Search results for "Inquiry"
showing 10 items of 206 documents
Narrativity and its application in business ethics research
2018
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a narrative framework for doing empirical research into business ethics and shows, through two examples, how the framework can be applied in practice in this context. The focus is on interview-based research. Design/methodology/approach A theoretical research based on literature review was conducted. Findings In the developed narrative framework, two main kinds of analysis are distinguished: an analysis of the narrative and a narrative analysis. An analysis of the narrative is a matter of classifying and producing taxonomies out of the data. The purpose of a narrative analysis is to construct a story or stories based on the data. Narrative an…
Understanding youth athletes' life designing processes through dream day narratives
2018
A number of studies have investigated career pathways in elite sport with retrospective designs, but few studies have explored how youth elite athletes construct narratives about their future lives and how their dreams and hopes relate to their careers in sport and other life contexts. We drew on career construction theory to understand youth elite athletes' dreams for the future and prominent life themes. Seventeen Finnish youth elite athletes (7 men, 10 women) in the first year of upper secondary sport school participated in the study. They were asked to make visual representations of their “dream days”, and these were used as aids for reflection in low-structured interviews where partici…
Stories of professional development in physiotherapy education
2021
This study examines graduating physiotherapy students' narratives related to their professional development. The data comprised interviews with 33 graduating physiotherapy students. The data were analyzed using the narrative analysis approach. As a result, five different story models were identified. The descriptive story models were named: 1) "Study path dominated by life changes"; 2) "Realizing the connection between physiotherapy theory and practice"; 3) "Self-regulated and practical-oriented learning path"; 4) "Becoming a critical developer"; and 5) "Multiprofessional working towards expertise". In students' stories, there appeared different turning points that illustrated especially me…
Pedagogical approaches to surface phenomena in liquids: Investigation-based laboratory and modelling activities to improve students’ learning
2023
Paperclips can float on water, mercury drops do not spread on solid surfaces, and fluids can flow against gravity in capillary tubes. Surface tension can be used to explain these phenomena that are macroscopic manifestations of microscopic molecular interactions. At both school and university levels, surface phenomena are introduced through traditional macroscopic or microscopic approaches. However, since explanations based on microscopic models are often in conflict with common macroscopic interpretations, the traditional teaching of the basic concepts related to surface phenomena can be unclear and can prevent students from an effective understanding of the topic. However, since surface p…
A quantitative analysis of university student reasoning lines in the field of thermally activated phenomena
2018
In this contribution we present a research aimed at studying the effectiveness of two workshops in improving reasoning skills in undergraduate students. Both the workshops are based on the Feynman Unifying Approach. A questionnaire containing six open-ended questions on the temperature dependence of evaporation of a liquid and of a chemical reaction was administered to the students of both groups before instruction. A second one, similar to the first but focused on a physical content different from both the pre-instruction test one and the content dealt with during the workshops, was administered after instruction. The responses to the pre- and post-instruction questionnaires are analyzed b…
From led light signboards to the Planck’s constant
2018
Recent studies have highlighted an alarming decline in young people’s interest towards the study of scientific subjects, often considered interesting but not easily understood and appreciated by students. In particular, the introduction of Modern Physics (MP) key-topics at secondary school level is a difficult and complex task because MP involves abstract ideas and requires a strong mathematical background. In this communication we present and discuss the results of an inquiry-based teaching/learning path aimed at surmounting the difficulties of an exclusively theoretical approach to the introduction of MP topics. In particular, we planned and realized an inquiry-driven learning environment…
Open inquiry-based learning experiences: a case study in the context of energy exchange by thermal radiation
2013
An open inquiry (OI)-based teaching/learning experience, regarding a scientific investigation of the process of energy exchange by thermal radiation, is presented. A sample of upper secondary school physics teachers carried out this experience at the University of Palermo, Italy, in the framework of ESTABLISH, a FP7 European Project aimed at promoting and developing inquiry-based science education. The teachers had the opportunity to personally experience an OI-based learning activity, with the aim of exploring the pedagogical potentialities of this teaching approach to promote both the understanding of difficult concepts and a deeper view of scientific practices. The teachers were firstly …
Elucidating the electron transport in semiconductors via Monte Carlo simulations: An inquiry-driven learning path for engineering undergraduates
2015
Within the context of higher education for science or engineering undergraduates, we present an inquiry-driven learning path aimed at developing a more meaningful conceptual understanding of the electron dynamics in semiconductors in the presence of applied electric fields. The electron transport in a nondegenerate n-type indium phosphide bulk semiconductor is modelled using a multivalley Monte Carlo approach. The main characteristics of the electron dynamics are explored under different values of the driving electric field, lattice temperature and impurity density. Simulation results are presented by following a question-driven path of exploration, starting from the validation of the model…
Historic constructions of the early multinational: on power, politics and culture in Pan Am narratives
2018
This paper examines how Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) - an early incarnation of a multinational enterprise (MNE) - developed its image as an international company. In particular, we examine how the company developed and managed potentially conflicting narratives, including the modernising US company and the airline of 'the Americas' (specifically South America); the carrier of US national interests and the politically neutral actor serving to unify cultures; the purveyor of exotic experiences and the pioneer of modernism. Through a focus on organisational narratives, we reveal the powerful influence of such story telling (through design and serendipity) on images of the peoples and co…
Action research as narrative: five principles for validation
2007
Along with the narrative turn in social sciences, the quality of research has become a more and more intricate issue. Action research reports are often narratives, located in the context of the evolving experiences of those involved. In this paper, the problem of quality in action research narratives is addressed, and some principles for assessing the quality of narrative research reports are proposed. The issue is explored both at a theoretical‐conceptual level and through a number of practical cases from the narrative‐biographical research project TeacherLife. As narrative researchers, the authors are not willing to accept an extremely relativistic stand. They argue the need for conceptua…