Research methods pedagogy in the digital era Debbie Collins Introduce self – social research practitioner and research methods trainer PhD is linked to WP5 and the project Sarah has been talking about I am coming towards the end of my first year of part time study

What am I going to talk about Background What we know What we don’t Context Bridging the gaps Going to address 3 questions in my talk What do we, as social research methods teachers, practitioners and learners, know about the role that digital technology plays in the teaching and learning of research methods? What are the gaps in our knowledge and understanding? And what are the contextual factors that bound the state of our current knowledge?

About me and my research I have worked in social research all my professional working life. Starting out as a survey researcher at what is now the Office for National Statistics, I came to specialise in survey methodology, and in particular questionnaire design and testing. But I’ve also worked on qualitative research projects. During much of my working life I have been involved in training: developing and running courses on aspects of social research design but have had very little training. My PhD research forms part of the NCRM-funded Pedagogy of Methodological Learning work-package, led by Prof Melanie Nind.

Advanced social research methods (ASRM) My research is looking at the role of digital technology in the teaching of advanced social research methods. What is ASRM? NCRM use the term to indicate courses that assume prior knowledge and skills, which build on more foundational learning and which describes research methods that are seen as being more difficult to master due to their complexity and sophistication (e.g. latent class analysis is a more advanced statistical modelling method than xxx). However the term is also used by the ESRC, an important stakeholder in the teaching and learning of social research methods in the UK, to describe its investment in innovative, forward-thinking methods that contribute to its strategic goal of building research capacity. An example is the National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM), which was set up by the ESRC in 2004 to ‘increase  the quality and range of methodological approaches used by UK social scientists through a programme of training and capacity building, and with driving forward methodological development and innovation through its own research programme’   By digital technology I mean the use of computer technology (devices and software applications), the use and or storing of data and information, the semantic web (Berners Lee et al., 2001), managed learning systems and social-media systems as part of teaching and learning. Digital technology

What is known about research methods pedagogy in the digital era The short answer is not that much. There is limited evidence on what, how and why digital technology is being used in the teaching and learning of ASRM What is known about research methods pedagogy in the digital era

Paucity of literature and research evidence What digital technology is being used? In what ways? For what purposes? With what effect? There is limited evidence on what, how and why technology is being used Digital technology is being used in the teaching and learning of advanced srm, and that this technology. Evidence of this use comes from a small corpus of peer reviewed journal articles, books, blogs, discussion forums, policy documents and reports. The digital technologies being used in the teaching and learning of asrm are similar to those being used more widely in higher education, as reported in surveys of the sector carried out by the Association of Learning Technology and Universities and Colleges Information System Association (UCISA), with one exception. Not only do we see the use of educational technologies such as Virtual Learning Environments & online assessment tools, online discussion and collaboration tools, we also see use of digital research tools, such as data collection, analysis and visualisation tools The literature is sparse on the ways in which digital technology is being used in the teaching and learning of research method but the evidence suggests it is being used to support the sorts of teaching strategies identified by Kilburn, Nind & Wiles (2014): active learning (to make the research process visible & engage students in it); learning by doing (facilitating learning through experience of conducting research); and critical reflection on practice. In addition, the published peer review literature suggests digital technology can track students’ progress (Hosein & Rao, 2012), support teachers and students in identifying threshold concepts that are casing difficulties so that these can be addressed, and facilitate the growth of collective learning spaces and identities. (Scott Jones & Goldring, 2015). There is also limited evidence on what role digital technologies play in the teaching and learning of asrm. The published research evidence suggests that it can support active learning, learning through doing and critical reflection through providing opportunities (such as bringing students into direct contact with research data, tools and debates), facilitating students in making connections between theory and practice, building student confidence and interest in the use of research methods, improving communication between students, staff and the wider research world. There have been few studies that have looked at the impact of digital technology on asrm students’ learning outcomes (Gonul & Solano, 2013; Girod & Wojckiewicz, 2009; Campbell et al, 2008).

Gaps in our knowledge about the role of digital technology in the teaching and learning of research methods

Lack of research evidence How does digital technology support the learning ASRM? Does digital technology use transform ASRM content & pedagogy, and if so how? The literature on asrm teaching and learning provides very little insight and evidence on how the use of digital technology supports the learning of advanced social research methods. For example, online tests of students knowledge may help identify gaps in their understanding of threshold concepts but what is the role of digital technology in the learning of threshold concepts? Do particular digital technologies facilitate particular types of learning and are certain digital technologies more effective in learning and developing knowledge in particular learning contexts, for learning about particular types of research methods or for particular types of student? Big claims are made for the transformative power of digital education technology but there is currently very little evidence on its role in the teaching and learning of research methods and how the use of particular digital technologies transforms learning

Understanding why there is a gap in our knowledge But why is there so little written about the uses of digital technology in the teaching and learning of ASRM? Understanding why there is a gap in our knowledge

Lack of pedagogic culture Opportunity Value Purpose Consciousness Pedagogical literacy Opportunity – to conduct research, to publish about asrm digital pedagogy, to experiment with digital technology Value – attached to teaching vs research activity, to publishing about teaching, learning & developing teaching skills, practice, strategies & tactics Purpose – teaching and learning in the context of higher education policy (e.g. focus on outcomes, teaching assessment framework for HE, marketization of HE) Consciousness – awareness among ASRM teachers of pedagogical debates and their own practices and styles. ASRM teachers may have had no formal or informal training in teaching because historically teaching has been a poor relation to research in HE. Teachers may therefore lack the tools and scaffolding by which to plan deliver reflect and refine their practice in anything more than what Earley refer to as ‘trial-and-error as they develop and improve upon their own research methods courses’ (Earley, 2014 p243) Pedagogic literacy – with a lack of awareness and training comes a lack of literacy in the language, ideas and concepts of pedagogy and this may hinder asrm teachers in exploiting digital technology and improving their teaching practice (and the learning of asrm by their students) Pedagogic literacy – lack of awareness

Bridging the gap in our knowledge Further research is needed to address the gaps in our knowledge Without it we run the risk of over simplifying the role that technology plays in the teaching and learning of asrm and miss the opportunity to take advantage of its affordances. My research aims to contribute to knowledge in this area, to promote debate and dialogue. Bridging the gap in our knowledge

Contact: Debbie Collins dlc2g15@soton.ac.uk @TechSocialSci Thank you.