From model to methodology: developing an interdisciplinary methodology for exploring the learning–teaching nexus

Methods that teach: developing pedagogic research methods, developing pedagogy

“…In the contested field of higher education, teachers and learners (like teaching, learning and research) are often divided, as if they are not part of a relationship (Knewstubb and Nicholas 2017). Our methods needed to free us of this dynamic of division and regulation and instead support shared community dialogue.…”

Adoption, adaptation, and integration: renegotiating the identity of educational research through interdisciplinarity

“…This may result in people from different backgrounds working together (Clark et al 2017;CohenMiller et al 2017;Timmis and Williams 2017;Wishart 2017), or may result in individual researchers bringing together ideas from different disciplines (Boeren 2017;Knewstubb and Nicholas 2017;Taylor 2017). This breadth of field is illustrated in terms of the aims and desired outcomes of education, which are many and varied: for example, education can be seen as preparation for work, as social development, as selfactualization, as support for effective functioning in the world, and as an enjoyable endeavour in itself.…”

“…The multiplicity of foci and methods that fall under the broad remit of 'education', however, are so varied that drawing a boundary around them to make a distinct and coherent field or discipline can become problematic. Knewstubb and Nicholas (2017) highlight that education is only loosely a 'discipline': people based within the field of education often bring theoretical perspectives from their own backgrounds to its study. Within higher education, people also study the practice of education within their own disciplines (Knewstubb and Nicholas 2017;Timmis and Williams 2017;Wishart 2017), bringing their own disciplinary perspectives to their research.…”

“…Knewstubb and Nicholas (2017) highlight that education is only loosely a 'discipline': people based within the field of education often bring theoretical perspectives from their own backgrounds to its study. Within higher education, people also study the practice of education within their own disciplines (Knewstubb and Nicholas 2017;Timmis and Williams 2017;Wishart 2017), bringing their own disciplinary perspectives to their research. This can lead to particular assumptions about what education as a discipline is about and the paradigms in which educational research should operate (Wishart 2017).…”

“…(McMurtry 2011, 20) Beyond such integration of insights, papers in this issue also discuss the development and refinement of novel theory and methodology to address complex questions. We begin with papers reflecting on the practice of interdisciplinary research (Clark et al 2017;Timmis and Williams 2017;Wishart 2017), then move on to papers that use theory to develop representations of this practice (CohenMiller et al 2017;Knewstubb and Nicholas 2017), and then complete the issue with papers that provide theoretical representations or perspectives on interdisciplinary research (Boeren 2017;Taylor 2017).…”