Teaching Qualitative Research: Fostering Student Curiositythrough an Arts-Informed Pedagogy

Authors

Jennifer Lapum, Ryerson UniversityFollow
Sarah Hume, Ryerson UniversityFollow

Abstract

Creative pedagogical approaches in higher education can facilitate students’ journey in thinking like and becoming a qualitative researcher. Pedagogical approaches tend to focus on procedural steps of qualitative research neglecting students’ development of cognitive skills and reflective capacity. Arts-informed teaching methods for qualitative research show promise as an educational development in stimulating student interest and expanding their understanding of qualitative research through an experiential approach to learning. In this article, the use of an arts-informed pedagogy to structure a graduate level qualitative research course is discussed. This pedagogy, grounded in experiential teaching-learning theories, was developed to foster students’ curiosity as well as their capacity to think like a qualitative researcher through arts media including poetry, dance, film and story. If space is created in the classroom for curiosity to become a disposition and habit of mind, students may be inspired to be perpetually inquisitive and as such, think like a qualitative researcher.

Keywords

Qualitative Research, Teaching, Pedagogy, Arts-informed Pedagogy, Higher Education, Experiential Learning

Author Bio(s)

Dr. Jennifer Lapum is an Associate Professor at Ryerson University. As a poet and arts-based researcher, she uses arts media in the health sciences to advance capacity for humanistic approaches to health care. She has developed an arts-informed pedagogy to facilitate experiential approaches to learning in nursing and qualitative research.

Ms. Sarah Hume has a Bachelor of Commerce in Entrepreneurial Management and is currently a student in her final year of the Ryerson University Collaborative Nursing Degree Program. In working as a project coordinator, she has developed interests in arts-informed research and creative technologies and pedagogies.

Correspondence regarding this article can be addressed directly to: Jennifer Lapum at, Associate Professor, Ryerson University, Faculty of Community Services, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5B 2K3; E-Mail: jlapum@ryerson.ca; Phone: 416-979-5000 ex. 6316.

Correspondence regarding this article can also be addressed directly to: Sarah Hume at, Student, Research Coordinator, Ryerson University, Faculty of Community Services, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5B 2K3; E-Mail: shume@ryerson.ca.

Publication Date

8-10-2015

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2015.2246

Recommended APA Citation

Lapum, J., & Hume, S. (2015). Teaching Qualitative Research: Fostering Student Curiositythrough an Arts-Informed Pedagogy. The Qualitative Report, 20(8), 1221-1233. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2015.2246