aura Engaged Excellence in Research and Teaching Practices

aura Engaged Excellence in Research and Teaching Practices The Analytical & Holistic Approach Research 1, Session 5, Day One

Learning Outcomes By the end of this session, you will: 1. Identify a distinctive analytical approach to research writing using the language of ‘science’ 2. Experience the distinction between analytical explanations and experiencing a phenomena (i. e. holistic)

Individual/Group Activity “The red surface of an apple does not look like a matrix of molecules reflecting photons at certain critical wave lengths, but that is what it is. The sound of a flute does not sound like a compression wave train in the atmosphere, but that is what it is. The warmth of the summer air does not feel like the mean kinetic energy of millions of tiny molecules, but that is what it is” Paul Churchland, 1984 (MIT Press) Photo credit: open-mind. net

Group Reflection After individual reflection, share your views on the following: 1. Describe what you think of the quote? 2. What is scientific language according to Churchland? 3. What does it tell us about the author’s world views? 4. Does the explanation capture the essence of the phenomena? (10 minutes)

Understand through experience Blind-Folded Activity Photo credit: sduvigneau

Activity: What is the essence of the phenomena? Individually, you will be talked through the following activity: 1. 2. 3. 4. You will be given two objects to hold, touch, smell etc… In your opinion - What is the essence of the phenomena? Write two short sentences about your understanding of the object Underline key concepts (30 mins)

Enjoy your break Flickr. com/usnationalarchives

Activity: Collective intelligence exercise Using the keywords identified in the previous exercise, one at a time: 1. Write the concept(s) on a large sheet of paper/board 2. Place a pin next to each concept 3. Link your concepts using coloured thread 4. If you share concepts with another, agree to use one concept between you (i. e. one occurrence of term) 5. Produce a conceptual map showing link between concepts (30 mins)

The phenomenological network diagram Photo credit: Prof. Mark Hepworth

Reflection: the research perspective • Would you describe this as a participatory process? • Whose voice is defining the phenomena? • Would you describe this as a holistic or analytical process? • What kind of data are we gathering? • How could it be analysed? (10 minutes)

Reflection Flickr. com/craigsunter

The content is authored by: Professor Mark Hepworth, Professor in People’s Information Behaviour, Centre for Information Management, Loughborough University m. hepworth@lboro. ac. uk • This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share. Alike 3. 0 Unported License.