Phenomenography: The Pipeline vs. the River By Liberty Joy and Ann Yates

The Pipeline Traditional Learning Students: flow through classes like water through a pipe, passive and externally directed Teachers: provides ending goal, specific directions, pressure to force flow Outcome: Like water in a pipe, “no trace of student left behind” (Holmes & Gardner, 2006)

The River Phenomenography Students: flow through classes like a river through land, dynamic and self-generated, diverse Teachers: provides goal possibilities, diverse ways of experiencing the journey, mentors Outcome: like water in a river gives nutrients and minerals to the soil and changes the river’s course, students leave their imprint and generate changes (Holmes & Gardner, 2006)

Phenomenography Research/education; empirical data Focus: diversity, rainbow of qualities in human experiences Embraces uniqueness and its positive effects Seeks “the architecture” of the experience Line between pre-reflective experience and conceptual thought Phenomenology Philosophy/psychology; qualitative data Focus: diversity, rainbow of qualities in human experiences Embraces uniqueness and its positive effects Seeks “the essence” of experiences No separation between pre-reflective experience and conceptual thought Martin & Booth, 1997, p. 116

Being aware of differences between students as to how they understand phenomena is a powerful tool for enhancing the quality of education (Sjostrom, et.al., 2002)

“Phenomenography encourages a close relationship between the experiences of real life and the ideas that guide our actions in practice” (Boeree, C.G., 1998, ¶ 6) Experiences and Ideas Real Life

In further explanation… Phenomenography focuses on the qualitatively different ways in which the world around us is experienced, conceptualized, understood, perceived and apprehended (Sjostrom, et.al., 2002)

“Traditionally, we…establish hypothetical expectations…and we measure these expectations…[which] draw our concern.  A phenomenological [phenomenographical] approach suggests suspending…expectations, categories, and measurements and going to the source:  Open ourselves to the students' communications of meaning and we will at least… …approach an understanding of their understanding” (Boeree, C., 1998, ¶ 63)

What about e-learning and phenomenography? Phenomenograpy: perfectly suited to e-learning Student “immersion” in the “culture of the discipline” becomes easier with virtual scenarios, practice, and expeditions Real-time and real-life learning Example: Jason Foundation for Education (www.jasonproject.org) Visual information that is interactive, “ hands-on” learning Example: Timeline of Art History (www.metmuseum.org) (Holmes & Gardner, 2006)

SO, as you create a new class…

Are you thinking like a Phenomenographist? Let’s see…

If it were up to you… would you choose A or B? Choice A Collect data from the learner Choice B Collect data from the instructor

How about here? Choice A Examine what the student has learned Choice B Examine the learner’s experiences

What about these choices… Choice A Focus on behavior Choice B Focus on experience

And finally… Choice A Are you interested in meeting the learner’s individual needs? Choice B Are you interested in a one size fits all form of education?

Adding It Up Learner’s experiences (versus behavior) + Learner’s data (versus instructor’s data) = Learner centered education (Andretta, 2007; Sjostrom, et.al., 2002)

What could this mean in Nursing? Understanding patients’ ways of experiencing disease, symptom and treatment. Meaningful communication between nurses and patients rests on willingness and ability to understand these experiences Better prepare nursing students as clinical professionals (Sjostrom, et.al., 2002)

Evaluation Are you a phenomenographist?

How could you make a change to incorporate phenomenography into your educational setting? Forum

References Boeree, G.C. (1998). Teaching, learning, and the phenomenology of learning. Retrieved July 15, 2009 from http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer. Holmes, B., & Gardner, J. (2006). E-learning concepts and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Martin, F., & Booth, S. (1997). Learning and awareness. Florence, KY: Routledge Publishing Sjöström, B., & Dahlgren, L. (2002, November). Applying phenomenography in nursing research. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 40(3), 339-345.