Search

Fungi mostly reproduce through spores that are adapted for airborne dispersal; hence, fungal spores (and fungi) are found virtually everywhere. Fungi can be "friends or foes." Our friends include fungi used in the food and biotech industries, fungi that contribute to the cycling of carbon and nutrients, and those involved in the decontamination of polluted soils and/or water, to mention just a few examples. Many species, however, are foes--they are detrimental to plants, animals, and/or humans. Annually, >1.5 million people die due to invasive fungal infections. With the aim of enhancing microbiology literacy and the understanding of microbial concepts, we set up a project for the collection of airborne spores (the principal agent through which human airways are exposed to fungi). Students from five high schools in the Oeiras municipality partnered with us as citizen scientists; they carried out sampling by collecting fungal spores on adhesive stickers. The fungal spores collected by the students were subsequently processed in the schools and our research laboratory. Results obtained by the students themselves revealed a large variety of fungal species capable of growing in a rich medium at 30°C. In the research laboratory, using selective isolation conditions, 40 thermotolerant fungi were isolated, 32 of which were taxonomically identified as aspergilla, mostly from within the Aspergillus fumigatus taxa, yet exhibiting high genetic heterogeneity. The protocols and results were presented to the students, who were made aware of the local dispersal of airborne fungal spores, including some from potentially pathogenic fungi. Through carrying out scientific activities, the students developed both the interest and the self-confidence needed to implement future environmental investigations.

The purpose of the study was to establish and quantify the minimal important change (MIC) value necessary to determine gains or losses in clinical reasoning during student fieldwork assignments as measured by the Self-Assessment of Clinical Reasoning in Occupational Therapy (SA-CROT). This multicenter prospective longitudinal study was conducted with students on their occupational therapy fieldwork in Japan. Two anchor-based methods were used to estimate the MIC values: a receiver operating characteristic-based method and a predictive modeling-based method. The MIC was adjusted based on the percentage of participants who exhibited improvement. Administered were the SA-CROT and the Global Rating of Change (GRC) scale as an anchor. A total of 111 students from 11 occupational therapy educational programs in Japan responded (response rate 29%). Overall, there was a significant difference (p < 0.001, effect size was r = 0.80) in SA-CROT before and after fieldwork, and 81% of students showed improvement in the GRC scale. The adjusted MIC value was 3.69, with 95% confidence interval of 2.29-4.97. This anchor-based, adjusted MIC value is the most reliable value to interpret the changes in SA-CROT before and after fieldwork. The SA-CROT's MIC value can be used as a cut-off point from a learner-centered perspective when considering educational methods and environments in fieldwork.

This study explores the complexities of qualitative fieldwork and unpacks the fieldwork dynamics drawing on critical reflections based on the experiences of interviewing primary level teachers in exploring their identities. I argue that qualitative fieldwork is not a one-shot, linear activity but a negotiated and relational task requiring a flexible and context-specific plan. This study identifies challenges associated with the fieldwork relating to establishing and sustaining a good relationship and reciprocity between the researcher and the participants, unequal power dynamics between the researcher and the participants, participants' familiarity with and habitual response to the survey questionnaires, narrow understanding of confidentiality and anonymity as ethical considerations, unmatched gender between the researcher and the participants, and through and detailed capture of micro field jottings and writing the fieldnotes. I suggest initiating fieldwork with sufficient informal conversation and establishing a rapport to gain the participants' trust, positioning oneself as an insider to acquire valuable and meaningful data.

Providing students with autonomy over their learning process can support the development of their self-regulation skills. This study aimed to examine the effects of autonomy-support interventions on students' self-regulated learning strategies. The participants were 432 students from three secondary schools in the Netherlands. In each school, a one-year field experiment was performed, in which teachers and students shared control over learning processes. At the start and end of the school year, students from both the experimental and control conditions completed a questionnaire on perceived autonomy support and self-regulation strategies used. Univariate analyses of covariance were performed to examine the effects of the interventions on perceived autonomy support and the use of self-regulated learning strategies. The intervention with the highest amount of student control showed positive effects on self-regulated learning strategies 'task orientation', 'planning', and 'process evaluation', although it did show a small decrease in perceived autonomy support. The other two interventions showed an increase in perceived autonomy support and a positive trend in 'monitoring'. The field experiments suggest that different ways of supporting student autonomy can yield different effects on students' self-regulated learning strategies. The tentative conclusion is that a focus on student control is the most effective.

While research into PhD programs and doctoral students' experiences has increased in recent years, fieldwork is overlooked as a source of learning and support. In education, the focus of this paper, fieldwork remains laced with notions of the anthropologist gathering data in a place that is not their own, which narrowly construct the role of the novice and their expectations around 'doing' research. To demonstrate the relevance of these issues and key ethical tensions that they underpin, we explored our recent PhD fieldwork experiences within classrooms in Australian and Zimbabwean schools. By analysing fieldnotes from our lived experiences, we identified similarities between conducting fieldwork 'out there' (in Zimbabwe) and 'at home' (in Australia). These similarities highlighted a multitude of roles and dynamics associated with the researcher presence, as well as the importance of balancing complex needs during fieldwork. Our analyses also revealed how daily in situ interactions with participants--and others--were crucial to the development of our identities and data gathering practices. We argue that ongoing efforts to demystify fieldwork experiences are critical for understanding that 'the field' is not simply 'out there' and offer practical suggestions for current and future doctoral students to consider.

Outside of education, many academic disciplines developed and promulgated checklists to evaluate the quality of qualitative studies. This article used an embedded mixed methods approach in three stages: development of a conceptual framework reviewing 62 guidelines; a content analysis of key areas of the guidelines; and review of dissertations to see how practices compare to model guidelines. Using 15 educational administration dissertations in the United States, a thematic analysis examined components of the three frameworks: planning the study, in the field, and reporting results. Many researchers failed to adequately describe methods in all phases, with lack of intensity in fieldwork being a ubiquitous problem. Developing validity and reliability should move from a post hoc procedure to a central component in all stages of design. The implications of the frameworks move beyond a rigid checklist and provide direction to develop strategic mapping for designing research in an iterative fashion to optimize representativeness of findings.

Experimental designs in the social sciences have received increasing attention due to their power to produce causal inferences. Nevertheless, experimental research faces limitations, including limited external validity and unrealistic treatments. We propose combining qualitative fieldwork and experimental design iteratively--moving back-and-forth between elements of a research design--to overcome these limitations. To properly evaluate the strength of experiments researchers need information about the context, data, and previous knowledge used to design the treatment. To support our argument, we analyze 338 pre-analysis plans submitted to the Evidence in Governance and Politics repository in 2019 and the design of a study on public opinion support for punitive policing practices in Montevideo, Uruguay. The paper provides insights about using qualitative fieldwork to enhance the external validity, transparency and replicability of experimental research, and a practical guide for researchers who want to incorporate iteration to their research designs.

This study used a qualitative research methodology to classify and examine the large amount of information which was collected through field research. The research objective was to (1) An investigation of Hua'er song development in Gansu and Ningxia, China; and (2) Examine the characteristics of Hua'er song in Gansu and Ningxia, China. The research designed the interview and observation forms related to the interviews and observations. The interviews were divided into 3 groups: expert informant, inheritance, and the masses. The study's findings are as follows: (1) Gansu Hezheng and Ningxia Haiyuan are both ethnic minority enclaves containing more than fifty percent of the Hui ethnicity. All faith is isism. Share similar ethnic taboos. Due to the geographical and cultural differences between the two places, the transmission of Hua'er song has changed; and (2) The Hui nationality performs a crucial, irreplaceable function in the process of Hua'er's spread, which cannot be played by any other ethnicity. Directly linked with the material interactions and activities of humanity. Not only does the Hui spirit penetrate the transmission process of Hua'er song, but it also permeates the literature of Hua'er song.

This study aims to determine the feasibility of implementing field study learning methods in educational supervision courses. This action research research was carried out by providing field study treatments in the last 3 weeks of 12 meetings during offline learning lectures in one semester. The time of the research was carried out during the 2021/2022 even semester studies at the undergraduate program of the Islamic religious education study program, Faculty of Islamic Studies, Islamic University of Indonesia. The research subjects were four classes in the educational supervision subject with 61 Islamic studies bachelor students in the 1st semester as respondents. Data collection techniques using questionnaires (open-ended questions). The data analysis technique was carried out in a qualitative analysis with the stages of data reduction, data display, and drawing conclusions. The results showed that the implementation of the field study learning model in educational supervision courses had an impact on student competence, character and skills. The majority of students experienced an increased understanding of educational supervision material. The skills of communicating and composing student instruments also improved. Students feel more courageous and confident in public speaking. In the end this field study learning model is also effective in improving student cognitive learning outcomes.

The notion of the ethnographer as participant observer, as an active agent rather than passive observer, is well established within conversations about method and methodology. Less well explored is the extent to which the inherent curiosity and inquisitiveness of the ethnographer might be reciprocated: how might this be established and how might it contribute to the construction of knowledge? Through a focus on the ways in which one of the most visible aspects of ethnographic field work -- writing field notes -- was made sense of and then interrogated by research respondents during an eight-month ethnography of workplace learning, this article argues that reciprocal field relations characterised by a willingness for the researcher to be interrogated about their work in a manner akin to the ways in which the researched are, here described as relational curiosity, both sustains good ethical engagement in the field and enhances the empirical warrant of the ethnography.

This article examines the processes of educational ethnography and questions the traditional use of the field notebook and research relationships. It forms part of an ongoing collaborative study analyzing university students' learning trajectories. Guided by inclusive ethics, the study proposes that researcher-participant collaboration is fundamental in defying traditional research methodologies. Post-qualitative inquiry enables an inclusive ethics perspective by providing a critical view of the usual ways of conducting research. The paper presents three cases of collaborators taking a field notebook and self-observing their learning. Participant agency facilitates our immersion in different worlds and produces new, non-standardized perceptions that enable the transformation of educational ethnography.

Based on year-long fieldwork on activist-educators' work in South Korea, I reflect on how my research complicates the ontological shift in institutional ethnography: that is, the shift that emphasizes how ruling relations are coordinated through the very actions of people. I discuss two facets of reflective pauses. First, I discuss how the ruling relations of research practice in South Korea render the ontological shift "slippery." I argue for a need to understand the ontological shift in relation to external contexts of research instead of an individualized approach. Second, I detail the process of a comparative research design looking at activist-educators with differing levels of engagement with the Korean state. I highlight how a transitional void that emerged after democratization prompted different activist strategies. I call for a need to reconsider the connection between activists' work and institutional ethnography, where investigating activists' work provides a lens into the ruling relations.

Integrated river science provides decision-making life-skills for individuals and communities facing environmental change; it is a variant of critical physical geography through its socio-political dimensions. As an example, the frequency and magnitude of river flooding are amplified by climate change: society needs to understand how to cope through learning, adaptative behaviour and planning. Choices should be informed by trusted science that can only be delivered by education, to avoid "knee jerk" post-hazard reactions. We examine curricula and resources in physical geography for England to judge if they make river science more pervasive and persuasive. "Scales" of causation and impact remain a central geographical focus. The concept of "place" is revitalized: environmental processes harnessed to improve resilience. Literacy and numeracy skills to communicate and predict need improving, to ensure that students understand problems sufficiently well to identify the best long-term, rigorously assessed options. Higher education has a hub role for empowering lay individuals, communities and professionals but the core learning principles need to be set at school. We conclude the current physical geography river science content is not fit for future needs, notably at A-Level. Weaknesses include naivety about river processes (water and sediment movement), arcane jargon, absence of a catchment-wide approach to river management, and inadequate links between disciplined fieldwork and databases. Contemporary community dimensions of social learning, argument and countering myths are also weakly developed.

Fieldwork is an important part of geography education in many countries. However, little fieldwork-related activities are being observed in Indonesia, specifically at the senior secondary level. In an effort to address this issue, investigators have developed a fieldwork-based blended learning model to be used in the country. This study involved 187 students from three high schools who followed the developed learning model. To measure the effectiveness of the developed model, a correlational analysis that examined the effect of location and session allocation on the test scores of students was used. Questionnaires were distributed to gain insight into the responses of students toward the learning system and qualitative methods were used to capture the learning experiences of these students while using the model. The obtained results show that the grades of the students were significantly affected by location rather than study sessions. Furthermore, students responded positively to the fieldwork-based blended learning model, although traditional classroom learning remained the most preferred option. Interestingly, it was found that students in Indonesia preferred to study with large groups of classmates over smaller groups. These findings confirmed the hypothesis that cultural and religious factors, specifically the concepts of "gotong royong" and "jama'ah" in Islam, respectively, influenced the perceptions of students and group preferences when studying.

Field action projects are a distinguishing feature in social work education and practice and can serve as a live lab for social work students. Many renowned social work educational institutions began with the field action projects and developed them to a significant level. The state of Madhya Pradesh, India has several problems, and field action projects can serve as an excellent tool to alleviate these problems. The article is an attempt to appraise field action projects of Bhopal School of Social Sciences--one of the well-recognized social work institution in the Central India. Statistical software Jamovi 2.3.21 was used for analysis. Mode, median and Functional Narrative Analysis is used for analysing data. The suggestions can be used by the practitioners and policy makers for an optimal usage of field action projects as tools for sustainable development. It also discusses the presence of outreach activities as a mandate in New National Education Policy of Madhya Pradesh and the relevance of such initiatives in accomplishing the requirements of the policy. The study is limited to the field action projects of BSSS and should not be generalized.

One goal of the Social Work Grand Challenge is to positively influence the applications of technology. Nowhere is the challenge of integrating innovative technology more apparent than in field education settings. However, current technology trends, challenges, as well as interns' use of technology, which is often used in field education settings, particularly after the major shift to virtual platforms due to the COVID-19 Global Pandemic, are not well documented. During Fall 2021, the authors sought to evaluate field educators' (1) current use of technology in social service agencies, (2) perceptions and concerns about technology, and (3) plans for training and engaging student interns with technology. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifteen field educators recruited from one social work program. A rigorous thematic analysis approach then was used among six coders to report thematic findings. In this study, we report (1) benefits and limitations of using technology, (2) informal and formal technology training offered to student interns in social service agencies, and (3) recommendations for engaging and training students with technology. Two emerging themes were consistent: (1) generational differences related to technology perspectives of student interns and clients and (2) that the benefits and limitations of technology often are mixed.

The COVID-19 pandemic influenced academia in many ways, impacting learners and teachers. This article is authored by six sustainable urban development doctoral researchers from various backgrounds and stages of their journey, and an academic advisor. The article is an outcome of remote collaboration through a substantial period during the pandemic. We offer self-reflective and collaborative accounts of how the pandemic affected doctoral research in a domain that requires in-depth connection with a physical field or site. We explore the impact of COVID-19 on the field through the themes of resonance and credibility, ethics and rapport, and the doctoral researchers' academic experience with regard to physical disconnection and virtual connectivity. In lieu of a conclusion, the supervisor's perspective offers insights into the future of the field and links the discussions in this article to wider debates in the literature on the role of the screen in delivering, presenting, and sharing research. The key takeaway is that the field and how we approach doctoral research and teaching have changed irrevocably. While we adjust to these new realities, it is important to look outwards as much as inwards to navigate the new complexities we now face.

Purpose: This article presents fieldwork perspectives and research reflexivity gained from the cross-national research team, with the aim of promoting better qualitative research practices in transnational research. It focuses on how the team incorporates diverse cultural perspectives and insider and outsider roles to enhance the research in the data collection process. Design/methodology/approach: This article is drawn from the authors' qualitative research with 25 Japanese retirees in Thailand, addressing cultural challenges encountered by researchers in the cross-national team when conducting field research. Findings: Our findings indicate that researchers with an emic view in the cross-national team who shared nationality and cultural background as the participants facilitated an effective recruitment process and productive collaboration in data gathering. They also served as cultural brokers, tailoring smooth communication during interviews on certain cultures, participant traits and sensitive issues. On the other hand, the outsiders helped the team uncover more transnational issues that the insiders had overlooked. Additionally, combining emic and etic perspectives helps to avoid ethnocentric narratives or purely etic and emic conclusions. Originality/value: This article addresses a gap in the methodological reflections in transnational research that remains largely overlooked. Our reflection highlights the advantages of cross-national teams, which include researchers from emigration and immigration countries. Their status and roles as insiders and outsiders significantly facilitate a positive impact on the research process and increase the extent of investigating the complex cultural dynamics of transnational practices. The incorporation of emic and etic perspectives is suggested in the methodological approach for transnational migration research.

In this "Reflections from the Field," we describe and interrogate our ongoing engagements with designing, conducting, and documenting multimodal field research as early-career ethnographic education researchers. Our Multimodal Scholarship Working Group engages with content across media and multimodal methods to promote collaboration and support. This approach helps our community of emerging scholars develop their multimodal ethnographic research practices, allowing simultaneous input from diverse sources and fostering access, play, and experimentation throughout the research process. We argue that a peer support network is necessary for emerging and early-career researchers as they prepare to enter the field of educational research, especially in an emerging subfield like multimodal ethnography.

How much should ethnographers involve themselves with the people, places, and processes they study? One answer has become increasingly popular: invert the standard method of participant observation into observant participation. This article draws on an ethnography of ambulance work to consider the trade-offs between these approaches. My fieldwork included "ride-alongs" with labor and management at a private ambulance firm in California (participant observation) and short-term employment as a novice emergency medical technician at the same company (observant participation). Beyond a simplistic distinction in "empirical depth," I identify three issues at stake between participant observation and observant participation: field positioning, analytic gaze, and data assembly. Where participant observation presents more opportunities for mobile positioning, outward gazing, and inscription, observant participation presents more opportunities for fixed positioning, inward gazing, and incarnation. In addition to justifying such contrasts, I consider the advantages of mixing these styles into a hybrid approach when feasible.

World-wide responses to the global pandemic, such as travel restrictions, border closures and lockdowns, have posed new challenges to researchers. For qualitative researchers conducting fieldwork, gathering data in person can be inapplicable (Howlett, 2021). My research investigates English as a Foreign Language (EFL) pre-service teachers' beliefs and negotiation of meaning in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) within the Thai secondary education context. Because of the pandemic I was unable to travel to Thailand to gather data, so I had to change my data collection methods to video conferencing interviews and classroom video observations. This article discusses this unexpected shift in research methods through my reflections on conducting digital-based research during the COVID-19 pandemic. It focuses on two main aspects: 1) grappling with emotional distress caused by the unprecedented phenomenon, and 2) redesigning research methods for digital fieldwork. Ethical issues regarding digital-based research are also discussed. The implications highlight the importance of resilience, flexibility and proactivity to surmount unexpected situations during a research journey.

In this reflection, I contextualize my own experiences conducting educational ethnography in a synchronous online kindergarten classroom during the COVID-19 pandemic. I highlight how conducting research in online classrooms transforms ethnographic research methodologies and concepts such as the field site. I offer four suggestions, derived from my experiences and guided by an un-sited approach to this hybrid online field site, to conceptualize a more fluid approach for studying online schooling in general.

The proficiency in vernacular has long been a methodological ethos pervasive among field researchers and--despite new dynamics of fieldwork--still overshadows discussions related to collaboration with translators and interpreters, which are either marginalized or hidden within the category of a 'research assistant'. The purpose of this study is to take a step beyond anecdotal evidence and explore trends in language proficiency and use of translation services among US based field researchers who had conducted international or domestic studies in an area where a language other than English was present. We conducted the largest-to-date survey on the subject and analyzed 913 responses from faculty at sociology and anthropology programs in the United States. We documented their global fieldwork activity and found only limited proficiency in field languages accompanied by a proliferation of reliance on translators and interpreters, not matching any methodological discussion present in the textbooks and other scholarly sources. We indicate disparities in the use of vernacular and translation services in the post-colonial societies and point out related ethical and methodological concerns. Furthermore, we analyze the researchers' decision-making processes and their general perspectives on the importance of vernacular's knowledge and opinions on the admissibility of translators in the fieldwork.

Audit correspondence studies are field experiments that test for discriminatory behavior in active markets. Researchers measure discrimination by comparing how responsive individuals ("audited units") are to correspondences from different types of people. This article elaborates on the tradeoffs researchers face between sending audited units only one correspondence and sending them multiple correspondences, especially when including less common identity signals in the correspondences. We argue that when researchers use audit correspondence studies to measure discrimination against individuals that infrequently interact with audited units, they raise the risk that these audited units become aware they are being studied or otherwise act differently. We also argue that sending multiple pieces of correspondence can increase detection risk. We present the result of an audit correspondence study that demonstrates how detection can occur for these reasons, leading to significantly attenuated (biased toward zero) estimates of discrimination.

How does shared identity between researcher and the researched influence trust-building for data generation and knowledge production? We reflect on this question based on two separate studies conducted by African-based researchers in sociology and political science in Nigeria. We advanced two interrelated positions. The first underscores the limits of national belonging as shorthand for insiderness, while the second argues that when shared national/group identity is tensioned other intersecting positions and relations take prominence. We also show that the researched challenge and resist unequal power relations through interview refusal or by evading issues that the researcher considers important, but the participant perceives as intrusive. We shed light on the vagaries, overlaps, and similarities in the dynamics of belonging and positionality in researching Africans in and outside Africa as home-based researchers. Our contribution advances the understanding of field dynamics in the production of local and cross-border knowledge on Africa/Africans.

This paper presents findings from a collaborative research project with students and lecturers that explored the integration of technology to enhance accessibility and inclusion in fieldwork education. The project set out to involve students as co-researchers to broaden the insights of the research team, and purposely included the diverse perspectives and experiences of students and lecturers with physical-mobility disabilities. Through analysing three critical incidents from two residential field trips, we developed a set of practical recommendations for using technology to facilitate the inclusion of students with disabilities in field courses. Reflecting on this study and the process of engaging with students as co-researchers, we offer recommendations for implementing equitable and inclusive fieldwork and working collaboratively with students to develop inclusive field experiences.

We present a quantitative study of responses to voluntary and anonymous surveys of undergraduate geology students enrolled at an English-medium, research university in South Africa. This research captured student interest in geology, their perceived level of understanding of key geological concepts, and the extent to which in-class and in-field experiences impacts both. The first survey was prior to undergraduate field trips (May 2021) and was followed by the post-field second survey (November 2021). The surveys included Likert-type responses, multiple choice responses, and open-ended qualitative comments from the students. Of the total responses (n = 147), 83% knew "a little" about geology before starting their degree, and most (63%) chose to study geology because of an inherent interest in the earth. Up to 40% of students perceived that practicals helped them to better understand theoretical content, including key geological concepts. Of the five key geological concepts examined, the students felt that plate tectonics, age relationships, and uniformitarianism were "easy" to grasp, but deep time and 3-D perception could only be understood once in their fourth year. Field experiences were perceived to improve students' conceptual understanding of all five concepts, and this study suggests that field work enhances student interest in geology. However, further interest can be promoted using more in-field exercises and hands-on practicals dealing with real-world geological situations. Overall, the results suggest that in-field and practical abilities in geology remain critical, as they stimulate understanding of key concepts and, if pitched correctly, generate and sustain the interest of geoscience students.

Purpose: Reflexivity involves critical reflection by the qualitative researcher as to the influence of the researcher's culture, history and belief on the conduct and outcome of the research. It is often seen as a practice exercised in the analysis of results in order to attempt to objectify the research. The purpose of this paper is to argue that the value of reflexivity is located in its practice in the field encounter as a means of recognising and embracing subjectivity. In order to widen reflexivity as hermeneutics, the paper draws on Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics as developed in "Truth and Method". Design/methodology/approach: This is a conceptual paper which distils critical themes from Gadamer's truth and method and applies them to the concept of reflexivity as applied in the field. Findings: The paper suggests that reflexivity is an important component in the field encounter. Immersion in the language and terms of the field is critical to understanding meaning; who I am, my past, my lived experience are essential inputs to my research; the researcher's opinions, ideas and outspoken statements are part of the fabric of qualitative research; qualitative interpretation as a creative exercise; qualitative research should bring insight and understanding that can be applied to catalyse change. Practical implications: Understanding and applying reflexivity in the field will provide innovative insights which can be carried through to the data analysis. Originality/value: This study uniquely applies Gadamer's philosophical hermeneutics to reflexivity and the field encounter.

Retaining participants in longitudinal studies is important but challenging when retracing them after a substantial gap between study phases. Utilising our nine year mixed-methods longitudinal study of 54 families affected by paternal imprisonment, we qualitatively analysed our processes and experiences of retracing participants after a seven year gap in contact. Paying attention to the spatio-temporal features that are traditionally an analytical focus of qualitative longitudinal research helped to enhance our retention rates, and our fieldwork strategies can be more deeply understood as part of the 'timescape' of qualitative longitudinal research. In this paper, we describe the spatio-temporal contours that shaped our efforts, successes and failures, and distil the material practices that they led to during our 'tracking treks' through the timescape of longitudinal fieldwork.

The long-recognized disconnect between research and practice is reflected by social work students who often report significant apprehension about their research classes, likely at least in part because of a poor understanding of the research-practice interface and an unfamiliarity with larger professional social change initiatives like the Grand Challenges for Social Work. To counter this disconnect, this study showcases a successful model for BSW research courses that provides students with opportunities to engage in practice-informed research and research-informed practice through original, empirical, student-led, field-based research projects that are explicitly applied to the Grand Challenges. Drawing on student reflections, the study provides a useful exemplar of how a BSW research course can shape students' understanding of the role of research in practice that supports the even larger goal of contributing to the profession's impact on social problems and its role in social change.

This article explores the methodological and ethical challenges of doing qualitative fieldwork in an authoritarian state. Drawing on a long-term project conducted in China, I discuss how my interaction with the participants was mediated by the pervasive state power. This phenomenon adds a new layer to the question "can the subaltern speak," and calls for a refined understanding of the researcher-participant relationship. Borrowing insights from recent anthropological studies on the state and Abrams's state effect theory, I propose to move away from a static, western centric, and territory-based conceptualization of the state, and treat it as a culturally and historically specific structuration, in which researchers and participants are engaged. In this way, researchers can intentionally work against the normalizing state power yet still work with their participants. This approach leads to a more deliberate understanding of the methodological and ethical responsibilities of researchers in the process of structuration.

This paper reports the practice of using the Mobile QQ and Oruxmaps mobile apps to assist in teaching general geology field practice and the results of evaluation experiments. A student subjective judgment questionnaire and a field test were used to obtain the experimental results. The key findings suggest that the proposed method has a significant effect in improving students' field practice. Both the field test results and subjective judgments of the students who received the proposed teaching method were found to be better than those of the students who received the traditional teaching method. The findings also suggest that the proposed teaching method is simple and easy to use and does not require complicated work, such as software development. Mobile QQ is a real-time communication app that facilitates the exchange of information between teachers and students. Oruxmaps is a navigation app, but it can increase local geological layer information. We suggest that the use of these apps can be promoted in similar fieldwork, as their use has a clear beneficial effect, and the software is free.

Urban planning research usually requires researchers to undertake fieldwork. This fieldwork is frustrated or enabled by gatekeepers who can influence effective data collection. Traditionally, gatekeepers are perceived as monolithic, neutral, and static individuals, yet they are complex individuals with varying needs and expectations from the researchers. For novice researchers, especially postgraduate students, dealing with and handling gatekeepers may be a mammoth task. This study focuses on gatekeepers inherent in contested spaces and uses a reflective approach to analyze the gatekeeper politics characteristic of informal settlements as contested spaces. Informed by literature and the author's personal experiences, this study argues that gatekeepers are complex figures shaped by the socio-political context and ultimately influence the research process. This calls for researchers to effectively strategize before, during, and after data collection to avoid compromising ethical issues and digressing from the scope of the study.

When most people think "King Island," they think of a place synonymous with premium Australian dairy products. But hidden away from the lush, green pastures of grazing cows is an island teeming with invertebrate and plant species. You could probably eat some of those too, but that wasn't the intent of the Bush Blitzers who set off to find them. Bush Blitz is an initiative of the Australian Government through the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, and Parks Australia along with BHP and the Earthwatch Institute Australia. This article describes how a team of scientists, along with representatives from the government and industry (Bush Blitz), set up base on the stunning island to scour its waterways, seashores and vegetation in the hopes of discovering previously undescribed plants and creatures, and of recording the presence of those already known.

Purpose: Doing qualitative research with vulnerable urban populations such as street traders present significant methodological challenges, which many researchers may not be prepared to handle. This paper aims to provide a reflective account of the authors' fieldwork experiences while conducting a study with street traders in Harare, Zimbabwe. Design/methodology/approach: This paper draws data from a qualitative case study conducted with street traders in Harare's Central Business District (CBD). In this study, mixed qualitative methods were used including focus group discussions, semi-structured interviews and photovoice. Findings: The study's findings suggest that researching street traders is a complex process that requires flexibility, adaptability and creativity of researchers across the following aspects: gaining access in unfamiliar research contexts, building rapport and trust with participants, managing ethical dilemmas and addressing power imbalances between researchers and participants. Originality/value: While there is a growing body of empirical research on street trading in the global south, there are limited studies that discusses the practical fieldwork experiences associated with conducting primary research with such vulnerable and dynamic urban populations. The authors highlight strategies and practical steps that can be taken to address these challenges. This paper emphasizes the need for flexibility and adaptability in researching street traders, as it is akin to exploring uncharted territories where conventional methodological templates may not be effective.

Popular demand for school-based outdoor learning is growing throughout the world, but there is relatively little use of international comparisons to inform the development and support of this growth. Motivations for providing outdoor learning may vary within and across countries/areas. Through understanding how different purposes are being approached internationally, we can learn how outdoor learning might best be supported to achieve particular outcomes. Eighty expert commentators on outdoor learning from 19 countries/areas responded to a short online survey about motivations for and practices in school-based outdoor learning, based on their experience working in this field. The survey was designed using a conceptual framework of student outcomes from outdoor learning, derived from policy analysis and five major reviews of the field. The three most frequently reported forms of outdoor learning practiced in schools were field studies, early years outdoor activities, and outdoor and adventure education. Among identified purposes for outdoor learning provision within schooling, supporting environmental awareness and action and pupil health and well-being were the most common. Some alignment of forms of outdoor learning and specific outcomes are discussed and implications for future policy, practice, and research considered.

Humanity has existed in special living conditions since March 11, 2020 when WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. This coronavirus disease has already taken more than 6.55 million of people's lives from almost 625 million of officially confirmed cases of people infected around the world at the beginning of October 2022. Lot of university lecturers, teachers and researchers are concerned by new challenges in the education and science process. Therefore, many new recommendations and methodologies have been published for effective teaching in the pandemic time focusing on different forms of distance digital education. Certainly, the process has been actual for biological disciplines too where the biggest problems appeared with the organisation of field courses. Every country and even every university have been looking for optimal ways within their epidemic situation according to country restriction rules. Therefore, we have generalized this experience, as well as developed protocols on example of iNaturalist platform ("https://www.inaturalist.org/") for effective use of citizen science tools not just for distance learning of botanical cycle disciplines in the pandemic time and beyond, but also for collecting valuable data about plant distribution during this process. We present a future-oriented vision of the solution of biodiversity and sustainability education.

There is a dearth of methodological guidance on how to conduct participant observation in private spaces such as family homes. Yet, participant observations can provide deep and valuable data about family processes. This article draws on two ethnographic studies of family life in which researchers conduct in-depth interviews, recruit families, and ultimately enter the family as a quasi-stranger for daily observations lasting a fixed period (e.g., three weeks). We term this approach "intensive family observations." Here, we provide concrete methodological advice for this method, beginning with guidelines for recruitment and gaining consent. We also discuss logistics of conducting family observation (e.g., scheduling, spatial positionality in the home, role in the field, among other issues). We elaborate on the key challenges, specifically issues of intrusion, power, and positionality. Last, we reflect on how this method provides opportunities for accurately capturing deeply intimate moments as well as unexpected insights.

The Alien Worlds project teaches ethnographic skills using the societies of dystopian, postapocalyptic, and science fiction texts as imagined field sites and targets for analysis. These exercises and assignments, which illustrate principles of qualitative fieldwork, were developed when COVID-19 precautions made it impossible to assign tasks that involved in-person social interaction. Preliminary findings from use in 2020-2021 Introduction to Cultural Anthropology (n = 140) and Science Fiction and Society (n = 10) classes suggest that science fiction may have an ongoing place in beginning and intermediate social science courses, as it provides an entertaining, low-stakes way for students to practice observation and analysis. The original project is designed to span at least six weeks or the course of a semester, but variations for shorter and stand-alone assignments are provided in addition to ways that it can be adapted to suit the needs of different audiences. Though it will not replace all in-person field experience for advanced sociology and anthropology students, it provides a bridge between classroom content and hands-on interaction that encourages a growth mindset in learning.

This colloquium shares experiences from doing ethnographic fieldwork with young children and the challenges that followed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The project DIGIKIDS Sweden has its focus on very young children (birth to three years) and their engagement with digital media technologies in their homes. The pandemic put the project on hold, but in the families where the fieldwork had already started, the authors decided to change the methods of data collection. Digital screen visits were introduced and, at first, this seemed to be flexible, and they adjusted to the new environment. At the same time, this flexibility also became an inflexible experience due to the use of technology.

Language-focused ethnobiological research can be a challenging endeavour, even when research teams are able to access their field sites and talk to consultants in person. The challenges are compounded when research must be carried out remotely. In this paper, we present our experiences in carrying out remote linguistic-ethnobiological research on bird names in the Qaqet language spoken in East New Britain Province, Papua New Guinea, with the participation of a locally based research assistant. We discuss the numerous issues faced by the researchers and the assistant and the steps we took collaboratively to overcome these issues. Ultimately, changes were required to the stimulus materials, interview protocol, and consultant selection procedure; these changes were implemented stepwise over a series of four field trips. The data obtained in the process provide the first reliable identifications of culturally important bird species in Qaqet, along with ethnographic reports of the role these birds play in Qaqet society and culture. This, and other preliminary findings on phenomena such as interindividual variation, has indicated fruitful avenues for research, following the end of the current global crisis.

Despite efforts to help youth form better connections to the natural world, many recent science initiatives (such as the "Next Generation Science Standards") privilege laboratory science over field science, thus reinforcing an image of science that is placeless and individual. To better understand the impact of field science on youth, we examined youths' experiences and participation in field science across two separate research projects, one of which was associated with a school (the "moth project") and one of which occurred in an informal setting (the "herpetology project"). We argue that field science, which is not given the same attention in NGSS as science derived from laboratory work, might disrupt and "expand" science teaching and learning. By expand, we mean that field science offers novel opportunities for youth and educators to develop and engage in practices that disrupt persistent sociohistorical narratives of how science work is accomplished, and that emphasize the cultural production of knowledge in a setting by making public the meaning making that is negotiated in a community. Such expanded moments differ from many experiences in which youth and educators expand typical ways of knowing and participating valued across many formal and informal settings.

Recent interest in promoting replication efforts assumes that there is well-established methodological guidance for designing and implementing these studies. However, no such consensus exists in the methodology literature. This article addresses these challenges by describing design-based approaches for planning systematic replication studies. Our general approach is derived from the Causal Replication Framework (CRF), which formalizes the assumptions under which replication success can be expected. The assumptions may be understood broadly as replication design requirements and individual study design requirements. Replication failure occurs when one or more CRF assumptions are violated. In design-based approaches to replication, CRF assumptions are systematically tested to evaluate the replicability of effects, as well as to identify sources of effect variation when replication failure is observed. The paper describes research designs for replication and demonstrates how multiple designs may be combined in systematic replication efforts, as well as how diagnostic measures may be used to assess the extent to which CRF assumptions are met in field settings.

In qualitative methods, there are various approaches that can be used to answer particular social questions, for example ethnography and case study. Two studies conducted by different researchers in China and Australia using these approaches were described and analysed in order to find out their similarities and differences in terms of philosophical and methodological perspectives, in the hope that it will provide an insightful contribution to a critical review of ethnography and case study reports. It is found that the ethnographic study in China was classified in ethnographic fieldwork, whereas the case study conducted in Australia was categorised in explanatory, multi-cases study. Furthermore, these two studies produced different knowledge within the field of education. The first study revealed that basic education were related to literacy, numeracy, and cultural characteristics of China, whereas the study conducted in Australia offered statistical data that can be used to explain minority languages maintenance program in Wollongong-Shellharbour. In relation to their methodological practices, however, focus group discussion and interview conducted in Zhejiang Province, China produced irrelevant data and those had been held in Wollongong, Australia, had limited participants.

In this article, we examine the process of conducting community-based research within graduate coursework, discussing and analyzing student reflective narratives on various aspects of the research process as a way of providing insight into the challenges, dilemmas, and joys entailed in conducting community-based qualitative research. In particular, we focus on the process of gaining entry into a research site; negotiating one's role as a researcher, and how researchers can be observant participants rather than just participant observers; and building reciprocal and collaborative relationships with participants. We also explore how our experiences in the community helped us challenge pejorative stereotypes about low-income communities and communities of color and lead to expanded views of the role of researchers within community contexts, as well as more nuanced and critical notions of researcher reflexivity that consider how researchers themselves are implicated in the issues and contexts that they study. We articulate the notion of dialogic reflexivity, which calls attention to how reflexivity involves on-going and collective refection and discussion with research team members and community members.

This article is written with the recognition that, as higher education studies evolve as a multidisciplinary area of inquiry, there is a need to reflect on the theoretical and practical concerns emerging from conducting higher education research. This is especially the case for early-career researchers who enter this relatively new field of study. This article attempts to explore the fieldwork component of the research process considering our experiences as early-career researchers conducting PhD studies in four universities in southern and eastern Africa. The article focuses on issues related to ethics, gaining and negotiating access to the field, and dealing with positionality during fieldwork. While reflecting on these experiences, we also attempted to explore if there are any fieldwork dynamics that are peculiar to the African higher education context that may be considered during data collection. Reflecting on our experiences, we have argued that, in some institutions, necessary procedures for researching higher education need to be in place, while with the ones that have institutionalised mechanisms the procedures adopted need to be aligned with contextual realities and should focus on ethical considerations rather than protecting the reputation of universities. Our fieldwork experience has also made us realise that the advice given to early-career researchers both in the literature, seminars and courses they attend may not adequately prepare them for the unpredictable fieldwork dynamics. In that regard, we have suggested that there is a need to prepare emerging researchers to be open-minded, flexible, reflexive, innovative and adaptable when going out to the field.

Reflexivity is a practice through which researchers engage themselves fully in their studies. It opens up different aspects of research that can shed light on important accounts that may otherwise be dismissed. It was through reflexivity that I observed ethical concerns emerge during my fieldwork in Korea. Despite academic ethics being discussed frequently, 'ethics in practice' has received limited attention. Such ethics highlight the ethical dilemmas that researchers confront, which are often dismissed in procedural ethics. Ethics in practice are thus tied to researchers' morals -- the ongoing internal debate about whether something is right or wrong. Procedural ethics do not necessarily prepare researchers for unforeseen situations in fieldwork. In this paper, I examine the following two points related to ethics in practice based on my fieldwork in Korea: (1) the interviewing process within hierarchical relations -- an academic interviewing students, and (2) the recruitment process when there is a hidden cultural code. [Note: The page range (419-424) shown is incorrect. The correct page range is 423-428.]

As part of their field education, social work students develop and implement change agent projects to influence positive change. Faculty and students, however, have identified a lack of placement options for Black students to allow them to both learn and feel supported in their racial identity. To ensure that Black students have placement options where they can thrive both professionally and personally in one setting, they developed a collective change agent project that holds white students, field agencies, and the school of social work accountable for de-centering whiteness and white supremacy, and centering Blackness and anti-racist ideals. To reach these goals, students developed a Centering Blackness/Anti-Racist Agency Learning Plan and Evaluation Tool. Learning Plans identified goals and action steps for agencies to center Blackness. Evaluations rated the agency's willingness and ability to center Blackness. The Learning Plan and its concrete action steps allowed students to support implementation of strategies and to have intentional conversations about how to center Blackness. The Evaluation Tool provided useful information about agencies to determine their appropriateness as settings for future student fieldwork.