Contributions of action research and use of active methodological approaches for the construction of a discipline in management.
| Autor | Bispo, Livia Veiga de Oliveira |
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Introduction
The classroom environment is beyond a teacher and students. Availability of digital resources and access to information by means of Internet have led the teaching methods to follow new paths with the use of technology. In the teacher's point of view, embracing these resources is more than a trend; it is actually a demand from the teachers, who provided with a smartphone and digital media (which are increasingly present since childhood) are challenged to adopt active methodologies to ensure learning and involvement in this process. Within this context, the present work results from the experience with collective construction of a discipline, namely, active teaching technology. This discipline was first introduced in the first semester of 2019 as part of the curriculum of the post-graduate programinmanagement ofaprivate higher education institution in the cityofSalvador, State of Bahia, Brazil. The teacher, who also played a role as a researcher, had autonomy to review the teaching planning and posed a challenge to her students on the basis of the action research and the following motivation: awakening the commitment of the master's degree students in the construction of their own knowledge.
The faculty formation in these times of digital transformation is an issue raising a discussion on the massive use of technology, unlimited supply of information and excessive exposure of youth to video games and social networks. The content consumed from several platforms is concurrent to that "traditionally" given in the classroom, even reaching to the point that active teaching methodologies play a prominent role in terms of the pedagogical view.
The present study is justified by empirically showing an alternative collective construction of a discipline in management based on the contributions of action research and use of active methodological approaches. Therefore, such a contribution aims to provide the academia with experience in didactic knowledge and practice, both theoretically and methodologically, in order to seek solutions by taking advantage of technological resources available for development of the faculty and improvement of the management students' performance.
It is also worth emphasising that the present study not only contributed to the field of applied social sciences but also opened a precedent for the use of the method in other areas of knowledge. Another factor demonstrating the relevance of this study is the production of essays and articles developed by groups of students in which active methodologies are related to themes of interest. Such a production represents itself a scientific contribution, which justifies this project and its empirical potential for the academic division of education and research in management.
With this being said, the present work is grounded on the Michel Thiollent's contribution, which is the theoretical background enabling the collective construction of the discipline. According to Michel Thiollent (2009), the action research consists of a process where the players involved (i.e. the master's degree students) participate together with the researchers in the resolution of collective problems inherent to the reality in which they are inserted in order to solve and experience them.
In the next section, the contributions of the action research and active methodologies will be addressed based on theoretical background and then the methodological procedures will be presented. Next, the results will be analysed, and the findings will be discussed according to previously defined categories before the evidence is presented in the final conclusion.
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Action research in the evaluation of active teaching methods in face of the digital transformation in education
In the current context, one can assume a range of technological advances, dynamic relations and constant adaptations, which leads to a discussion on the urgent need for changes in the higher education institutions in order to rebuild its social role, among other aspects (Mitre etal, 2008, p. 2135). This scenario shows a process of digital transformation in education, a term meaning systemic and disruptive changes impacting the review of business models, not only technologically but also strategically, which are at risk of becoming obsolete (Miceli & Marostica, 2019; Grupta, 2019; Rogers, 2019).
The traditional conception of what it is to teach has been undergoing a reformulation as result of the incorporation of technology, including new practices and emergence of new roles. Such a dynamics distance itself from the model in which knowledge was deposited in the teacher who had a passive and non-critical behaviour (Freire, 1987; Abrahim & Cohen, 2019). Change comes from the re-signification of the role of the teachers, who had the leading role in transmitting information, since the traditional methods made sense when information was difficult to obtain (Freire, 1981; Moran, 2015).
Students are connected to the Internet, and they can readily obtain any information as data a click only, which demands didactic adaptation to this new era. This scenario of data access makes all students have a wider range of references while posing a challenge to faculty members, who have to adapt the classical theories to this new context and adapt active practices (Schmidt & Cohen, 2013). Peters (2006, p. 154) believes that the teaching process can be easily adapted to the "student learning needs, [...] to the demands of a rapidly-transforming industrial society". The reflection on future teaching practices becomes even more timely because of the class of future teachers.
This favours the student's autonomy by awakening curiosity and stimulating decision-making (Borges & Alencar, 2014). The participation of students in the classroom is also a key factor of this new learning dynamics, and since the theoretical contributions brought by the faculty are not taken into consideration by the teachers, this valorisation of the students awakens their engagement, sense of belonging and perception of their competence (Berbel, 2011).
As for adult education, the active methods are also useful and contribute to the learning process based on overcoming challenges (Freire, 1996). In this sense, problematisation becomes one of the strategies used to motivate the students, in which a given problem is proposed in the classroom, and they work on it, thus exercising their reflection and relating the problem to their history of life and re-signifying their findings (Mitre etal, 2008). Solutions for problems, in turn, can be found either individually or collectively (Bastos, 2006).
For example, the choice of an action research for collective construction of a discipline reinforces the harmony between the method and reality-based problem being solved. Therefore, from the reflection on the use of active methodologies and technological resources in the classroom, the students build knowledge and experience practices which can contribute to the adaptation of teaching methods to the students' learning styles and to the social demands as well.
As explained by Abrahim and Cohen (2019, p. 3), the innovative teaching methodologies address the "transforming role played by the teacher because they can raise a self-reflection on how and why he or she acts that way". Hence, it is crucial that the teacher "takes part in the process of re-thinking the knowledge construction, in which mediation and interaction are the key assumptions for enabling learning" (Borges & Alencar, 2014, p. 120). And, in this context, one can set out an approach to ground the collective construction of a discipline.
The theoretical background of the present study has the seminal work by Lewin (1946) as a historical starting point, followed by other significant contributions for definition of action research and application models in real situations. Authors, like Lodi, Thiollent and Sauerbronn (2018), state that Lewin sought not only to understand the human behaviour but also to find ways of intervening with this behavioural pattern. Therefore, action research has emerged from the need to intervene with reality and overcome an alleged gap between theory and practice (Engel, 2000; Toledo & Jacob, 2013).
For the purpose of this study, the teacher - who has autonomy and whose didactics is based on research (Thiollent & Colette, 2014) - resorted to action research as a method fundamentally because it preserves the leading role of the researchers throughout the process and is guided in function of the problem resolution or transformation objectives (Thiollent, 1986). Studies point that the method is to be applied to the teacher qualification (Thiollent & Colette, 2014).
With regard to the collective experience among the master's degree students, it is worth emphasising that there is an expected practical outcome: "researchers and social players develop a collective learning process by investigating and acting so that the results found during the process will provide new teachings to all" (Toledo & Jacob, 2013, p. 161). Moreover, the choice of action research is also related to the interest in developing practice, research and teaching skills among the future faculty members, which is respectively related to the following learning dimensions: cognition, skills and attitudes (Freire, 1981).
Although the critics of the method point to a certain methodological inconsistency, those who advocate it highlight the scientifically significant results, which can be applied to several areas of knowledge, beyond the "procedures, significance, originality and validity" (Tripp, 2005, p. 447). Tripp (2005, p. 447) defines the action research complementarily and legitimately as a "type of investigation by using well-established research techniques to inform the action to be taken in order to improve the practice".
Thiollent (1986) adds that this method is suitable for cases in which not only the...
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