STEM in Teaching Qualitative Research

Abstract The results from the first stage of a project examining the use of computer assisted qualitative data analysis (CAQDAS) and mixed methods teaching in qualitative analysis to promote numeric and technology skills in undergraduate students. Results from a survey of qualitative research teachers carried out as part of the project will be presented. Overview This paper will report the preliminary results from an online survey of teachers of qualitative research methods (Survey 2), which has been undertaken as part of a project to determine what barriers there are to the inclusion in undergraduate qualitative methods teaching of skills relating to the use of CAQDAS programs and the use of mixed methods in research designs. The project will also try to discover and summarise good practice and to develop guidelines for such teaching content that can be used at undergraduate level, though the full details of this will not be available until after the conference. There is little current reference to technology or number in both the use of qualitative methods in social research and especially the teaching of qualitative methods, particularly at undergraduate level. The one exception to this is the discussion of the use of CAQDAS programs in several textbooks aimed at undergraduate users. However, there is no strong evidence that this translates into widespread use of the programs in undergraduate teaching in the UK. Indeed in a web-based survey of teachers of qualitative methods (Survey 2) that I carried out for a previous HEA funded project (REQUALLO) I found only 6% of departments that replied to the survey used CAQDAS at undergraduate level, although much higher proportions used it at postgraduate level. At the moment, at undergraduate level, there is a distinct inequality in software use between qualitative and quantitative research methods teaching. Almost all undergraduate courses on quantitative methods will, at some point, cover the use of statistics and will require students to use software (such as SPSS). There are two factors that might begin to challenge this comparatively low level of software usage in qualitative methods: the increasing use of CAQDAS in research and the growth of interest in mixed methods approaches. In the case of the former, there is evidence for a strong growth in the use of CAQDAS in social research. There is also a growth in the popularity of mixed methods designs, not only in the number of published papers using such an approach, but also in the number of PhD students undertaking such projects. To support this, in the last few years, many of the major publishers of CAQDAS programs have included functionality in their software that integrates quantitative data with the qualitative analysis. This includes a range of data mining, keyword in context searches and cluster analysis techniques as well as the ability to import quantitative case attribute data that can be used in the analysis. All this is integrated with the basic thematic coding system the software supports. There are, however, significant barriers to the increased use of number and software in undergraduate qualitative methods teaching. In Survey 1 I asked teachers why the software was not used at undergraduate level. Common reasons given included, no time (17%), lack of teachers’ skills in the software (13%), no funding for site licences or local support for software (12%) and most commonly, that it would take too long to teach (24%). However, significantly, given the antagonism of some qualitative researcher to software use, only 3% said that the software was not used in teaching because it does not support the methodology or the theoretical approach they used. This situation is changing. Many UK universities now hold site licences for the software (just as they do for statistical software). About a year ago, QSR, the publisher of the market leading NVivo software, told me that 74 UK universities held site licences and there are several who hold similar licence for competing programs. Nevertheless several barriers remain: 1. Lack of skills in both CAQDAS use and mixed methods amongst qualitative research methods teachers at undergraduate level. 2. There are few good exemplars, usable at undergraduate level, of how software and numeric skills can enhance qualitative analysis. 3. Lack of OERs suitable for undergraduate use that tackle this issue (but there are some QSR videos on this). This paper will report on the current state of skills teaching and of available resources with a focus on the U

Video and visual resources & technologies in teaching statistics

This presentation takes a wide definition of visual to include video and presentation technologies. It discusses the availability of video resources about stats (conceptual and SPSS tutorials) and about some of the other visual technologies that are used and could be used here. This includes drawing/annotation and recording systems that can be used to create video materials (a bit like the Kahn University videos) - including some interesting apps on the iPad (e.g. Explain Everything). It comments on the pros and cons of identifying good videos and of using them in sessions and as additional course resources

Mejorar la enseñanza y el aprendizaje universitario mediante estrategias institucionales

Durante dos décadas, han habido intentos en el Reino Unido de mejorar la docencia universitaria ampliamente centrada en el profesor individual. Hacia los años noventa se evidenció que ningún tipo de innovación individual por parte de profesores era promotora del cambio suficiente, o suficientemente rápido, para responder a una población de estudiantes cada vez más diversa, con recursos más reducidos, nueva tecnología y agendas gubernamentales preocupadas por la empleabilidad de los estudiantes. La innovación en docencia estaba restringida por las infraestructuras institucionales diseñadas a mantener el statu quo de los veinte años anteriores. La sustancial inversión del gobierno en iniciativas sobre proyectos había tenido poco impacto. Como reacción a este fracaso, en 1997 se promovió una iniciativa nacional sobre Estrategias de Aprendizaje y Enseñanza, respaldada por 165 millones de euros. Se identificaron y se documentaron las mejores prácticas existentes de enseñanza y aprendizaje que habían dado lugar a cambios a escala institucional. Se asignaron fondos anuales a las instituciones en función de su tamaño y de si desarrollaban una estrategia institucional para la mejora de la docencia. Las 134 instituciones en su totalidad, incluyendo la investigación de élite, se involucraron voluntariamente en ello. Desde entonces, se han llevado a cabo tres revisiones de progreso y se han compartido a nivel nacional estudios de caso de las mejores prácticas a través de publicaciones y acontecimientos.Durant dues dècades, hi ha hagut intents en el Regne Unit de millorar la docència universitària àmpliament centrada en el professor individual. Cap als anys noranta es va evidenciar que cap tipus d'innovació individual per part de professors era promotora del canvi suficient, o suficientment ràpid, per respondre a una població d'estudiants cada vegada més diversa, amb recursos més reduïts, nova tecnologia i agendes governamentals preocupades per l'empleabilitat dels estudiants. La innovació en docència estava restringida per les infraestructures institucionals dissenyades a mantenir l'statu quo dels vint anys anteriors. La substancial inversió del govern en iniciatives sobre projectes havia tingut poc impacte. Com a reacció a aquest fracàs, el 1997 es va promoure una iniciativa nacional sobre Estratègies d'Aprenentatge i Ensenyament, mitjançant un ajut de 165 milions d'euros. Es van identificar i es van documentar les millors pràctiques existents d'ensenyament i aprenentatge que havien donat lloc a canvis a escala institucional. Es van assignar fons anuals a les institucions d'acord amb la seva grandària i de si desenvolupaven una estratègia institucional per a la millora de la docència. Totes 134 institucions, inclosa la investigació d'elit, s'hi van involucrar voluntàriament. Des d'aleshores, s'han portat a terme tres revisions de progrés i s'han compartit a nivell nacional estudis de cas de les millors pràctiques a través de publicacions i esdeveniments.For two decades attempts in the UK to improve university teaching largely focussed on individual teachers. By the 1990's it had become clear that no amount of innovation by individual teachers was capable of sufficient, or sufficiently rapid, change to respond to reduced resources, more and more diverse students, new technology and government agendas concerning the employability of students. Innovation in teaching was constrained by institutional infrastructures designed to support the status quo of 20 years before. Substantial government investment in project-led initiatives had made little impact. As a reaction to this failure, in 1997 a national Learning and Teaching Strategies initiative was launched, backed by ¤ 165million. Existing best practice in bringing about wide scale institutional change in teaching and learning was identified and documented. Institutions were entitled to annual funds, in relation to their size, if they developed an institutional strategy to improve teaching. All 134 institutions, including the research elite, voluntarily took part. Three reviews of progress have since been undertaken and case studies of best practice shared nationally through publications and events

Learning and qualitative data analysis with information technology: the role of exploration

Over the past 20 years there have been rapid developments in IT to create software that supports both learning and qualitative research. This thesis examines the design and use of that software, and argues that the exploratory approach in both learning and analysis produces superior outcomes. As such, the exploratory approach is seen as one that is particularly well supported by the software. A range of learning software and objects is discussed: Correlation Explorer, coMentor, learning websites, reusable learning objects, open educational resources, and videos. These are successive attempts by myself, and others, to develop software and other objects that support high quality learning. They do this in a variety of ways: by creating learning tools that promote exploration, by encouraging online collaboration and sharing, and by providing materials that can be used in a range of learning contexts. Some of the problems of their use are discussed, such as mistaken conceptions, and finding and adapting learning objects. In a parallel fashion, this thesis argues that the development of software to assist qualitative data analysis has supported a range of analytic approaches. By their very nature these tend to be exploratory – the thesis argues that the core of qualitative analysis involves exploration of the data. The new analytic tools the software offers afford especially good support to exploratory analyses. These tools include text searching, code hierarchies, code queries, and the use of charts and diagrams

Identifying hotspots and management of critical ecosystem services in rapidly urbanizing Yangtze River Delta Region, China

Rapid urbanization has altered many ecosystems, causing a decline in many ecosystem services, generating serious ecological crisis. To cope with these challenges, we presented a comprehensive framework comprising five core steps for identifying and managing hotspots of critical ecosystem services in a rapid urbanizing region. This framework was applied in the case study of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) Region. The study showed that there was large spatial heterogeneity in the hotspots of ecosystem services in the region, hotspots of supporting services and regulating services aggregately distributing in the southwest mountainous areas while hotspots of provisioning services mainly in the northeast plain, and hotspots of cultural services widespread in the waterbodies and southwest mountainous areas. The regionalization of the critical ecosystem services was made through the hotspot analysis. This study provided valuable information for environmental planning and management in a rapid urbanizing region and helped improve China's ecological redlines policy at regional scale

Epeoloides pilosulus (Cresson) Rediscovered in Michigan, with Notes on the Distribution and Status of its Macropis hosts.

Epeoloides pilosulus (Cresson 1878) is one of the rarest bees in North America with only a handful of records since 1960. The last collection in Michigan was made in 1944. Epeoloides pilosulus is a brood parasite of Macropis bees, which until recently had not been collected in Michigan for several decades. Bee surveys in Midland County, Michigan have led to the rediscovery of E. pilosulus in this state – the first record in 74 years. Michigan becomes the fourth state where E. pilosulus has been rediscovered after Connecticut in 2006, New York in 2014 and Maine in 2016, and the sixth region in North America after Nova Scotia in 2002 and Alberta in 2010. State-wide bee surveys have also shown that the principal host, Macropis nuda (Provancher 1882), remains widespread in Michigan, and that Macropis patellata Patton 1880 is newly recorded for the state

Reviews

Web‐Teaching ‐ A Guide to Interactive Teaching for the World‐Wide Web by David W. Brooks, New York: Plenum, 1997. ISBN: 0–306–45552–8. Paperback, 214 pages. $30

Conditions Under Which Assessment Supports Students’ Learning

Much evaluation of teaching focuses on what teachers do in class. This article focuses on the evaluation of assessment arrangements and the way they affect student learning out of class. It is assumed that assessment has an overwhelming influence on what, how and how much students study. The article proposes a set of ‘conditions under which assessment supports learning’ and justifies these with reference to theory, empirical evidence and practical experience. These conditions are offered as a framework for teachers to review the effectiveness of their own assessment practice