Main Research Question: What is active learning in the context of higher

My first research question is an attempt to address a gap in the literature. There is no agreed definition of active learning in higher education and furthermore, there is no existing critique of active learning in the literature.

In order to answer this research question I had to consider the following factors:

- What does active learning look like?

- How do teachers and students enact or experience active learning?

- Is it possible to be actively learning in a lecture?

3.4.1 Sub Question 1: Is there a relationship between good teaching and active learning?

I asked this question because the literature often seems to connect active

learning with good teaching; however, I am unsure if active learning does always link to good teaching and will investigate further how these concepts relate to each other. I believe this sub question will help to unpack the underlying ideals which underpin the concept of active learning.

The following factors were considered when trying to answer this research question:

- Is good teaching reliant on active learning?

- What does good teaching look like in an active learning environment?

- Does active learning promote a better relationship between student and teacher?

3.4.2 Sub Question 2: How do students’ and teachers’ beliefs about the purpose of a university education influence the practice of active learning?

I asked teachers what is the purpose of a university education because I believe this is what drives many decisions which are made in the classroom. I did not have this in mind when I started this research, however as I formed my ethics application and my guiding research questions, I began to realise that this question was probably the most powerful of all those I asked. Teachers’

philosophy of teaching and students’ beliefs about learning could possibly be the most significant influences on why they engage in the profession or undertake studying for a degree. Understandings about active learning may rest on why students and teachers think they are there in the first place.

The following factors were considered when trying to answer this research question:

- What do teachers and students consider the purpose of a university education to be?

- How do their views on the purpose of a university education influence whether or how they enact active learning?

3.5 Methodology

Informed by interpretivism and critical theory, the methodology I have chosen to use for this research is case study. Although some scholars argue that case study research is not a methodology but a choice of what is to be studied (Stake, 2005), others present it as a methodology (Denzin and Lincoln, 2005; Merriam, 1998 and Yin, 2003). By examining the literature on case study methodology, I found that it can be both contradictory and confusing. Merriam (1998) suggests that there is little consensus about what constitutes a case study or how exactly this type of research is done. In the field of qualitative research methodology, many authors discuss case study as a methodology along with phenomenology, ethnography, and grounded theory (Crotty, 1998; Creswell, 1998; Denzin and Lincoln, 2005; and Guba and Lincoln, 1994).

Case study methodology is differentiated from other research strategies because the focus of the research is a bounded system or case. Merriam (1998: p.27) maintains that the single most defining characteristic of case study research lies in delimiting the object of study: the case, and that ‘the case is a unit, entity, or phenomenon with defined boundaries that the researcher can demarcate or

‘fence in’, and therefore, can also determine what will not be studied’. Merriam (1998) also argues that the case study does not claim any specific data collection methods, but focuses on holistic description and explanation. There are

different kinds of case studies; Merriam’s (1998) explanation of ‘heuristic’ case studies, where the focus is on the understanding and gaining new insights and meaning about phenomena (for this research the phenomenon would be active learning), seems relevant to this research.

Yin (1984: p. 23) defines the case study research methodology as ‘an empirical inquiry that investigates a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life

context; when the boundaries between phenomenon and context are not clearly evident; and in which multiple sources of evidence are used’. My use of case study methodology allows the researcher to draw similarities and differences without having to make direct comparisons, this is extremely useful given that data was collected across disciplines. Choosing case study methodology seemed an approach consistent with my research aims because it is the preferred

strategy for research which asks how and why questions (Yin, 2009) and systematically explores a setting in order to generate understandings about it (Cousin, 2009). Critics of the case study methodology believe that the study of a small number of cases can offer no grounds for establishing reliability or

generality of findings, although it can offer lessons that may be adaptable in other settings and contexts. In principle, I do not wish to generalise my research because I believe human experience is not generalisible and as said by Stake (2005: p.8), case studies are about ‘particularisation not generalisation’.

However, I do believe case study research can bring about a better

understanding of the complex issue which is active learning and add strength to what is already known through previous research.