QUESTION
one thing we may need to overcome is our own concerns about ‘what answer is our lecturer looking for, instead, maybe ask, how can i use this subject to advance my interest in research?
For me, i would do a response in three parts. first, what is knowledge?, second, what is research? and third, what does ‘knowledge’ and ‘research’ look like ‘in the context of my intended research project’.
Consequently it becomes, what is knowledge and what is research with respect to my interest in ‘the development of pedagogy in design education within senior secondary’.
so, as i read this 1000 word task, it asks students to build on their previous thinking and include some of it.
i would start off with something like . . .
One of the aims of good research is to build on and construct new knowledge. As with all important concepts there is debate around what constitutes knowledge. knowledge is . . . . . . .
(here i would insert a paraphrase of my 300 words).
Likewise, research is . . . . systematic inquiry . . . (it has to be systematic in order to result in the production of legitimate and valid knowledge) . . .
it is interesting to think about what kind of systematic inquiry would lead to the development of knowledge in my area of interest, ‘the development of pedagogy in design education within senior secondary’ . . . . . . . . . . .
here, i am trying to consider ‘what is knowedge?’ and ‘what is research?’ within the context of my particular or proposed area of inquiry, namely, ‘the development of pedagogy in design education within senior secondary schools’.
what is your response starting to look like?
SOLUTION
The Development of Pedagogy In Design Education Within Senior Secondary Schools: Research Methods in Education
Knowledge has always been in transitional phase. The advent and the various technological advancements in technology have given new dimensions to knowledge and the way it is being transmitted. Looking at the past data we have seen that the knowledge production and the way it is being handled in the educational institutions like universities, colleges, schools, and governments have changed a lot and are in continuous transition and are developing new systems for the efficient management of knowledge. The access to knowledge is another aspect and an issue of debate. Also aspects like the intellectual property in knowledge, plays a very vital role. How is the knowledge made, who controls it, who has access to the different kind of knowledge, and who should have access to what kind of knowledge, and most importantly what are the mediums that is used in the spectrum of knowledge are the ideal and some of the important pointers that should be carefully taken into consideration.
There are specific social groups, and the discipline-based groups, that have different ways of representing knowledge. These groups have their say and critiques of the term “official knowledge” which is described by Michael Apple (1993). Knowledge in the concept of is constructed, and the conceptual and practice based knowledge acts as the tool for building up developmental capacity and serves as a learning tool which is required for analyzing the problem, assessing it logically, and subsequently solving it. Learning the disciplinary and the domain related knowledge constitutes up and above the skills which is acquired not in core but are generally the basic skills or the knowledge which is received in portions and bits of transmitted knowledge. From the above said description and the various instances and previous laid down theories it is clearly evident that knowledge is not one sided but is a two way communication. It is the sending and receiving methodology. These are not just contained in the text books, encyclopedia, and archives but is constructed and developed via several ways which includes speaking, listening, discussing, writing, and acting. Building or developing knowledge is thus a continuous process which needs continual testing, and is reconstructed from time to time.
According to Frey, Botan, Friedman, & Kreps (1991) research methods are the strategies and the process that is followed by the person who researches or the researcher to be more specific to collect and analyze the information necessary for developing and testing the theories thus formed. Research is basically referred as the systematic process of investigation of a topic, industry, or a particular subject matter for the purpose of either adding to one’s own knowledge or making others aware of the research subject and adding to the knowledge base of the company, economy, government, or the society as a whole. Research in a lay man’s term usually means finding out something which is already known and giving it an all new fresh dimension to it in some or the other way. There are various research paradigms and approaches which are related to it. All of these along with the various research methods are outlined in the below table.
There is various range of research techniques of which some are quantitative and some are qualitative in nature. Some examples of qualitative analysis are personal interviews, observations of the participant, individuals account, personal constructs etc. Similarly, critical theory has clearly suggested that ideology critique and action research are the research methods which is made to explore the phenomena which already exists. There are several questions then which arises and some of which include, how should the research paradigm and corresponding methodology is selected by the researcher?
From the researcher’s perspective there are again several questions which are posed which may include the following,
a. What should be the social phenomena’s nature or essence which is being investigated?
b. What is the nature of the social phenomenon, is is objective in nature or it is the one which is created by the human mind?
c. What are the actual bases of knowledge corresponding which pertains to the social reality, and what are the methods and processes of acquiring and disseminating knowledge?
d. What is the clear relationship of an individual with her environment and vice versa?
e. How is she conditioned – By the environment? Or alternatively is the environment responsible in creating her?
The above questions make the conclusion whether the research questions lies in the domain of positivism, anti-positivism, and critical theory; and the researcher can then choose the most appropriate methodology according to the domain area. The below table can be referred for a better and clear understanding of the selection of different research methods.
Table: Selection of research paradigms and research methods
Research paradigms Research approach Research methods
Positivism Quantitative Surveys;
Ex-post facto research
Anti-positivism Qualitative Biographical;
Phenomenological;
Ethnographical;
Case study
Critical theory Critical & action-oriented Ideology critique;
action research
(Source: Module-Selection of the Research Paradigm and Methodology 2005)
Apart from the above methods the educational research can also be bifurcated into historical, descriptive, correlational, casual, experimental, case study, ethnographic, and research and development research. To carry out a perfect research the questions that are laid down are important and the different types of questions are namely, descriptive, correlational, and casual.
(Source: UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning, 2005)
(Unesco 2005) Every educational system has its own objective and a certain purpose which it wants to achieve. By the change in time the system needs to be refined and for this purpose a research is definitely required. The research is to add or edit or delete some aspects. The change can be a change in curriculum, introduction of new methods of training or education, increasing the number of schools and the provisions in it and many others. For whichever objective it is to be the research should be carried out carefully and should be measured at each step to keep a track and control on the process so that the desired outcome should be the one which is as per the plan.
Thus knowledge and research though both of it varies quite differently in various contexts but is immensely important in the development of pedagogy in design education within senior secondary schools.
Reference:
Apple, M.W. (1993). Official knowledge: Democratic education in a conservative age (Routledge, London).
Frey, Botan, Friedman, & Kreps (1991). Honors: communication capstone
communication resources. Retrieved from http://www.uky.edu/~drlane/capstone/trmdef.htm
Neville T. P. (2005). Educational research: some basic concepts and terminology.
UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning. Retrieved from http://www.iiep.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Cap_Dev_Training/Training_Materials/Quality/Qu_Mod1.pdf
Nirod, K. D. (2005). Module: Selection of the Research Paradigm and Methodology. Retrieved from http://www.celt.mmu.ac.uk/researchmethods/Modules/Selection_of_methodology/index.php
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