BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE FOR STUDY
5.7 Ethical Considerations
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and what [he or she] need[s] to accomplish in order to succeed at a particular learning task”
(Graves and Braaten, 1996: 169).
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names of participants or any other personal means of identification” (Cohen et al. 2011: 91) which “can be achieved by use of aliases or codes (Frankfort-Nachmias and Nachmias, 1992).
In the write-up of the study, pseudonyms were therefore used to protect the identity of the RPs. Since the documentary evidence included students’ work, consent from them for the use of their work was sought. This consent form outlined the purpose of the study and informed students that, as a measure of confidentiality, their identities would not be revealed in the write-up of the study60. In the write-up of the study, pseudonyms were used for transcripts from the data collection instruments involving students. Confidentiality was maintained throughout the undertaking of this study through various ways:
● I conducted all interviews with the RPs myself;
● I transcribed all audio-recorded interviews myself;
● I observed all lectures, tutorials and practicals myself; and,
● I had sole access to documentary evidence in the form of students’
tests and class-based exercises (scientific reports) and laboratory workbooks which I personally scanned and/or photocopied and analysed.
Conclusion
This Chapter presented the methodological choices undertaken to address the research problem identified in this study. It offered the rationale for the choice of the interpretive research paradigm in exploring crucial issues explored in this study. This Chapter substantiated the choice of case study as a research strategy to analyse and evaluate the data collected in this study. The Chapter offered a discussion of the research instruments which were the semi-structured interviews, observation and documentary evidence that were used to collect data in this study. The natural setting, the FP, where this study was undertaken, as well as the choice of the RPs selected for this study were outlined. Included, too, were the ways in which the data was analysed and the way in which the theory informed the method.
The Chapter concluded with a discussion of ethical considerations involved in undertaking this study.
The next Chapter discusses data yielded as a result of research methodological choices made in this study.
60 See Appendix 5 for Student Consent to Participate in Research.
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CHAPTER 6
DATA ANALYSIS: UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH PARTICIPANTS’ WORLDS Introduction
Chapter 5 discussed the research methodological choices made to conduct this study. The choice of research paradigm, methodology, design and research instruments was commensurate to the broader purpose of the study. The strength in selecting interpretive paradigm, for example, lies in the fact that it enables the researcher to “understand the subjective world of human experience” (Cohen et al. 2011: 17) and the interpretive researcher aims to understand how individuals interpret the world around them - in line with the broader purpose of this study, the discipline-specific literacies needed by FP students for science discourse. The research methodological choices enabled the study to gather data that responded directly to the three research questions:
● What discipline-specific literacies do academic literacy specialists and disciplinary specialists who teach in the BSc4 (Foundation) programme believe are required by the students to learn science?
● What are the perceived challenges that emerge in the use of the language of science and the discipline-specific literacies in the modules offered in the BSc4 (Foundation) programme?
● How do the disciplinary specialists assist the BSc4 (Foundation) students in the acquisition of discipline-specific literacies required for science discourse?
This Chapter analyses the data in respect of critical research question 1: What discipline- specific literacies do academic literacy specialists and disciplinary specialists who teach in the BSc4 (Foundation) programme believe are required by the students to learn science?
Chapter 6 begins with engagement with the data obtained primarily from the semi- structured interviews with the RPs. The interpretive paradigm was used to interpret the verbal responses from the RPs to understand their perceptions of the students that they teach. This was necessary in this study since entry into the FP is for students who have had a disadvantaged schooling background.
The introductory section of this Chapter draws attention to the RPs’ interpretation of the student profile that comprised the FP. The interpretive paradigm provided the space for the perceptions of the RPs to be heard; to understand how they perceived the FP students
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whom they taught. Being fully aware that the responses gathered from the RPs in the semi- structured interviews are subjective in nature, I relied on this form of data collection to ascertain “the participants’ thoughts about and feelings for a situation” (Cohen et al. 2011:
290) which are engaged with critically in this Chapter. This was particularly applicable to this study because all the RPs only taught modules within the FP. As a case study, this study provided an example of real people in a real context. This Chapter also explores whether there were any changes to the modules offered in the FP and, if so, to ascertain the reasons that contributed to such changes. This is particularly relevant to this study since the FP is an alternative tertiary education access route for students from disadvantaged schooling backgrounds. Another issue explored in this Chapter are the views of the RPs in respect of the factors that could have contributed to the perceived challenges with discipline-specific literacies that feature in the science modules offered in the FP. The responses from the RPs were considered significant in light of the issues of transformation at HEIs in South Africa post-apartheid; and the call for redress, equity and the access to higher education for those who were previously marginalized. (These issues were discussed in Chapter 1 in this study).