Educational Contexts for Data Collection

Scotland has a population of approximately 5.2 million and Glasgow 592,820 (Scotland. Org, n.d.). Scotland has a long tradition of liberal, public education and currently, Scottish and EU students can undertake undergraduate degrees at any Scottish University and it will be funded by the Scottish Government. There are currently nineteen Higher Education Institutions in Scotland, including fifteen universities and in the academic year 2011-2012 there were 281,630 students enrolled in Scottish universities (Scottish Government, 2013).

Established in 1451, the University of Glasgow is the second oldest university in Scotland and the fourth oldest in the English speaking world. It is ranked in the top 1% of universities in the world and prides itself on its internationalisation and widening participation achievements. The University is research intensive with an annual income of over £400 million (University of Glasgow, 2012). The University is made up of four Colleges (Arts, Social Sciences, Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, Science and Engineering) and within these Colleges are twenty different Schools. At present the University of Glasgow has over 23,000 students from 120 countries and 6,000 staff (University of Glasgow (b), n.d.).

3.9.2 International setting (i): An-Najah National University, Nablus, occupied Palestinian territories

‘The historical background of Palestine is an important frame of reference for understanding contemporary educational issues because the roots of many current educational issues can be traced through successive layers or strata of colonial experiences going back to the Ottoman period in the 19^th century and have existed since then on different levels of magnitude and significance’ (Abu-Saad and Champagne, 2006: pp.1035-1036).

Palestine, or as it is now known the occupied Palestinian territories, was ruled by the Ottoman Empire from 1516 to 1917 and then by Britain 1917-1948 and from 1948-1966 most of Palestine was under occupation from the newly formed state of Israel, with Jordan taking control of what is now the West Bank and Gaza Strip (Abu-Saad and Champagne, 2006). After the 1967 ‘six day war’ where Israeli forces occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the UN Security Council demanded that these areas be returned to the Palestinians. What has followed has been decades of conflict, war and atrocity which have resulted in the West Bank and Gaza Strip becoming a political pawn between the state of Israel (backed by the USA) and the occupied Palestinian territories.

The turbulent history of the occupied Palestinian territories has resulted in significant struggle for the Palestinian people and provision of and access to higher education has proved difficult. Financial barriers currently prevent Palestinian students with the required skills and motivation from attending higher education programs. These inequities in access to higher education in the occupied Palestinian territory are reinforced by the conflict situation, increasing poverty and overwhelming unemployment (UNESCO, 2010). However, ‘despite the difficult economic and political conditions prevailing in the Palestinian territories particularly since the Intifadas [conflicts], impressive results have been achieved in HE… [however] because it is relatively new and [because of]

the difficulties it faces due to the occupation, Palestinian HE is struggling to exist. However, its recency has made it … ready to embrace change. It is this fact which explains its relative dynamism even in the face of adversity’ (Al Subu’, 2009: p.2).

My data collection was conducted at An-Najah National University situated in Nablus in the West Bank which has a population of around 125,000 (Wikitravel, 2013). An-Najah National University was established in 1978 and currently is the largest of the thirteen Universities in the West Bank. An-Najah is funded by both donations and government funding from the Palestinian Authority. The language of instruction at An-Najah is Arabic and it has over 800 professors and educates over 20,000 students across its four campuses and is home to nineteen faculties (An-Najah National University, 2013).

3.9.3 International setting (ii): Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Kurdistan, Iraq

The city of Erbil is in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq and has a population estimated at 1,471,053 (USA AID Iraq, 2012). Kurdistan has had periods of

autonomous and semi-autonomous rule dating back more the one hundred years.

In Kurdistan most people speak Kurdish, with Arabic and English also being widely spoken. In 1970, the Baghdad Government gave the Kurdish language official status and granted Kurdistan domestic autonomy (New Internationalist, 2005). However, there has been much political and social unrest in the region and Kurdistan has witnessed huge upheaval including atrocities carried out by Saddam Hussein with the use of chemical warfare during the Iran-Iraq war 1980-88 (New Internationalist, 2005). Kurdistan prides itself on having a unique identity and culture which separates it from the rest of Iraq.

In Kurdistan there is a mixture of both private and public universities; these vary significantly in reputation with the private universities the least desirable as many students gain entry and subsequent qualification through payment alone.

Hawler Medical University in the city of Erbil in Kurdistan, was established in 2005.The University has five colleges (Medicine, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Health Sciences and Nursing), four of which originally belonged to Salahaddin University in Erbil (Hawler Medical University, 2013). The overall aim of establishment of Hawler Medical University was to improve the medical education in the region as well as to establish better management of the four colleges. The language of instruction for Hawler is English and the University is governed by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Affairs of the Kurdistan Regional Government in Erbil (Hawler Medical University, 2013).

3.9.4 International setting (iii): The University of Cape Coast, Ghana

Teferra and Altbach (2004: p.21) claim that higher education is a ‘key force for the modernisation and the development of Africa’. They discuss the many challenges which African universities currently face such as finance, access and the legacy of colonisation. Africa currently has 54 countries and only 300

universities (Teferra and Altbach: 2004, p.22) which makes this continent the least educationally developed in the world. Africa lays claim to one of the oldest

universities in the world, Al-Azhar University in Egypt which still operates using ancient Islamic traditions. However due to extensive colonisation, most

universities in Africa now operate under a Western model. Currently in Ghana only 3% of the eligible age group are actually enrolled in university which is reflective of the crisis in post-secondary education across the country (Teferra and Altbach, 2004, p.26).

Ghana is on the West Coast of Africa, it is a developing country with an

estimated population of 21,832,963, a life expectancy age of 57.9 years and a poverty rate of 44.8% (New Internationalist, 2005). Ghana was inhabited by the Dutch and Portuguese from the 15^th century who traded on its wealth of gold resources. Ghana, previously named the ‘Gold Coast’, proved to be a major trading hub for European merchants. The Ghanaian coast was also the point of departure for many of the Africans who were enslaved and sent to the Americas at the height of the tobacco, cotton and sugar slave trade. In 1896, the northern and coastal regions of Ghana were colonised by the British (the central region remained in the hands of the Ashantis). Coastal and northern Ghana remained under British rule until Ghana gained full independence in 1957.

The area of Cape Coast in Ghana (where my research was conducted) has a population of 169,894 (City Population, 2012). The University of Cape Coast Ghana was originally a University College and was established in 1962. In 1971, the College attained the status of a full and independent University, to provide much needed teacher training. The University has grown significantly and now boasts eight faculties (Arts, Education, Social Sciences, Agriculture, Biological Sciences, Physical Sciences, Business, and Medical Sciences). The University has a total student population of over 35,922: 14,815 regular undergraduate

students, 2,146 sandwich students and 18,018 distance learning students (University of Cape Coast, 2013).

3.9.5 Sample: Who were the participants?

In keeping with case study methodology, I selected participants using a combination of purposeful, opportunistic and snowball sampling. Purposeful sampling is when the researcher selects individuals and sites for study on purpose because they can specifically inform an understanding of the research problem and central phenomenon in the study (Creswell, 2007). Purposive sampling demands that the researcher think critically about the parameters of the population they are studying and choose carefully (Silverman, 2013). I

considered that purposive sampling better suited this research than for example random sampling, because I wanted to identify specific ‘individuals, groups and settings’ where active learning was ‘most likely to occur’ (Denzin and Lincoln, 1994: p.202).

At the University of Glasgow, I selected the lecturers purposefully via contacts I have with staff and fellow students, and particularly targeting some staff who had received institutional ‘Teaching Excellence Awards’. I purposefully did not distinguish between university teachers and university lecturers. I am aware that in certain institutions such as the University of Glasgow, teachers and lecturers fulfil different roles and remits. However, for the purpose of this research into active learning I did not feel it was necessary to make a distinction because both university teachers and university lecturers have teaching commitments.

I asked the lecturers I interviewed to recommend two or more students from their cohort whom I could interview as part of a focus group. This is a method called ‘snowballing’ or ‘chain referral’ sampling which is widely used in

qualitative sociological research (Biernacki and Waldorf, 1981). This method yields a study sample through referrals made among people who share or know of others who possess some characteristics that are of interest to the researcher (Biernacki and Waldorf, 1981).

In qualitative research the design needs to remain sufficiently open and flexible to permit exploration of whatever the phenomenon under study offers for inquiry (Lincoln and Guba, 1985). When I travelled to the occupied Palestinian territories, Iraq and Ghana, this was not originally for the purpose of my

research; therefore, when I decided to gather data during these visits, I had to

be quite opportunistic in my data gathering approach. Opportunistic sampling involves the researcher following new leads and taking advantage of the

unexpected (Creswell, 2007), as Patton (1990) suggests it is taking advantage of whatever unfolds as it unfolds. In the occupied Palestinian territories, I was directed to a lecturer of geography who had a particular interest in active learning and was a very prominent member of staff with an overtly political background. In Iraq, I interviewed one medical science lecturer and observed another lecturer give a lecture on dentistry (both were participants on the British Council DelPHE Iraq student-centred learning academic development programme on which I was teaching). In Ghana I was directed to several different teachers across the arts and social sciences. In all the international settings, I was unable to set up any focus groups with students. On reflection, I believe this was because I was reluctant to burden my already very

accommodating contacts at the university by asking them to organise these groups for me within tight time schedules. This was one of the drawbacks of collecting data within opportunistic visits that had been organised for other purposes. This was disappointing and the lack of international students’ opinions gave me less scope to analyse active learning from the learners’ perspective.

The table below (Table 3) outlines the specific details of the participants of this research:

Table 3: Participants and locations

Location Participants

Lecturers Students

Semi-structured Interviews Observations Focus groups

(3-6 students)

* Student studying Latin was interviewed individually as she could not make it to any of my focus groups)