Syllabus Information

1. General information

1.1. Aims of the course

• a) Initiate in the qualitative methodology through some characteristic designs: The scientificity of a study, compared to other modalities of knowledge, require an explicit expression of the most "research design" to the topic and the research purpose.

  The student should be able to apply different types of design in qualitative research.

  b) Develop the process of qualitative data construction and analysis:

  One of the phases of a research process is the data collection and analysis. Recently, research is even classified according to the quantitative or qualitative nature of the data.

  Students must be able to assess quality of the data and alternatives for data analysis.

  These approaches and objectives are aligned with the following Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) of the United Nations Agenda 2030 (https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/es/), so that the acquisition of the learning outcomes of the subject provides training and competency to contribute to some extent to their achievement: Goal 4: Quality Education - Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

  From the utility of educational research and the impact of researcher training, the most remarkable targets of this objective are the following:

  4.7 By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development

  4.a Build and upgrade education facilities that are child, disability and gender sensitive and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all

  4.b By 2020, substantially expand globally the number of scholarships available to developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States and African countries, for enrolment in higher education, including vocational training and information and communications technology, technical, engineering and scientific programmes, in developed countries and other developing countries

  4.c By 2030, substantially increase the supply of qualified teachers, including through international cooperation for teacher training in developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island developing States

  Objectives 5 (Gender equality) and 10 (Reduction of inequalities) are assumed and included in the previous goal by ensuring quality education, based on the ethical and social responsibility of educational research. Educational research will take these three goals into consideration in its epistemological referents and assumptions.

1.2. Context and importance of this course in the degree

Qualitative methodologies, and research modalities in which they are applied as a priority, have currently an excellent acceptation in the social scientific and educational communities. The purpose of this course is twofold: on the one hand, the learning of the assumptions of scientificity in qualitative approaches; on the other hand, the mastery of techniques and strategies in order to collect and analysis qualitative data, as well as the interpretation of results in relation to the chosen research design as relevant.

1.3. Recommendations to take this course

This course deals with qualitative and ethnographic modalities of educational research. It is based on the epistemological, theoretical and methodological foundations exposed in the course “Fundamentación epistemológica y producción de conocimiento científico”. For those students who study this course, no further initial requirements are recommended. Otherwise, it is suggested to follow the recommendations of the referred course of “Fundamentación”, as well as the reading of chapters 1 and 2 of Arraiz, A. and Sabirón, F. (2012). Orientation for lifelong learning: models and trends. Zaragoza: Prensas Universitarias.

The approach, methodology and assessment of this guide is prepared to be the same in any teaching scenario. They will be adjusted to the socio-sanitary conditions of each moment, as well as to the indications given by the competent authorities.

2. Learning goals

2.1. Competences

General and Basic Competences

CG03 - Make decisions on research design to address specific problems according to scientific knowledge and values of professional ethics.

CG04 - Collect information and analyse it with scientific tools and guarantees.

CG06 - Plan processes for analysing current educational reality, characterized a complexity nature derived from diverse learners’ origins, new learning objectives or the incorporation of technologies.

GC07 - Elaborate and design solutions to problems which are identified or exposed by third parties and based on scientific knowledge of a specific field.

GC09 - Handle complex data and draw conclusions from them, establishing relationships between such conclusions and previously acquired knowledge, facilitating the integration, elaboration of judgments and generalization.

GC12 - Understand the need to integrate new technologies as a response to the information and knowledge society from a psycho-pedagogical perspective.

GC13 - Identify the implications that the taken decisions by educational agents have on the different elements involved in the educational context, students, educators, families, institutions or community.

CG14 - Elaborate reports and documents based on the adequate use of the language; and defend them orally and in writing according to the quality criteria of the specific fields and adapting them to the target audience.

GC15 - Use ICT as a tool for accessing information, as a means of communication with others and as a means of disseminating the ideas developed.

GC16 - Develop above competences within team-works with professionals from the same or different fields of knowledge.

GC17 - Develop skills of reflection, evaluation and regulation of the own activity as a means to promote both personal and group work.

GC18 - Ability to synthesize information and analyse it with a critical spirit, recognizing the contributions they make to the advancement of knowledge in a specific field, but at the same time, knowing how to detect their limitations.

CB6 - Possess and understand knowledge that provides a basis or opportunity to be original in the development and/or application of ideas, often in a research context.

CB7 - Apply the acquired knowledge and problem-solving skills in new or unfamiliar environments within broader (or multidisciplinary) contexts related to their area of study.

CB8 - Deal with the complexity of formulating judgments based on information that, being incomplete or limited, includes reflections on the social and ethical responsibilities linked to the application of research and professional knowledge.

CB9 - Communicate conclusions, thesis and arguments to specialized and non-specialized audiences in a clear and unambiguous way.

CB10 - Develop learning skills for a continue studying in a way that will be largely self-directed and autonomous.

Transversal Competences

CT01 - Locate and manage sources of documentation for research.

CT02 - Plan the process of data collection and elaborate proposals for achieving solutions to complex problems or for evaluating their results.

CT03 - Make orderly and coherent oral and written presentations and defend one's own ideas with arguments.

CT04 - Use new technologies in the research process.

CT05 - Analyze data of research process.

CT06 - Sintetizar y comunicar resultados de investigación.

CT07 - Develop creativity and the ability to adapt to new situations.

CT08 - Learn autonomously.

CT09 - Develop an ethical commitment to research.

CT10 - Develop critical reasoning.

Specific Competences

CE04 - Understand implications of methodology for generating knowledge in socio-educational field.

CE05 - Analyse the relevance of different types of methodological designs and analysis.

CE06 - Evaluate the quality of research according to the nature of the topic, the research purpose and the final sense of the knowledge production.

CE13 - Know formal and content issues about publication and elaboration of research papers and their oral defense

CE15 - Identify emerging problems in specific fields and design research or interventions for dealing with them. 

2.2. Learning goals

1. Knows basic assumptions of qualitative methodology in order to collect and analysis data in socio-educational research processes.

2. Applies basic techniques and strategies in the collection, analysis and interpretation of data in research designs that use qualitative methodologies.

3. Develops research designs on qualitative modalities.

4. Is aware of the relevance of qualitative research in the scientific-social and educational field.

5. Is aware of the ethical implications of the articulation between research and educational praxis beyond the methodological choices.

2.3. Importance of learning goals

This course allows students to be introduced to qualitative research in two necessarily complementary ways: the designs and the analysis of qualitative data.

It is necessary to insist on this issue because the design and the nature and analysis of data must be reciprocally coherent. Given our quantitative tradition, this coherence may be more difficult for students.

3. Assessment (1st and 2nd call)

3.1. Assessment tasks (description of tasks, marking system and assessment criteria)

Continuous Assessment

Students must obtain a minimum of 5/10 in each of the two evaluation instruments:

A) An exam about presented contents and compulsatory readings.

The grade of this test will represent 30% of the final grade (from 0 to 3 / 10).

B) An evaluation portfolio integrated by the following evidences:

• Product I. Planning a case study research design
• Product II. Implementation of participant observation and narrative techniques
• Product III. Documented self-assessment in the completion of tasks

The portfolio will be presented in an interview.

The grade of the portfolio will represent 70% of the final grade (from 0 to 7 / 10) as follows:

• Product I. Research design will represent 30% of the final grade (from 0 to 3 / 10).
• Product II. Practices of Participant observation and narrative techniques will represent 20% of the final grade (0 to 2/10).
• Product III. Self-assessment will represent 20% of the final grade (0 to 2 / 10).

Standards for Product I

1/10 Coherent achievement - Contains no errors - Basic development.

2/10 Adequate achievement - Correctly developed in its components.

3/10 Relevant achievement - Evaluated in its own sense.

Standards for Product II

1/10 Coherent achievement - Contains no errors - Basic development.

2/10 Adequate achievement - Correctly developed in its components.

Standars for Product III

1/10 Self-assessment supported by the completion of all assignments

1/10 Reasoned self-assessment with integration of teacher feedbacks

Global assessment

A final written examination will consist of a exam on the knowledge and application of the contents developed in the subject. The structure will be as follows:

• 5 short questions about program knowledge
• 2 essay questions on applying qualitative analysis, methods, and design.

Passing the course will require passing the two blocks of the single test. Each block will represent 50% of the final grade.

The second call will be developed by global assessment.

General warning

Fraud or total or partial plagiarism in any of the evaluation tests will result in the failure of the course with the minimum grade, in addition to the disciplinary sanctions that the guarantee committee adopts for these cases.

4. Methodology, learning tasks, syllabus and resources

4.1. Methodological overview

4.1.Methodological overview

The methodology is based on active participation, problem based learning, case studies, teamwork etc. that support the critical thinking. The course emphasizes experiential learning. 

A wide range of teaching and learning tasks are implemented, such as lectures, practice sessions, autonomous work, tutorials, and assessment tasks. Students are expected to participate actively in the class throughout the semester.

Classroom materials will be available via Moodle. These include a repository of the lecture, notes used in class, the course syllabus, as well as other course-specific learning materials.

4.2. Learning tasks

All activities will be based on a critical reflection of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that guarantee quality education (goal 4) and inspired by equity (goal 5) and social justice (goal 10).

The themes of the activities and products will be defined from this perspective, exploring familiarities with other optional and compulsory subjects of the degree. As far as possible, this approach will also allow establishing synergies that allow a greater sustainability of the students' work. These possibilities will be explored in academic year and within the educational innovation spaces that are expected to be promoted by the degree coordination.

4.3. Syllabus

The course will address the following topics: 

• Topic 1. Foundations of Qualitative Methodology
• Topic 2. Emergent Designs and Modalities
• Topic 3. Participant Observation
• Topic 4. Narrative Methods
• Topic 5. Handling Qualitative Data Analysis 

4.4. Course planning and calendar

The academic calendar of the master's degree can be consulted on the web page of the Faculty of Education: http://educacion.unizar.es/calendario_Master_aprendizaje.html

For those subjects that provide for a final assessment and for those students who do not pass the continuous evaluation, dates and places of final exams can be found on the following page: http://educacion.unizar.es/inf_academica_Master_aprendizaje.html

Classroom materials will be available via Moodle en Máster en Aprendizaje a lo Largo de Vida – Módulo I : https://moodle.unizar.es/. These include a repository of the lecture notes used in class, the course syllabus, as well as other course-specific learning materials, including a discussion forum. Further information regarding the course will be provided on the first day of class.

This subject is eminently methodological and operational. The course deals with close but different designs. For student's success, it is key to attend initial presentation given by teachers in on-site sessions about designs and corresponding qualitative research strategies.

The planning of activities will be distributed as follows:

November (15th, 22th)
Topic 1. Foundations of Qualitative Methodology
Analysis of research practices (approaches, designs and models)

November-December-January (November 29th, December 13th and 20th, January 31st)
Topic 1. Foundations of Qualitative Methodology
Topic 2. Emerging Designs and Modalities
Research project-planning (objectives and research questions)
Analysis of research practices (approaches, designs and models) [delivery].

February (February 7th, 14 and 21st)
Topic 3. Participant Observation
Topic 5. Handling Qualitative Data Analysis
Participant Observation Practice

February (February 28th)
Project - Research planning (integration of fieldwork methodology)
Participant Observation Practice [delivery].

February and March (March 7th, 14th and 21st)
Topic 4. Narrative Methods
Narrative Techniques Practice

March (28th)
Project-Research planning (integration of fieldwork methodology).
Narrative Techniques Practice [delivery].

April-May (April 18th and May 9th)
Project - Research planning [delivery]
Global presentation of the tasks performed - Integrated self-evaluation [delivery]

In accordance with the above planning, the three-hour sessions will be distributed in lectures, theory and practice sessions,seminars and practical workshops, and spaces for debate, exchange and contrast of information.

4.5. Bibliography and recommended resources

http://psfunizar10.unizar.es/br13/egAsignaturas.php?codigo=63132