Browsing by Subject "constructivism"

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    Open Access
    Communicating your findings in engineering education: the value of making your theoretical perspective explicit
    (Taylor & Francis, 2009) Jawitz, Jeff; Case, Jennifer
    The authors observe that many research papers in engineering education do not explicitly state the theoretical perspective underpinning their work. In this article they argue for the value of theory in assisting researchers in communicating their research findings. Three theoretical perspectives that can be used to support one's research are described, namely; positivism, constructivism and critical inquiry, and in each case examples of research questions that best match the particular framework are given. Researchers are advised to be aware of the limitations of each perspective and to use the one that best assists them in understanding and solving the problems they wish to address.
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    How do academics come to know? the structure and contestation of discipline-specific knowledge in a design school
    (Springer, 2004) Cliff, Alan F; Woodward, Rob
    This paper reports the results of a small-scale (n = 9) interview study of the 'ways of knowing' of academics in a Design School at a South African polytechnic. The focus of the study was on exploring the perceptions of these academics about discipline-specific knowledge in their fields. The paper presents an analysis of the responses, derived from semi-structured interviews, to questions concerning the origin, development, structure, and contestation of knowledge. Responses were classified and tabulated in terms of their relation to theories of epistemology and the findings analysed in relation to how they might be said to be descriptive of qualitatively different views of the construction and contestation of discipline-specific knowledge. The analysis suggests that there are some areas of commonality, such as the agreement that their knowledge has an eclectic base and that its structure is influenced by personal, historical, professional and technological imperatives in the discipline. On the other hand, there are some tensions in beliefs about the structure and contestation of knowledge. The analysis draws out tensions between the established canon and popular culture; between individual intuition and professional benchmarks; and between Eurocentric and Afrocentric knowledge bases. Concluding comments suggest that these tensions have important implications for both the content and methodology of teaching.