Agostinho, S. (2004). Naturalistic Inquiry

Agostinho, S. (2004). Naturalistic inquiry in e-Learning research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 4(1).

Analyzing different methods of e-learning, according to S. Agostinho's 2004 article "Naturalistic inquiry in e-learning research" from the International Journal of Qualitative Methods, is a relatively new field of study. The process of exploring the benefits of e-learning requires a relatively non-directive, naturalistic approach to accumulate more data upon the subject. To accomplish this objective, Agostinho acted as a participant observer in a class made up of two geographically separated groups which deployed Internet technology to facilitate learning exchanges. The class was innovative yet also a real class. The researcher's questions while observing the class were: "What kind of interaction can be established in a technology-supported learning community? What is possible in the technology-supported learning environment that is not possible without the use of technology? What are the perceptions of the instructor and the learners in terms of the learning outcomes" (Agostinho, 2004, p.3). These questions are non-directive and do not constitute a specific 'hypothesis' about what would be observed.

Thus study was relatively loosely constructed. First, a pilot, instructional class was created to determine what issues would be salient in the overall design. In this class "Internet and videoconferencing technologies enabled students to experience the use of technology while learning about its use in an educational context…an educational consultant from this unit provided instructional and technical support to the instructor" (Agostinho, 2004, p.3). Then, a class was conducted in which two groups of students, one which met online, the other which did not engaged in asynchronous (message boards) and synchronous (chat rooms) online discussions during the non-meeting weeks with one another, as well as met in classes with the instructor (Agostinho, 2004, p.3).

The approach of the research was thus a rough case study format, and mainly observational in nature. The justification for this relatively free-flowing qualitative approach to data-gathering was that little formal research had been done in the past upon the subject of e-learning. In fact, Agostinho herself initially had little background in the type of Web-based technology used to conduct the class. In the second class, Agostinho presented herself as a peer, or assistant instructor, after being a student observer in the first class. Observations, interviews, and questionnaires were used to gain a sense of how the students perceived their educational experience. The first class was not regarded as a control; rather the entire project was called a 'collective' case study, as the first class was used to inform Agostinho's observations of the second, blended format of the online and non-online groups of students (Agostinho, 2004, p.4). The approach was naturalistic and 'positivist': the researcher strove to learn from the educational process and not to control or critique the students -- the classes were not constructed with the specific intention of proving or disproving a hypothesis, but were educational environments from which the researcher was learning along with the students.