of the correlation between design thinking and this study

Design thinking plays a crucial role in formulating the educational reform. During the empathize phase, an in-depth understanding of teachers' and students' needs and challenges is achieved. This includes considering teachers' expectations and pedagogical beliefs, as well as students' learning styles and feedback, leading to a clear definition of the problem and setting specific objectives for the educational reform. In the define phase, the importance of improving teachers' pedagogical approaches and methods, and cultivating students' creative learning and competencies is underscored. This serves as the foundation for selecting appropriate teaching strategies and establishes the specific direction for incorporating design thinking in the flipped classroom model. During the ideate phase, innovative thinking is employed to explore diverse teaching strategies. For enhancing teachers' pedagogical approaches, approaches such as case-based teaching and collaborative learning are recommended to stimulate students' intrinsic motivation for active learning. For promoting students' creative learning and overall competencies, methods like project-based learning and critical thinking cultivation are considered to facilitate holistic student development. In the prototype phase, the devised teaching strategies are implemented in the flipped classroom setting. Continuous prototyping and rapid experimentation facilitate the collection of valuable feedback and data from students and teachers, enabling further optimization of the teaching strategies to align with the original intent of design thinking. Finally, in the test phase, a comprehensive evaluation of the teaching implementation is conducted. By collecting and analyzing data, the study delves deep into the impact of the educational reform on teachers' pedagogical beliefs and students' creative learning and overall competencies. This process provides crucial feedback and evidence for the ongoing improvement of the educational reform.

In conclusion, the selection of flipped classroom as a pedagogical strategy is closely guided by design thinking principles. Through the application of design thinking, this observational study aims to enhance teachers' pedagogical approaches and methods while fostering students' creative learning and overall competencies, thus promoting the successful implementation of the educational reform.”

Flipped classroom sessions can also allow learners to gain competence through their educational endeavours [ 14 ]. As Bransford writes, “To develop competence in an area, students must: a) have a deep foundation of factual knowledge, b) understand facts and ideas in the context of a conceptual framework, and c) organize knowledge in ways that facilitate retrieval and application” [ 15 ]. Flipped classrooms can lead to competence in factual knowledge by fostering mastery of content through content understanding and application, as in traditional classrooms [ 16 ].

“O-PIRAS” Flipped classroom

The flipped classroom teaching model used in this study was formed and adjusted on the basis of Professor Jianpeng Guo's “O-PIRTAS” model. The flipped teaching mode can enable both teachers and students to acquire further abilities through teaching activities [ 17 ].

The first step(O: Objective) in flipped classroom teaching design is to formulate two types of teaching objectives: low level and high level. The lower level teaching objectives include two cognitive objectives from Bloom's classification of teaching objectives: the memory and understanding of knowledge, while the higher level teaching objectives include four cognitive objectives from Bloom's classification: application, analysis, evaluation and creation, as well as objectives pertaining to movement skills and emotion [ 18 ]. The second step is to design a preparation activity (P: Preparation) for students to complete before class, which helps students form necessary prior knowledge and stimulates their learning motivation by exploring relevant issues prior to the class [ 19 ]. The third step is for teachers to send teaching materials (I: Instructional video) to their students for pre-class learning to facilitate their early acquisition of knowledge [ 19 ]. Fourth, teaching is transferred from online classes to offline classes. The teacher briefly reviews (R: Review) the video content before class to help students quickly focus on and prepare for the next stage of learning both cognitively and psychologically. Fifth, teachers should design classroom activities (A: Activity) appropriate to high-level teaching objectives to promote in-depth learning and successfully achieve high-level objectives. Sixth, teachers should conduct classroom summaries (S: Summary), reflection and improvement to help students form integrated structured knowledge. The six steps of flipping the classroom link form a closed loop, which can be summarized as in Fig.  2 .

Process of “O-PIRAS” flipped teaching

Research method and data collection

Conveniently selecting 156 undergraduate students majoring in Dentistry from the 2021 cohort of Jining Medical University, we designated classes 1 to 3 as the class of 2021 stomatology students. As the class of 2020 stomatology students, we chose 155 undergraduate students majoring in Dentistry from the 2020 cohort, also from classes 1 to 3. Prior to the start of the study, we conducted communication sessions with both teachers and students, ensuring that all students were well-informed about the study and provided their consent. The two groups of students had the same course hours, faculty resources, learning materials, and learning spaces. The only difference was the application of design thinking methods in course and teaching design, including the implementation of flipped classroom teaching, specifically tailored for the 2021 cohort of students.

Data collection was conducted through various methods, including distributing questionnaires, conducting pre-, mid-, and post-research interviews, and recording course and corresponding chapter test scores. The implementation chapter selected the respiratory system, which plays a bridging role within histology, and the female reproductive system, which plays a transitional role between histology and embryology.

Before studying "Respiratory System", students have already mastered the basic methods of using design thinking to learn histology, and have a deep understanding of the four basic tissues and two types of organs (hollow and substantial organs). The main organs of the respiratory system—the trachea and lungs—belong to two types, respectively. The female reproductive system, as the concluding chapter of histology, is separated from the flipped classroom of the respiratory system by two weeks, leaving appropriate time for teachers to iteratively design and students to adapt to new methods. Four surveys were administered during the research process: Pre-flipped classroom survey for Chapter 16 "Respiratory System", Post-flipped classroom survey for Chapter 16 "Respiratory System", Pre-flipped classroom survey for Chapter 19 "Female Reproductive System", and Post-flipped classroom survey for Chapter 19 "Female Reproductive System", to gather student feedback and opinions on the teaching methods. The questionnaires were designed based on the research objectives and questions, and were refined through pre-testing to ensure clarity, accuracy, and appropriateness of the questions and options. The questionnaire mainly includes the following dimensions: ⑴Basic information of students, Q 1–3; ⑵ Learning and satisfaction: Q 4, What is the division of labor in your group in this cooperation? Q 7, About flipping class, how long will you spend studying before class? Q 6 Compared with the last flip class, are you satisfied with the teacher's teaching time in this flip class? Q 12, What are you most satisfied with this flip class? (3) Learning experience and ability improvement: Q 5, What kind of class learning form do you like best in flip class? Q 8, What are your learning pain points or difficulties after this flip class? Q 9, What abilities have you improved in this flip class? ⑷ Classroom Improvement and Feedback: Q 11, What are the advantages of this flip class compared with the last flip class? Q 10, In the course of embryo formation, do you like to use flip class for multiple course contents? Q13, What suggestions do you have for improving the embryo flipping class? Interviews were conducted at various stages, including before the study to understand teaching pain points, during the research process to gauge teachers' and students' attitudes and perspectives on the teaching activities, and after the study to obtain overall feedback. Additionally, we conducted both stage-specific and overall tests, and promptly collected relevant data for comparative analysis with the class of 2020 stomatology students. These data provided comprehensive insights into the performance and experiences of students in both the experimental and class of 2020 stomatology studentss.

Application of design thinking in course design

In course design, we employed design thinking methods to redesign the histology and embryology curriculum. Firstly, we gained a deep understanding of students' learning needs and interests to define course objectives and content. Secondly, we innovatively designed online materials and videos to enhance the appeal and practicality of the learning experience. We encouraged students to actively participate in discussions and problem-solving during class to unleash their creative potential. Additionally, we continuously optimized the teaching content and methods through iteration and feedback to ensure a sustained improvement in teaching effectiveness. Through the application of design thinking in course design, we expected to optimize the teaching process, enhance students' learning experiences, and improve their academic performance.

Design and implementation of flipped teaching

The HE course covers 22 chapters, totaling 60 h, including 44 h of theoretical classes and 16 h of practical classes. The theoretical teaching is roughly divided into three stages: the first stage consists of 12 h, focusing on introducing the four basic human tissues; the second stage comprises 18 h, covering the structure of human organs and systems; and the third stage spans 14 h, elucidating the process of human embryonic development. To facilitate a deep understanding and mastery of human tissue structures, four practical classes, each lasting 4 h, are incorporated to complement the theoretical content.

The entire course relies on a blended teaching approach, combining online and offline instruction, leveraging the resources of Shandong's top undergraduate course in HE, and utilizing the "Zhidao" flipped classroom tool. At the beginning of the course, the teachers introduce the purpose, teaching process, weekly plan, grading components, and assessment methods of incorporating design thinking into the blended HE teaching. The flipped classroom teaching for the class of 2021 stomatology students is set between two stage tests to investigate whether this innovative teaching method has an impact on students' test scores.

The teaching team consists of 4 associate professors and 3 lecturers, with an average teaching experience of 11.4 years in teaching nursing major foundation courses and possessing rich teaching experience. In addition, the project leader and team teachers have undergone multiple training sessions in design thinking innovation and systematic training in domestic and on-campus blended teaching theories.

At the beginning of the semester, the curriculum teaching plan should be formulated, and chapters suitable for flipped teaching should be selected according to the teaching plan” and content characteristics [ 20 ]. Teaching and research team members should jointly analyse the teaching content and formulate the flipped classroom syllabus [ 21 ], clarify teaching objectives (knowledge objectives, ability objectives and emotional objectives, i.e., low-order objectives and high-order objectives), develop chapter teaching plans and teaching courseware (traditional classrooms are obviously different from flipped classrooms) [ 22 ], record pre-class video (design the course content in a fragmented way and systematically present it in accordance with the teaching plan) [ 23 ], divide students into groups and engage with all students through “zhidao” teaching software and the QQ class committee. The specific design and implementation plan for the preparation of the above teaching materials for a flipped classroom course on the respiratory system. The teaching team seminar is held three weeks before the class.

While completing the preparation of teaching materials in accordance with the teaching plan, the team clarified what methods and tasks teachers and students should complete before and during the implementation of the flipped classroom so that everyone can understand the design intent of these teaching activities to facilitate more satisfactory teaching results.

Practice processes and instructional evaluation

The teaching design was discussed and approved by all members of the research team and used in the classroom teaching of respiratory system conversion with slightly modified specific content. One week before class, it was distributed through the zhizhuishu teaching platform to all the students [ 24 ] participating in flipped classroom teaching. The resources provided to students include preview materials, textbook chapters, courseware, videos, etc.; Preview questions, some questions related to preview materials, guide students to think and explore, stimulate learning interest and initiative; Learning objectives, clarify the knowledge objectives, ability objectives, and literacy objectives for pre class learning. In addition, there are also learning platforms (Wisdom Tree Online Course- https://coursehome.zhihuishu.com/courseHome/1000007885/199185/20#onlineCourse ),WeChat class group chat, learning community. In flipping the method of respiratory system class delivery, the team first tried to perform a complete flip of the class. At the beginning of the class, the teacher clarified six themes, and then the group spokespersons demonstrated their understanding of all the knowledge points, including key points and difficulties, in class by drawing lots. The teams provided feedback for each other. The teacher only played a guiding role in the activities involving the entirety of the class. After summarizing the classroom content, the teacher assigned homework, such as creating mind maps and engaging in thematic discussions on the learning platform, and distributed the questionnaire regarding the group pre-class preparations, classroom activities and learning experiences for the respiratory system flipped classroom. The questionnaire mainly consists of the following questions. How was the work divided among your team for this activity? What kind of in-class learning style do you like best in the flipped classroom? Compared with the last flipped classroom, are you satisfied with the length of teaching in this flipped classroom? How long do you spend on pre-class learning for a flipped class? What are your learning pain points or difficulties after this flipped lesson? What abilities have you improved in this flipped classroom? Are you satisfied with the length of lectures in this class compared with that in the last flipped class? What percentage of the course content do you prefer to be delivered by the flipped classroom model? Compared with the last flipped classroom, what are the advantages of this flipped classroom? What you are most satisfied with in this flipped lesson? Please offer suggestions for the improvement of your flipped class on embryos.

According to the steps and links involved in DT, when the “product” (teaching plan) is tested and problems are found, the design team should complete the iteration as soon as possible to better meet the needs of “customers” (students)[ 25 , 26 ]. Three days after the questionnaires, the teaching team adjusted the flipped classroom teaching design scheme for the Female Reproductive System course according to the questionnaire results, and arranged the pre-class tasks one week prior to the class, which differed from the previous class. Explanations of key points and difficult points were appropriately added to the teaching design, which did not depend on students as thoroughly as it had the last time, reducing the difficulty of the flipped classroom to a certain extent, improving students' level in participation, and improving the learning effect and teaching quality of the class.

A total of four questionnaires were distributed before and after the two flipped classes, and video recordings were made of the flipped classroom teaching process for a nursing and a stomatology class. Tencent conference recording instructions were issued by teachers. HE course scores consisted of three parts, including the usual score (30%), experimental score (10%) and final score (60%). The course scores of the 2021 nursing class and stomatology class were derived from the education management system of Jining Medical College, and the course scores of the nursing and stomatology majors who did not classes that had implemented online flipped classroom teaching in 2020 were derived as a control. Comparing the proportion of students in each of two grades, the total correct response rate of test questions, and the correct response rate of respiratory system and female reproductive system course test questions delivered through flipped classroom teaching were analysed using GraphPad Prism software through the statistical method of multiple or unpaired t tests.

Teaching strategies developed using design thinking methods improves multiple student abilities

According to the results of the questionnaire distributed before the beginning of the first flipped class, 51.2% of the students reported not understanding the new learning method and that they could not check the data, 21.6% of the students were not interested in flipped lessons and preferred traditional passive learning methods, 25.6% of the students said that they did not have strong self-control and were unwilling to take the initiative to learn, 56.8% of the students said that they had a great fear of speaking in front of their classmates and that their public speaking skills were not strong, and 46.4% of the students did not know how make suitable PowerPoint Presentation (PPT). After two sessions of flipped classroom learning, the majority of students felt that their pain points had been effectively solved and various abilities had been developed. The results of the question after the flipped classroom teaching of the female reproductive system are shown in Table  1 .

Positive feedback and growth experience of students in teaching strategies developed using design thinking methods

The informal discussion following the flipped lesson on the female reproductive system shows that compared with the "Teacher almost let go" response in the previous respiratory system flipping class, the students are more inclined to respond with "The teacher will solve the problems left in our preview," "Feedback is provided between groups, and the groups are complementary," "The teacher emphasizes the key points, explains the process in detail, and plays videos to consolidate knowledge," and " the teacher commented on the performance of the group speaker". The students thought that after two sessions of participation in a flipped classroom, "We are more active in learning and the classroom design is more live," and "The students are more involved and confident." "By applying design thinking to study the course of organizational design, I have found new learning methods and approaches, and successfully applied these learning methods to other courses, which has benefited me greatly."

The comparison results of grades

Under the premise that there is no significant difference in the difficulty of test questions and other criteria between the flipped and traditional classrooms, the class of 2021 stomatology students' course scores showed a slight improvement. However, there was no significant difference in the distribution of the number of students in each score segment compared to the class of 2020 stomatology students. In contrast, for the chapters that implemented flipped classroom teaching, specifically the respiratory system and female reproductive system chapters, the class of 2021 stomatology students' test scores showed a significant increase. The difference between the two groups was statistically significant. The details are depicted in Fig.  3 .

Distribution of final exam scores for the two graduating classes. A The proportion of students in different grades, no significant difference Statistical method: Multiple t tests. B Total accuracy, no significant difference. Statistical method: Unpaired test. C The accuracy of flipped classroom chapters, unpaired test, P  < 0.05. Mean ± SEM of column A 0.7075 ± 0.009587 N  = 3, Mean ± SEM of column B 0.7913 ± 0.02872 N  = 3

Firstly, significant achievements have been made in enhancing students' overall abilities through the application of design thinking methods in formulating flipped classroom teaching strategies. Preliminary surveys revealed various challenges faced by students before the commencement of the flipped classes, including difficulties in understanding new learning methods, lack of interest in flipped classes, low self-discipline, and fear of public speaking. However, after two sessions of flipped classroom learning, the majority of students believe that their pain points have been effectively addressed, and various skills have been developed. This aligns with the findings of previous research by Awan OA [ 15 ], indicating that the application of design thinking methods in teaching strategies can significantly enhance students' subject engagement and skill development.

Secondly, regarding the positive feedback and students' growth experiences in applying design thinking methods to formulate teaching strategies, there is a positive trend observed in informal discussions following the flipped classroom on the female reproductive system. Students tend to perceive a more proactive role played by teachers in the flipped classroom, addressing the issues they encountered during previewing. Students also highlighted the complementary feedback provided among groups, emphasizing the importance of teamwork. Additionally, students positively acknowledged the efforts of teachers in emphasizing key points, providing detailed explanations of processes, and reinforcing knowledge through video presentations. They believe that this teaching approach stimulates their interest in learning and enhances their motivation. This aligns with the findings of research by Scheer A [ 7 ] and Deitte LA [ 11 ], supporting the positive impact of design thinking methods in education.

Finally, the results of the performance comparison indicate that there is no significant difference between flipped classroom and traditional classroom based on criteria such as question difficulty. However, the overall grades of the 2021 cohort of dental medicine students have shown a slight improvement. Specifically, in the chapters on the respiratory and female reproductive systems within the flipped courses, the exam scores of the 2021 cohort students have significantly increased, and this difference is statistically significant. This suggests that the flipped classroom teaching formulated through design thinking methods has a significant positive impact on the development of subject-specific skills in specific chapters. This aligns with the relevant findings of Cheng X [ 1 ], further emphasizing the instructional advantages of design thinking methods in specific topics.

Main finding

The team used DT to reveal the pain point that flexible mixed teaching can not guarantee students' participation and the realization of teaching objectives, and the application of online flip classroom teaching solved this problem well Students play a leading role in this kind of teaching, so they need to devote more time and energy to preview textbooks and consult relevant materials before class to improve their autonomous learning ability It is helpful to cultivate team spirit in flip teaching in the form of group, which is helpful to cultivate team leadership and management ability. The main requirements of mixed teaching are to integrate pre-recorded videos into the course as a whole and provide online learning resources to supplement face-to-face teaching in an organized and selective way [ 27 ] As assessment expert Mag says, if you are teaching something that cannot be assessed, you are already in an awkward position-that is, you can't explain the teaching content clearly [ 28 ] Therefore, reasonable teaching objectives in mixed teaching can make teachers and students reach a common understanding and consensus on learning results, enhance emotional communication and resonance between teachers and students, and jointly promote the implementation of curriculum teaching. The successful implementation of online flip class needs certain network and students' enthusiasm and cooperation At the same time, teachers need to be particularly familiar with the curriculum to design lectures and targeted comments [ 29 ].

Limitations and future research

In this study, the respiratory system and female reproductive system in HE were selected as subjects for conducting flipped classroom teaching. The examination results shoe that although the overall course performance has not significantly improved, the accuracy of the chapter test questions in flipped classrooms significantly improved, which demonstrates that this teaching method can improve students' learning performance while cultivating their various abilities. It is worth expanding the scope of implementation to more chapters. However, not all chapters are suitable for flipped classroom teaching. Because the two chapters involved in this paper belong to the "organs and systems" module, it does not fully reflect the applicability of this research in this course. Some chapters of the basic tissue module and embryogenesis module are also the scope of our future teaching research In addition, what is the highest proportion of total course hours converted to flip teaching? All these problems need further study in the future. What is the most appropriate ratio of total course hours to convert into flipped teaching? These issues need to be further studied in the future.

When DT is introduced into education, evaluating students' learning and development becomes more important than evaluating students' design products or knowledge and ability. Changes in consciousness and attitude include whether they can fully participate in current cognitive activities, learn independently, communicate and cooperate, and continuously monitor and adjust themselves. By clarifying this guidance, we can formulate or select appropriate evaluation criteria through a literature review during the implementation of the project and adjust the subsequent research conditions in a timely manner according to the evaluation results.

Online flipped teaching is an effective way to integrate DT into the flexible and mixed teaching of HE, which can effectively enhance students' learning input and cultivate students' autonomous learning ability. This research aims to reshape the method of classroom teaching through the deep integration of modern information technology into pedagogical design. Future work should appropriately expand the scope of flipped teaching content and explore the appropriate proportion of course content. In the course design, various forms of cross-professional cooperation with clinical doctors should be increased as much as possible, and the contents of flipped classroom should be expanded from basic knowledge to clinical skills.

Through the application of design thinking in the teaching of histology and embryology courses, we have gained a deeper understanding of its positive impact on innovative teaching strategies, improvement of students' learning experience and academic performance, and the potential value it holds in medical education. We have discovered that the "product" developed through design thinking, namely online flipped teaching, serves as an effective and flexible blended teaching method. It not only enhances students' engagement in learning and fosters their autonomous learning abilities but also encourages both teachers and students to cultivate their innovative capabilities and reshape classroom teaching approaches. Moving forward, further exploration should be undertaken to determine the optimal balance for expanding the content of flipped teaching, to continually uncover its potential in medical education.

Availability of data and materials

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article.

Abbreviations

Histology and Embryology

Design Thinking

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Acknowledgements

We thank Jining Medical College and Shandong Provincial Education Department for support.

Undergraduate Teaching Reform Research Project of Shandong Provincial Education Department No. M2021364, M2022159. Research on classroom teaching reform key program in Jining Medical College [2022] No. 2022KT001.

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Guo, Y., Wang, X., Gao, Y. et al. Flipped online teaching of histology and embryology with design thinking: design, practice and reflection. BMC Med Educ 24 , 388 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05373-7

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Two key brain systems are central to psychosis, Stanford Medicine-led study finds

When the brain has trouble filtering incoming information and predicting what’s likely to happen, psychosis can result, Stanford Medicine-led research shows.

April 11, 2024 - By Erin Digitale

People with psychosis have trouble filtering relevant information (mesh funnel) and predicting rewarding events (broken crystal ball), creating a complex inner world. Emily Moskal

Inside the brains of people with psychosis, two key systems are malfunctioning: a “filter” that directs attention toward important external events and internal thoughts, and a “predictor” composed of pathways that anticipate rewards.

Dysfunction of these systems makes it difficult to know what’s real, manifesting as hallucinations and delusions. 

The findings come from a Stanford Medicine-led study , published April 11 in  Molecular Psychiatry , that used brain scan data from children, teens and young adults with psychosis. The results confirm an existing theory of how breaks with reality occur.

“This work provides a good model for understanding the development and progression of schizophrenia, which is a challenging problem,” said lead author  Kaustubh Supekar , PhD, clinical associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.

The findings, observed in individuals with a rare genetic disease called 22q11.2 deletion syndrome who experience psychosis as well as in those with psychosis of unknown origin, advance scientists’ understanding of the underlying brain mechanisms and theoretical frameworks related to psychosis.

During psychosis, patients experience hallucinations, such as hearing voices, and hold delusional beliefs, such as thinking that people who are not real exist. Psychosis can occur on its own and isa hallmark of certain serious mental illnesses, including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is also characterized by social withdrawal, disorganized thinking and speech, and a reduction in energy and motivation.

It is challenging to study how schizophrenia begins in the brain. The condition usually emerges in teens or young adults, most of whom soon begin taking antipsychotic medications to ease their symptoms. When researchers analyze brain scans from people with established schizophrenia, they cannot distinguish the effects of the disease from the effects of the medications. They also do not know how schizophrenia changes the brain as the disease progresses. 

To get an early view of the disease process, the Stanford Medicine team studied young people aged 6 to 39 with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, a genetic condition with a 30% risk for psychosis, schizophrenia or both. 

Kaustubh Supekar

Brain function in 22q11.2 patients who have psychosis is similar to that in people with psychosis of unknown origin, they found. And these brain patterns matched what the researchers had previously theorized was generating psychosis symptoms.

“The brain patterns we identified support our theoretical models of how cognitive control systems malfunction in psychosis,” said senior study author  Vinod Menon , PhD, the Rachael L. and Walter F. Nichols, MD, Professor; a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences; and director of the  Stanford Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience Laboratory .

Thoughts that are not linked to reality can capture the brain’s cognitive control networks, he said. “This process derails the normal functioning of cognitive control, allowing intrusive thoughts to dominate, culminating in symptoms we recognize as psychosis.”

Cerebral sorting  

Normally, the brain’s cognitive filtering system — aka the salience network — works behind the scenes to selectively direct our attention to important internal thoughts and external events. With its help, we can dismiss irrational thoughts and unimportant events and focus on what’s real and meaningful to us, such as paying attention to traffic so we avoid a collision.

The ventral striatum, a small brain region, and associated brain pathways driven by dopamine, play an important role in predicting what will be rewarding or important. 

For the study, the researchers assembled as much functional MRI brain-scan data as possible from young people with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, totaling 101 individuals scanned at three different universities. (The study also included brain scans from several comparison groups without 22q11.2 deletion syndrome: 120 people with early idiopathic psychosis, 101 people with autism, 123 with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and 411 healthy controls.) 

The genetic condition, characterized by deletion of part of the 22nd chromosome, affects 1 in every 2,000 to 4,000 people. In addition to the 30% risk of schizophrenia or psychosis, people with the syndrome can also have autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which is why these conditions were included in the comparison groups.

The researchers used a type of machine learning algorithm called a spatiotemporal deep neural network to characterize patterns of brain function in all patients with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome compared with healthy subjects. With a cohort of patients whose brains were scanned at the University of California, Los Angeles, they developed an algorithmic model that distinguished brain scans from people with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome versus those without it. The model predicted the syndrome with greater than 94% accuracy. They validated the model in additional groups of people with or without the genetic syndrome who had received brain scans at UC Davis and Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, showing that in these independent groups, the model sorted brain scans with 84% to 90% accuracy.

The researchers then used the model to investigate which brain features play the biggest role in psychosis. Prior studies of psychosis had not given consistent results, likely because their sample sizes were too small. 

Vinod Menon

Comparing brain scans from 22q11.2 deletion syndrome patients who had and did not have psychosis, the researchers showed that the brain areas contributing most to psychosis are the anterior insula (a key part of the salience network or “filter”) and the ventral striatum (the “reward predictor”); this was true for different cohorts of patients.

In comparing the brain features of people with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome and psychosis against people with psychosis of unknown origin, the model found significant overlap, indicating that these brain features are characteristic of psychosis in general.

A second mathematical model, trained to distinguish all subjects with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome and psychosis from those who have the genetic syndrome but without psychosis, selected brain scans from people with idiopathic psychosis with 77.5% accuracy, again supporting the idea that the brain’s filtering and predicting centers are key to psychosis.

Furthermore, this model was specific to psychosis: It could not classify people with idiopathic autism or ADHD.

“It was quite exciting to trace our steps back to our initial question — ‘What are the dysfunctional brain systems in schizophrenia?’ — and to discover similar patterns in this context,” Menon said. “At the neural level, the characteristics differentiating individuals with psychosis in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome are mirroring the pathways we’ve pinpointed in schizophrenia. This parallel reinforces our understanding of psychosis as a condition with identifiable and consistent brain signatures.” However, these brain signatures were not seen in people with the genetic syndrome but no psychosis, holding clues to future directions for research, he added.

Applications for treatment or prevention

In addition to supporting the scientists’ theory about how psychosis occurs, the findings have implications for understanding the condition — and possibly preventing it.

“One of my goals is to prevent or delay development of schizophrenia,” Supekar said. The fact that the new findings are consistent with the team’s prior research on which brain centers contribute most to schizophrenia in adults suggests there may be a way to prevent it, he said. “In schizophrenia, by the time of diagnosis, a lot of damage has already occurred in the brain, and it can be very difficult to change the course of the disease.”

“What we saw is that, early on, functional interactions among brain regions within the same brain systems are abnormal,” he added. “The abnormalities do not start when you are in your 20s; they are evident even when you are 7 or 8.”

Our discoveries underscore the importance of approaching people with psychosis with compassion.

The researchers plan to use existing treatments, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation or focused ultrasound, targeted at these brain centers in young people at risk of psychosis, such as those with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome or with two parents who have schizophrenia, to see if they prevent or delay the onset of the condition or lessen symptoms once they appear. 

The results also suggest that using functional MRI to monitor brain activity at the key centers could help scientists investigate how existing antipsychotic medications are working. 

Although it’s still puzzling why someone becomes untethered from reality — given how risky it seems for one’s well-being — the “how” is now understandable, Supekar said. “From a mechanistic point of view, it makes sense,” he said.

“Our discoveries underscore the importance of approaching people with psychosis with compassion,” Menon said, adding that his team hopes their work not only advances scientific understanding but also inspires a cultural shift toward empathy and support for those experiencing psychosis. 

“I recently had the privilege of engaging with individuals from our department’s early psychosis treatment group,” he said. “Their message was a clear and powerful: ‘We share more similarities than differences. Like anyone, we experience our own highs and lows.’ Their words were a heartfelt appeal for greater empathy and understanding toward those living with this condition. It was a call to view psychosis through a lens of empathy and solidarity.”

Researchers contributed to the study from UCLA, Clinica Alemana Universidad del Desarrollo, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, the University of Oxford and UC Davis.

The study was funded by the Stanford Maternal and Child Health Research Institute’s Uytengsu-Hamilton 22q11 Neuropsychiatry Research Program, FONDEYCT (the National Fund for Scientific and Technological Development of the government of Chile), ANID-Chile (the Chilean National Agency for Research and Development) and the U.S. National Institutes of Health (grants AG072114, MH121069, MH085953 and MH101779).

About Stanford Medicine

Stanford Medicine is an integrated academic health system comprising the Stanford School of Medicine and adult and pediatric health care delivery systems. Together, they harness the full potential of biomedicine through collaborative research, education and clinical care for patients. For more information, please visit med.stanford.edu .

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What’s it like to be a teacher in america today, public k-12 teachers are stressed about their jobs and few are optimistic about the future of education; many say poverty, absenteeism and mental health are major problems at their school.

Pew Research Center conducted this study to better understand the views and experiences of public K-12 school teachers. The analysis in this report is based on an online survey of 2,531 U.S. public K-12 teachers conducted from Oct. 17 to Nov. 14, 2023. The teachers surveyed are members of RAND’s American Teacher Panel, a nationally representative panel of public K-12 school teachers recruited through MDR Education. Survey data is weighted to state and national teacher characteristics to account for differences in sampling and response to ensure they are representative of the target population.

Here are the questions used for this report , along with responses, and the survey methodology .

Low-poverty , medium-poverty and high-poverty schools are based on the percentage of students eligible for free and reduced-price lunch, as reported by the National Center for Education Statistics (less than 40%, 40%-59% and 60% or more, respectively).

Secondary schools include both middle schools and high schools.

All references to party affiliation include those who lean toward that party. Republicans include those who identify as Republicans and those who say they lean toward the Republican Party. Democrats include those who identify as Democrats and those who say they lean toward the Democratic Party.

Public K-12 schools in the United States face a host of challenges these days – from teacher shortages to the lingering effects of COVID-19 learning loss to political battles over curriculum .

In the midst of all this, teachers express low levels of satisfaction with their jobs. In fact, they’re much less satisfied than U.S. workers overall.

Here’s how public K-12 teachers are feeling about their jobs:

• 77% say their job is frequently stressful.
• 68% say it’s overwhelming.
• 70% say their school is understaffed.
• 52% say they would not advise a young person starting out today to become a teacher.

When it comes to how their students are doing in school, teachers are relatively downbeat about both academic performance and behavior.

Here’s how public K-12 teachers rate academic performance and behavior at their school:

• 48% say the academic performance of most students at their school is fair or poor. A third say it’s good, and only 17% describe it as excellent or very good.
• 49% say the behavior of most students at their school is fair or poor; 35% say it’s good and 13% say it’s excellent or very good.

The COVID-19 pandemic likely compounded these issues. About eight-in-ten teachers (among those who have been teaching for at least a year) say the lasting impact of the pandemic on students’ behavior, academic performance and emotional well-being has been very or somewhat negative.

Assessments of student performance and behavior differ widely by school poverty level. 1 Teachers in high-poverty schools have a much more negative outlook. But feelings of stress and dissatisfaction among teachers are fairly universal, regardless of where they teach.

Related: What Public K-12 Teachers Want Americans To Know About Teaching

As they navigate these challenges, teachers don’t feel they’re getting the support or reinforcement they need from parents.

Majorities of teachers say parents are doing too little when it comes to holding their children accountable if they misbehave in school, helping them with their schoolwork and ensuring their attendance.

Teachers in high- and medium-poverty schools are more likely than those in low-poverty schools to say parents are doing too little in each of these areas.

These findings are based on a survey of 2,531 U.S. public K-12 teachers conducted Oct. 17-Nov. 14, 2023, using the RAND American Teacher Panel. 2 The survey looks at the following aspects of teachers’ experiences:

• Teachers’ job satisfaction (Chapter 1)
• How teachers manage their workload (Chapter 2)
• Problems students are facing at public K-12 schools (Chapter 3)
• Challenges in the classroom (Chapter 4)
• Teachers’ views of parent involvement (Chapter 5)
• Teachers’ views on the state of public K-12 education (Chapter 6)

Problems students are facing

We asked teachers about some of the challenges students at their school are facing. Three problems topped the list:

• Poverty (53% say this is a major problem among students who attend their school)
• Chronic absenteeism (49%)
• Anxiety and depression (48%)

Chronic absenteeism (that is, students missing a substantial number of school days) is a particular challenge at high schools, with 61% of high school teachers saying this is a major problem where they teach. By comparison, 46% of middle school teachers and 43% of elementary school teachers say the same.

Anxiety and depression are viewed as a more serious problem at the secondary school level: 69% of high school teachers and 57% of middle school teachers say this is a major problem among their students, compared with 29% of elementary school teachers.

Fewer teachers (20%) view bullying as a major problem at their school, though the share is significantly higher among middle school teachers (34%).

A look inside the classroom

We also asked teachers how things are going in their classroom and specifically about some of the issues that may get in the way of teaching.

• 47% of teachers say students showing little or no interest in learning is a major problem in their classroom. The share rises to 58% among high school teachers.
• 33% say students being distracted by their cellphones is a major problem. This is particularly an issue for high school teachers, with 72% saying this is a major problem.
• About one-in-five teachers say students getting up and walking around when they’re not supposed to and being disrespectful toward them (21% each) are major problems. Teachers in elementary and middle schools are more likely than those in high schools to see these as challenges.

A majority of teachers (68%) say they’ve experienced verbal abuse from a student – such as being yelled at or threatened. Some 21% say this happens at least a few times a month.

Physical violence is less common. Even so, 40% of teachers say a student has been violent toward them , with 9% saying this happens at least a few times a month.

About two-thirds of teachers (66%) say that the current discipline practices at their school are very or somewhat mild. Only 2% say the discipline practices at their school are very or somewhat harsh, while 31% say they are neither harsh nor mild. Most teachers (67%) say teachers themselves don’t have enough influence in determining discipline practices at their school.

Behavioral issues and mental health challenges

In addition to their teaching duties, a majority of teachers (58%) say they have to address behavioral issues in their classroom every day. About three-in-ten teachers (28%) say they have to help students with mental health challenges daily.

In each of these areas, elementary and middle school teachers are more likely than those at the high school level to say they do these things on a daily basis.

And teachers in high-poverty schools are more likely than those in medium- and low-poverty schools to say they deal with these issues each day.

Cellphone policies and enforcement

Most teachers (82%) say their school or district has policies regarding cellphone use in the classroom.

Of those, 56% say these policies are at least somewhat easy to enforce, 30% say they’re difficult to enforce, and 14% say they’re neither easy nor difficult to enforce.

Experiences with cellphone policies vary widely across school levels. High school teachers (60%) are much more likely than middle school (30%) and elementary school teachers (12%) to say the policies are difficult to enforce (among those who say their school or district has a cellphone policy).

How teachers are experiencing their jobs

Thinking about the various aspects of their jobs, teachers are most satisfied with their relationship with other teachers at their school (71% are extremely or very satisfied).

They’re least satisfied with how much they’re paid – only 15% are extremely or very satisfied with their pay, while 51% are not too or not at all satisfied.

Among teachers who don’t plan to retire or stop working this year, 29% say it’s at least somewhat likely they will look for a new job in the 2023-24 school year. Within that group, 40% say they would look for a job outside of education, 29% say they’d seek a non-teaching job in education, and only 18% say they’d look for a teaching job at another public K-12 school.

Do teachers find their work fulfilling and enjoyable?

Overall, 56% of teachers say they find their job to be fulfilling extremely often or often; 53% say their job is enjoyable. These are significantly lower than the shares who say their job is frequently stressful (77%) or overwhelming (68%).

Positive experiences are more common among newer teachers. Two-thirds of those who’ve been teaching less than six years say their work is fulfilling extremely often or often, and 62% of this group says their work is frequently enjoyable.

Teachers with longer tenures are somewhat less likely to feel this way. For example, 48% of those who’ve been teaching for six to 10 years say their work is frequently enjoyable.

Balancing the workload

Most teachers (84%) say there’s not enough time during their regular work hours to do tasks like grading, lesson planning, paperwork and answering work emails.

Among those who feel this way, 81% say simply having too much work is a major reason.

Many also point to having to spend time helping students outside the classroom, performing non-teaching duties like lunch duty, and covering other teachers’ classrooms as at least minor reasons they don’t have enough time to get all their work done.

A majority of teachers (54%) say it’s very or somewhat difficult for them to balance work and their personal life. About one-in-four (26%) say it’s very or somewhat easy for them to balance these things, and 20% say it’s neither easy nor difficult.

Among teachers, women are more likely than men to say work-life balance is difficult for them (57% vs. 43%). Women teachers are also more likely to say they often find their job stressful or overwhelming.

How teachers view the education system

A large majority of teachers (82%) say the overall state of public K-12 education has gotten worse in the past five years.

And very few are optimistic about the next five years: Only 20% of teachers say public K-12 education will be a lot or somewhat better five years from now. A narrow majority (53%) say it will be worse.

Among teachers who think things have gotten worse in recent years, majorities say the current political climate (60%) and the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic (57%) are major reasons. A sizable share (46%) also point to changes in the availability of funding and resources.

Related:  About half of Americans say public K-12 education is going in the wrong direction

Which political party do teachers trust more to deal with educational challenges?

On balance, more teachers say they trust the Democratic Party than say they trust the Republican Party to do a better job handling key issues facing the K-12 education system. But three-in-ten or more across the following issues say they don’t trust either party:

• Shaping school curriculum (42% say they trust neither party)
• Ensuring teachers have adequate pay and benefits (35%)
• Making schools safer (35%)
• Ensuring adequate funding for schools (33%)
• Ensuring all students have equal access to high-quality K-12 education (31%)

A majority of public K-12 teachers (58%) identify or lean toward the Democratic Party. This is higher than the share among the general public (47%).

• Poverty levels are based on the percentage of students in the school who are eligible for free and reduced-price lunch. ↩
• For details, refer to the Methodology section of the report. ↩
• Urban, suburban and rural schools are based on the location of the school as reported by the National Center for Education Statistics (rural includes town). Definitions match those used by the U.S. Census Bureau. ↩

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Table of contents, ‘back to school’ means anytime from late july to after labor day, depending on where in the u.s. you live, among many u.s. children, reading for fun has become less common, federal data shows, most european students learn english in school, for u.s. teens today, summer means more schooling and less leisure time than in the past, about one-in-six u.s. teachers work second jobs – and not just in the summer, most popular.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts .

Huge shipping firm shuts down two of its companies

T he U.S. logistics industry continues fighting through financial difficulties this year, as several shipping companies have already filed for bankruptcy in 2024.

Filing bankruptcy was a way for J.J. & Sons Logistics of Clint, Texas, to avoid litigation and a possible expensive judgment. On Jan. 22, the company filed for Chapter 7 liquidation in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas four days before the scheduled start of a trial for a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a former company truck driver who had died from drowning in 2016.

Related: Huge superstar extends Las Vegas Strip residency

Another logistics company, California-based Wise Choice Trans Corp., shut down operations and filed for Chapter 7 liquidation on Jan. 4 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of California to trigger an automatic stay against all legal proceedings, as the company listed its involvement in four legal actions that were ongoing or concluded.

Carlsbad, Calif., freight forwarder company Boateng Logistics permanently shuttered its operations and on Feb. 22 filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy with plans to liquidate. The company filed its petition before any creditors could take legal action, as court papers said it owed millions of dollars in liabilities to trucking, logistics and factoring companies.

Companies don't always have to liquidate in bankruptcy

In some cases, a company doesn't need to file Chapter 7, liquidate and close down operations. A Chapter 11 reorganization might be sufficient.

Nationwide Cargo Inc., a general freight trucking company that also hauls fresh produce and meat, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on March 13 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois to reorganize its business.

The East Dundee, Ill., shipping company, which operates with 183 trucks and 171 drivers, said funds will not be available to pay unsecured creditors.

While bankruptcy is often a last resort for logistics companies having financial difficulties, in some cases, downsizing operations without filing bankruptcy can be a remedy for solving problems with high costs and expenses. Shutting down certain subsidiaries is a method for eliminating financial burden that one big shipping company has chosen.

Universal Logistics closes 2 subsidiaries   

Major shipping company Universal Logistics Holdings  ( ULH )  will permanently close two of its subsidiaries and lay off 677 employees, notices filed with the State of Michigan said, according to FreightWaves.

The Warren, Mich., company's subsidiary Universal Dedicated of Detroit will close and lay off 230 truck drivers, while Logistics  Insights Corp. will shutter and lay off 447 workers, including 164 warehouse workers, 212 forklift operators, 26 dock workers and 45 clerical employees. Universal Logistics gave no reason for shutting down the two subsidiaries.

Logistics Insights provides value-added logistics solutions to the automotive, aerospace, manufacturing and retail industries, as well as dedicated truckload, expedited and freight forwarding services to customers throughout North America, according to the Universal Logistics website. Universal Dedicated of Detroit operates an auto parts warehousing and logistics facility. Both subsidiaries are based in Detroit.

Parent company Universal Logistics Holdings, whose subsidiaries employ about 10,000 workers in total, is a holding company which owns subsidiaries that provide a variety of customized transportation and logistics solutions throughout the United States and in Mexico, Canada and Colombia. Its subsidiaries offer a broad array of supply chain services, including truckload, brokerage, intermodal, dedicated and value-added services.