scholarly journals Children’s Interactions in Ability-based Groups in a Primary Classroom

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-107
Author(s):  
Samyia Ambreen ◽  
◽  
Jean Conteh ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Group Work ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Group Structure ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Children’S Perspectives ◽  
Primary Classroom ◽  
Primary Classrooms ◽  
Ability Groups ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
Conversational Interviews

The article reports data from an aspect of the study which aimed to study the nature of children’s interactions and their perceptions of ability-based groups in a primary classroom in England. Previous studies on ability-based group have mainly used quantitative research designs to study children’s interactions and appeared to award less opportunities to children to talk about their experiences of working in ability-based groups. This study has used qualitative ethnographic research design to study children’s interactions and their perceptions of working in ability-based groups. Children’s interactions were studied using participant observations and debriefing activities were used to elicit children’s perspectives on their recorded interactions. Furthermore, informal conversational interviews were also used to hear children’s perspectives on their experiences of working in ability-based groups. The article only focuses on data related to children’s interactions, which revealed that children appeared to be cooperative, non-cooperative and competitive towards their peers in ability-based groups. We noted that children interpreted the group structure and learning task distinctively when deciding whether or not to work with others in groups. In some cases, children exhibited gender-biased attitudes while interacting with their peers. Children showed cooperative attitudes towards same-sex peers and non-cooperative attitudes towards other-sex peers. The findings highlight the importance of fully understanding children’s contexts and their dynamic influences on children’s interactions during their routinely organised ability-based group work. These also highlight the importance of listening to children’s perspectives while studying their interactions in ability groups in the mainstream primary classrooms.

Embedding E-Mail in Primary Schools: Developing a Tool for Collective Reflection

2005 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bregje De Vries ◽  
Hans Van Der Meij ◽  
Kerst Th. Boersma ◽  
Jules M. Pieters
Keyword(s):  
Primary Schools ◽  
Group Learning ◽  
Learning Task ◽  
Primary Classrooms ◽  
Personal Understanding ◽  
E Mail ◽  
Design Experiments

Reflection is an important aspect of learning in groups. In collective moments of reflection, learners can share and compare their ideas with others, and by doing so can reach an articulated and personal understanding of a learning task and domain. In the research presented here, e-mail is examined as a means for reflection in the context of group learning. In two design experiments, an e-mail tool is developed that seeks to (1) support collective reflection, and (2) overcome practical problems related to e-mail use in primary classrooms. Two prototypes of the tool are presented and tested in five primary classrooms. We conclude that e-mail supports collective reflection on a learning task after adding the following supportive measures to the regular e-mail program: (1) a fixed partnership, (2) fixed timing, (3) an exercise of individual freewriting, and (4) collective use of a paper worksheet.

An Experimental Autoethnography of Mobile Freelancing

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-248
Author(s):  
Nadia Hakim Fernández
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Application ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Work Place ◽  
Specific Work ◽  
Embodied Experience ◽  
Place Making ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
Emerging Topics

Abstract This piece discusses an experimental ongoing research that began with my experience as an academic freelancer. It focuses on my experience of moving frequently within and between cities under specific work/ life conditions. An autoethnography provides insights not observable in quantitative research designs; and allows for access to embodied experience, along with reflections on emerging topics going beyond the purely personal, namely, mobility, advantage, and (work)place-making. This strategy allowed me to delineate the boundaries of the fieldsite across online and offline settings, including the digital technologies I share with other research participants. Personal maps of geolocalised trajectories overlapped with experiential accounts (photos, audionotes, interviews, and hand-drawn maps) are included. An interpretational thickness emerges from this association of materials. The research process has inspired the development of a smartphone mobile application for documenting such experiences of mobile freelancing, yet to be created with developers, who are, in turn, participants in this research.

Families Are Socially Constructed: Pragmatic Implications for Researchers

2020 ◽  
pp. 0192513X2090533 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline Sanner ◽  
Lawrence Ganong ◽  
Marilyn Coleman
Keyword(s):  
Family Relationships ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Social Worlds ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
The Social ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
Family Language ◽  
Theoretical Thinking ◽  
Study Participants ◽  
Family Membership

Scholars have long recognized that the boundaries of family membership and definitions of family relationships are socially constructed. The social construction of family membership, and the accompanying ambiguity surrounding family language and labels, particularly in complex families who have experienced divorce, remarriage, and other structural transitions, creates obstacles for recruiting study participants and for collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data. In this paper, we explore how the increasing complexity of family structure and family membership can pose pragmatic challenges for researchers. Using our own work as examples, as well as the research of others, we share methodological approaches to addressing these challenges within both qualitative and quantitative research designs. We argue that giving primacy to respondents’ relational definitions changes how researchers approach their projects, stimulates innovative theoretical thinking, and advances understanding of how individuals and families construct their social worlds.

scholarly journals The decline of organizational sociology? An empirical analysis of research trends in leading journals across half a century

2020 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 419-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Grothe-Hammer ◽  
Sebastian Kohl
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Research Trends ◽  
Organizational Sociology ◽  
Current State ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
Content Analyses ◽  
The Right ◽  
Dominant Theory ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Leading Journals

Recent works see organizational sociology at the brink of irrelevance. Against this backdrop, in this article the authors want to explore the current state of organizational sociology empirically. They employ a variety of manual, automated and semi-automated content analyses to examine research articles published in generalist sociology journals since the 1950s. Contrary to contemporary pessimistic assessments, the results indicate that organizational sociology has not significantly declined over time. However, the study finds an increasing concentration on quantitative research designs, business-related topics, and only two dominant theory perspectives – neo-institutionalism and the network approach. A multifaceted decrease in variety rather than an absolute decline could be the right diagnosis.

ICTs and Improvement of Agriculture in the North West Region of Cameroon

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Wuchu Cornelius Cornelius Wutofeh
Keyword(s):  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Agricultural Activities ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
West Region ◽  
Research Designs ◽  
To Come

This chapter evaluates the link that exists between ICTs and the promotion of agricultural activities. It presents forms of ICTs within the region, agricultural practices, and how they interact to enhance development. Qualitative and quantitative research designs were adopted with the use of semi-structured interviews and observation and questionnaires. Data derived was coded and analyzed using appropriate statistical procedures to come out with the following findings: diverse forms of ICTs, both traditional and modern, are available for the population of the North West Region; agricultural activities in the North West Region were found to be diverse though subsistence; ICTs present were found to be very significant in promoting agricultural activities in the region. Despite the problems that hinder the integration of ICTs in the agricultural sector of the region, increased capital and training will help boost this sector and enhance the socio-economic development of the region.

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