ERIC Number: EJ1051942
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 39
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1050-8406
EISSN: N/A
Experiences in Sense Making: Health Science Students' "I"-Positioning in an Online Philosophy of Science Course
Arvaja, Maarit
Journal of the Learning Sciences, v24 n1 p137-175 2015
This article reports on a qualitative study on the dialogical approach to learning in the context of higher education. The aim was to shed light on the "I"-Position and multivoicedness in students' identity building and to provide empirical substantiation for these theoretical constructs, focusing especially on the connection between personal knowledge and theoretical knowledge. The study explored how health science students' reflections on their work and discipline-related experiences provided resources for making personal sense of and understanding the subject studied. The students took an online course on the philosophy of science. To study students' internal and external dialogue in terms of multivoicedness in their sense-making processes I combined a discourse analysis with a dialogical approach. The results showed that in reflecting on their experiences in light of different scientific approaches, the students became engaged in dialogues with different voices, thereby experiencing tensions in their professional positioning. The reasoning tasks gave rise to internal dialogue, involving negotiation between different "I"-Positions of the self or heterodialogue with the texts. These identity negotiations were manifested in refining, strengthening, and reconstructing professional and scientific "I"-Positions and in sharing and constructing a "We"-Position.
Descriptors: College Students, Health Sciences, Online Courses, College Science, Philosophy, Qualitative Research, Student Experience, Discourse Analysis, Reflection, Self Concept, Learning, Dialogs (Language), Foreign Countries
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Finland
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A