Module ERPM000 for 2021/2
- Overview
- Aims and Learning Outcomes
- Module Content
- Indicative Reading List
- Assessment
Postgraduate Module Descriptor
ERPM000: The Nature of Educational Enquiry
This module descriptor refers to the 2021/2 academic year.
Module Content
Syllabus Plan
Whilst the module’s precise content may vary from year to year, it is envisaged that the syllabus will cover some or all of the following topics:
- The nature of educational enquiry and the context of education research;
- Ways of knowing and the use of theory in research and practice;
- Ethics and educational research;
- Scientific, interpretive, critical and mixed methods approaches to educational research; and
- Contemporary debates in educational research.
Learning and Teaching
This table provides an overview of how your hours of study for this module are allocated:
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | 270 | 0 |
...and this table provides a more detailed breakdown of the hours allocated to various study activities:
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | 30 | 10x3 hour teaching sessions (lectures, workshops and seminars), including on campus teaching and recorded sessions |
| Guided Independent Study | 70 | Collaborative group work |
| Guided Independent Study | 100 | Reading and assignment preparation |
| Guided Independent Study | 100 | Writing summative assignment |
Online Resources
This module has online resources available via ELE (the Exeter Learning Environment).
- British Educational Research Association (BERA) http://www.bera.ac.uk
- European Educational Research Association (EERA) http://www.eera.ac.uk
- American Educational Research Association (AERA) http://www.aera.net
Other Learning Resources
http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=3161
http://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=3162
Indicative Reading List
This reading list is indicative - i.e. it provides an idea of texts that may be useful to you on this module, but it is not considered to be a confirmed or compulsory reading list for this module.
General
Pring, R. (2015). Philosophy of educational research. 3rd edition online access. London/New York: Bloomsbury
Norwich, B. (2019) Thinking about the nature of educational research: going beyond superficial theoretical scripts. Review of Education, DOI: 10.1002/rev3.3182
Overview topics:
Issues in educational research :
Hammersley, M. (2003) Social research today: some dilemmas and distinctions. Qualititative Social Work, 2(1), 25-44.
Osberg, D.C. & Biesta, G.J.J. (2007). Beyond Presence: Epistemological and pedagogical implications of 'strong' emergence. Interchange 38 (1) 31-55.
Schwandt, T.A. (2011) The SAGE Dictionary of Qualitative Inquiry. Thousand Oaks. SAGE Publications.
Stenhouse, L. (1981) What Counts as Research? British Journal of Educational Studies, 29 (2) 103-114.
Symonds, J.E. and Gorard, S. (2010) death of mixed methods? Or the rebirth of research as a craft? Evaluation and research in Education, 23,2, 121-136.
Pragmatism
Alexander, H.A. (2006) A view from somewhere: explaining the paradigms of educational research. Journal of Philosophy of Education, 40, 2, 205-221
Morgan, D.L. (2014) Pragmatism as a Paradigm for Social Research. Qualitative Inquiry, Vol. 20(8) 1045–1053
Talisse R About pragmatism - listen to podcast from Philosophy Bites website
Critical realism
Scott, D. (2007) Resolving the qualitative-quantitative dilemma: a critical realist approach. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 30 (1), pp. 3–17
Evidence-based practice
Biesta, G.J.J. (2007). Why ‘what works’ won’t work. Evidence-based practice and the democratic deficit of educational research. Educational Theory 57(1), 1-22.
Clegg, S. (2005) Evidence-based practice in educational research: a critical realist critique of systematic review British Journal of Sociology of Education, 26, 3,. 415–428.
Hammersley, M (2005) Is the evidence-based practice movement doing more good than harm?, Evidence and Policy, vol. 1, no. 1, 2005, pp1-16
MacLure,M. (2005) ‘Clarity bordering on stupidity’: where’s the quality in systematic review?, Journal of Education Policy, 20(4), 393-416.
Critical-emancipatory perspectives
Biesta, G (2010) A New Logic of Emancipation: The Methodology of Jacques Ranciere. Educational Theory 60, no.1: 39-59.
Carr, W (2007) Educational research as a practical science, International Journal of Research & Method in Education,30:3,271-286.
Reygan, Finn, & Dennis Francis (2015) Emotions and pedagogies of discomfort: Teachers’ responses to sexual and gender diversity in the Free State, South Africa, Education as Change, 19:1, 101-119.
Schostak J. & Schostak J. (2012) Writing Research critically. Developing the power to make a difference London and New York. Routledge.
Post-modern/post-structural approaches
Adams St. Pierre, Elizabeth (2013). The posts continue: becoming, International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 26:6, 646-657.
Ball, S. (2013) Foucault, Power and Education. Abingdon: Routledge.
