The "Ologies" of Educational Research

I haven't written a blog post for quite some time.  However this week I have spent a lot of time in my studies of module #H819 (the final module in my #MAODE journey) thinking about the "Ologies" of educational research.  As an undergraduate student of mathematics I had always thought I had a good understanding of research methods up until this point.  However, looking at educational research through the lens of philosophy really has opened my eyes.

("Research" by astronomy_blog is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

This week I have discovered that the concepts of ontology, epistemology and methodology are all intrinsically linked.  Moreover, I have found that methodology and research methods are quite different things - who knew!  Importantly however, it's got me thinking about educational practice and measurement of quality in an emerging hybrid educational landscape.  

There are so many questions going around in the minds of educators at the moment with regard to what we want the future to look like.  So, in a manner similar to myself, some may have spent a lot of time considering research questions that might help to inform future practice.  But there are some philosophical questions we need to stop and ask first.  

Ontology - what knowledge might exist out there that could be useful for us as educators?

Wow - well isn't that a can of worms!?  Could there be knowledge of new emerging technologies, pedagogies, or theories that could inform our practice?  Might there be relationships which are becoming apparent that, prior to the ongoing pandemic, we didn't really see or acknowledge?  

I'm sure there are lots of questions out there about things we would like to know.  But the one I keep coming back to is, "Can I make next year easier?"  It sort of begs the question, "What made this year so difficult?"  I think we've all come to realise that hybrid learning is here to stay.  Even just today I had a conversation with a student who said that they liked the flexibility of learning online, making use of videos to review and consolidate classroom teaching and to allow them to study on the move.  However, for most teachers out there, I think we're all agreed that most of us will be crawling across the finish line this session.

Whatever your experience has been this year, I think we can all acknowledge that we've learned a lot.  So that means there is a lot of knowledge available, knowledge that we didn't have 18 months ago.  

("too much information, too little knowledge" by Will Lion is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Epistemology - if there is knowledge out there, how can we access it?

Well that depends on our willingness to share.  A little knowledge can go a long way if you can access it.  But what is knowledge if it grows in a vacuum?  

One thing I love about being part of the #OUAlumni community is that there is always a willingness to share.  A quick tweet or an email and there's an army of people out there willing to share their views, provide some commentary and offer advice.  But there are lots of online communities that have emerged during the covid-19 outbreak which have offered lots of advice and support to various groups for a plethora of purposes.  One of my personal favourites is #EquityUnbound which not only helps educators to work together and support each other, but it also provides resources whereby educators can support learners and build communities of learners enabling learners to support each other too.  

Can I ask, during the online pivot, how much support have you received from colleagues via online communication, online sharing, online community building?  I know that I have found a huge support from my online colleagues and peers.  However, have we been, teaching our students to access that same support?  Or have we been discouraging such behaviour in the name of preserving assessment integrity?

However, with regard to online education, we do also need to stop and consider the quality of what we share.  Over the past 15 months I've heard educational leaders refer to largely debunked pedagogical concepts, and I've been privy conversations where more than a few questionable decisions have been made.  So, how can we be sure that what we share is valid and reliable?  

Methodology - how do we go about gathering that knowledge?

("My Nielsen Questionnaire" by Joe Gratz is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0)

Methodology is a concept that I always used to confuse with data collection methods.  Methods can include surveys, interviews, examining documents, questionnaires, focus groups.  There are lots of methods that we can use to gather data.  But the way we approach the data has to be considered carefully too.  

A concept that I learned about recently was that of grounded theory.  As a mathematician who is more than familiar with quantitative research methods, I was used to forming hypotheses, calculating test statistics and drawing conclusions from my calculations.  However, grounded theory is a different approach where you gather data with no preconceived notion of what you might find and you allow knowledge to emerge from within the data.  How often do we approach our learning and teaching in this way.  Thinking we know exactly what needs to be done because all our experience up to this point has pointed us to a conclusion.  But what if the data has changed?  Do we need to have another look?  Or maybe even gather fresh data?    

This is an approach more commonly used within qualitative research.  But the reality is that we have all had conversations with colleagues and students over the past 15 months whereby we've been able to gather a lot of data.  But have we stopped to ask ourselves what this data is showing us?  If we examine this data close enough, can we see a picture emerging?  We've been talking for long enough now about the new normal?  So what does it look like?

You can follow me on twitter @McintoshMclean.