Conclusion

Authors of the chapters of this book have reflected on education research undertakings and research paradigms applicable to their work. Their writing is revisited here as it links education research in practice to underpinning understandings of the nature of the aspect of the world investigated, the drivers of the research and the contributions to knowledge that emerge. Instances that fit within or move between established research paradigms are addressed first. The case for a new research paradigm—the supercomplexity paradigm—is then rehearsed and contributions of chapter authors to that concept and its application summarized. While research reviewed in the chapters covers the full array of paradigms, the endeavors portrayed are linked by the act of research itself. In this endeavor, whatever the education research topic, approach and methods employed, being clear about the research paradigm that applies helps in ensuring the research exercise is coherent and the outcomes appropriate and defensible.

Researching Supercomplexity

A schema is proposed on which basis education research might be advanced. The approach revisits an earlier idea, that of supercomplexity, and substantially develops it into a supercomplexity mark two. The discussion is situated in the context of the university and the proposed schema situates the university on three planes. The planes hold together both ontological and ideational components (the university as institution and as idea), reveal spaces for emergence, and allow for imaginative thought and action. Two implications emerge. Firstly, education research should be conducted with an awareness of the total (tri-planar) space in which an institution such as the university moves, in all its ontological and ideational aspects. Secondly, writing becomes not an adjunct to research but takes on aspects of creativity and even poetry. In response to an enquiry about one's professional occupation, an academic should be happy to say “I am a writer.”

Work-Integrated Learning Praxis

Education practices, like Work-Integrated Learning, result from a confluence of educational issues, and contextual and philosophical influences. This chapter commences with an overview of the Work-Integrated Learning philosophy, the contextual modifiers and the education issues that provide the framework for Work-Integrated Learning education practices. Issues in investigating or researching Work-Integrated Learning and research paradigm possibilities are explored. It is contended that adoption of a holistic research paradigm for future Work-Integrated Learning research projects is needed to avoid simplistic assessments of Work-Integrated Learning that fail to advance experiential learning (e.g. Dewey, 1938) in school-to-work and workforce scenarios, in any meaningful way. Selection of the neo-positivist research paradigm is argued.

Education Research in an Intercultural Context

This chapter presents a research framework for a study that focused on the development of a second language vocabulary acquisition model in a tertiary setting. The study was an investigation of lexical inferencing strategies specifically employed by second language (L2) learners, and of whether the explicit teaching of effective vocabulary strategies benefited learners in developing vocabulary. The framework presented here draws on theories of learning from the fields of education, applied linguistics, vocabulary development, and cognitive psychology. Several theoretical standpoints on vocabulary development, including factors such as lexical representation; theoretical constructs in reading comprehension; vocabulary processing in tertiary L2 learners; and socio-linguistics were considered in the design and inquiry process of the study, which was set in an intercultural context. The association of components of this research exercise to research paradigms is discussed.

A Code of Our Own

Queerly located inquiry can be disruptive and unsettling, jolting habitual perceptions of what can constitute a research narrative and narratives of research. Queer work conceptually contests and problematizes understandings of “I,” “We,” “Us” as an “internal, subjective or perceptual frame of reference” (Combs & Syngg, 1959, as cited in Nelson Jones, 2011) and in doing so destabilizes the concept of identity as a social and cultural category of belonging. Queer work has critically interrogated the performativity of sexuality in and across social life, rearticulating textual, historical, and rhetorical understandings of same sex expressions and representations (Allen & Rasmussen, 2015). This chapter draws on three queerly operationalized research projects that investigated same-sex sexualities, sexuality-related diversity, equality and inclusion in educational domains. In interpretation it works from the ontological and axiological and epistemological margins with the aim of “integrating rather than eliminating the inquirer from the inquiry” (Montuori, 2013, p. 46).

Introduction

The title of this book refers to both methods and paradigms in education research. Both are addressed, but this book is distinguished from others in that the research paradigm, rather than choice of research method, is placed front of stage. The related field of study is education. The study of education intertwines with a range of disciplines in the social sciences so the research issues arising have implications beyond the education context. The research paradigms addressed in this book include the traditional positivist and post-positivist—here labelled neo-positivist—paradigms. The interpretivist, transformative and pragmatic research paradigms, which have also been nominated in existing literature, are included. A novel supercomplexity paradigm has been added here in acknowledgement of the “supercomplex” environment (Barnett, 2000a) in which education research now operates. Following chapters explore issues relating to the design, implementation and critique of education research in the light of this understanding of research paradigms.

Transnational Education Research and Development

This chapter comprises reflections on a commissioned project entitled “Learning without borders: Linking development of transnational leadership roles to international and cross-cultural teaching excellence.” The project was designed to identify key issues for leadership in transnational education and in particular, the best arrangements for distributed leadership. It had both a research element and a development element. The research methods employed included observation, document analysis, surveys, focus groups and interviews. The approach to be taken was specified as action research. The paradigm in which the research element was to operate was not specified in the project proposal nor was it mentioned in the project report. The conclusion arrived at in this chapter is that the exercise is best described as falling in the pragmatic paradigm as various research approaches were adopted and a range of methods employed in order to provide a useful response to the commissioned task.

Investigating School Mathematics Performance and Affect

In this chapter research relating to school mathematics is used as an instance to critique commonly used methods and instruments employed in educational research to determine performance and single or multiple aspects of affect. Advances in technology that have enabled the adaption of previously used instruments are described. Self-report measures, administered face-to-face and on-line, and real-time and virtual observational methods are discussed in some detail. Illustrative data from specific studies are provided. Interpreting the different measurement outcomes is, it is argued, far from unproblematic. This discussion raises issues relevant to research in a range of paradigms but is particularly pertinent to educational research conducted in the neo-positivist paradigm.

Becoming Comfortable with Supercomplexity

In this chapter the authors map various lines of flight they have taken that have informed their growing awareness of supercomplexity as a paradigm appropriate for the current epoch. Rather than concentrating on being researchers, the authors focus on how they are always becoming researchers, in between, like a rhizome. Illustrative accounts of the authors' research biographies are provided. They utilize a semi-fictional narrative, with images as a way to overlay fact-oriented research with fiction, in order to “play” with different ways of representing research. In the final section of the chapter, a number of emergent concerns, challenges and possibilities are considered in relation to working with supercomplexity. These musings offer the authors, as rhizome researchers with many conceptual tools and practices, a way to be open to new types of inquiry—a process that could be described as simultaneously knowing but not knowing.

An Approach to Improving Teaching in Higher Education

This chapter outlines a case study of the application of the neo-positivist paradigm in the higher education research field. A small scale evaluative study of an attempt to improve teaching and learning provides the case study. The neo-positivist paradigm involves the objective investigation of an aspect of reality, providing a provisional, contemporary understanding of patterns and entities. The ways in which this paradigm informed the research design, methodology, and the interpretation of results in a small-scale evaluative study are discussed. The study represents an attempt to conduct a rigorous empirical research project that incorporated random allocation to intervention and control groups, pre- and post-intervention measures of teaching and learning and the use of psychometrically sound measurement tools and qualitative data. The ways in which the ontology, axiology and epistemology of the neo-positivist paradigm impacted on the study and its findings are outlined.