Читать книгу Conducting Qualitative Research of Learning in Online Spaces - Hannah R. Gerber - Страница 18

Researchers select a case study approach when they are interested in examining a phenomenon that is bounded. That is, data collection would be limited to examining a defined aspect, be it a particular person (e.g., a student), a group of people (e.g., a classroom, a school), or a program (e.g., a coding workshop). It can extend to include sites of study, activities, or processes (Johnson & Christensen, 2014). Robert K. Yin (2014) explained:

The distinctive need for case study research arises out of the desire to understand complex social phenomena. In brief, case study allows investigators to focus on a “case” and retain a holistic and real world perspective—such as in studying individual life cycles, small group behavior, organizational and managerial processes, neighborhood change, school performance, international relations, and the maturation of industries. (p. 5)

Regardless of the focus of study, the case must fall within the bounded system that the researcher has defined.

According to Robert E. Stake (1995), there are three types of case studies. In intrinsic case studies the researcher attempts to understand a single case that is being studied, such as studying a particular student to better understand the strategies and methods that the particular student uses in learning processes. In instrumental case studies, researchers study cases to gain insight into issues that inform other situations and sites. For example, a researcher might study a student to better understand the impact of an innovative curriculum that has recently been implemented. The instrumental aspect is the area of interest, which is the impact of the curriculum, and the case of the student allows the researcher to dig into this question of importance. The collective case study, or multicase design (Yin, 2014), allows researchers to compare similarities and differences among cases in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding about a theory or issue. For example, the researcher may still have interest in understanding the impact of an innovative curriculum, but may choose to study several students and teachers simultaneously to address the question of the curriculum’s impact.

Researchers have conducted case study research to understand learning in online spaces (e.g., Glazer & Hergenrader, 2014). Rish’s (2014) instrumental case study of collaborative writing, digital cartography, and videogame design in a high school English classroom included classroom observations and student interviews. He analyzed the transmedia artifacts students created using programs such as AutoRealm, Terragan, and RPG Maker. Rish’s use of case study allowed him to explore trial and error within online learning and the role of transmedia resources in collaborative world building.