TRIBUTOS A LAS CONCESIONES PARA LA EXPLOTACION COMERCIAL DE ESPACIOS PUBLICOS EN LAS PLAYAS DE CARTAGENA, UN FACTOR

In figure 5 below I present a conceptualization of my journey as a researcher, in the context of the five papers included in this thesis. I present a summary of the

research paradigm, and underlying epistemological and ontological assumptions (further discussed in section 4) for each paper and reflect on the changes to my researcher worldview, and the development of my role as a researcher and scholar of teaching and learning. I note that my view of IL has moved from a fairly skills- based conception, informed by the Seven Pillars model, to a belief that IL is highly contextual, and this is supported by the development that understanding complexity is central to my research approach. I have strengthened my view that IL is closely linked to effective learning and effective inquiry.

Scholarship is seen to be an essential aspect of being an academic. Trigwell et al. (2000) discuss the premise that teaching and research should be brought closer together, as an aspect of the debate around the nature of scholarship, and states that it is necessary to understand the terms “research” and “scholarship” in greater detail. Brew (2003) identifies four qualitatively different ways of conceptualising research, dependent on variations across the orientation (external or internal focus) and aims (to produce an outcome, or develop understanding). In the journey view “research is interpreted as a personal journey of discovery possibly leading to transformation” (p.7). This very much chimes with my own conceptualisation of the journey that I have undertaken over my professional career as librarian, then educational developer and finally as lecturer and scholar.

I stated in the introduction that this thesis is an enactment of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Trigwell et al. (2000) present five conceptions of SoTL2_{, and I}

identify most with conceptions C & E. Conception C (“Scholarship of teaching is about improving student learning by investigating the learning of one’ s own students and one’ s own teaching” p.159) I see embodied in papers 3 and 4. These were my students, and I most desired to understand their experience on the

modules I taught so that I could be confident that the pedagogical approaches I use are beneficial and effective. Conception E (“The scholarship of teaching is about improving student learning within the discipline generally, by collecting and communicating results of one’ s own work on teaching and learning within the discipline”(p.159) is about moving beyond the site of an individual’s teaching, and papers 2 and 5 are situated within this conception. I note in figure 6 that my SoTL activities have moved fluidly between general and personal research contexts, with the aim of understanding both specific and more wide ranging aspects of learning. My SoTL activities are ongoing, I see this as a vital aspect of my professional practice as an educator. I am currently taking part in an action research project with my colleague Sheila Webber on our teaching in two information literacy modules (McKinney & Webber, 2017). My development as a researcher is also characterised in the mastery of the presentation and synthesis of literature in my papers which is a key aspect of scholarship. I have combined the challenging breadth and depth of the education literature with the range of IL theoretical and practitioner literature, and the reviews provide an excellent introduction to the field for LIS researchers and students.

Pilerot (2016) and Lloyd (2017) both comment on the disconnect between the professional practice view of IL as an individual measurable and transferrable

2 _{A. The scholarship of teaching is about knowing the literature on teaching by collecting and reading that}

literature.

B. Scholarship of teaching is about improving teaching by collecting and reading the literature on teaching. C. Scholarship of teaching is about improving student learning by investigating the learning of one’ s own students and one’ s own teaching.

D. Scholarship of teaching is about improving one’ s own students’ learning by knowing and relating the literature on teaching and learning to discipline-specific literature and knowledge.

E. The scholarship of teaching is about improving student learning within the discipline generally, by collecting and communicating results of one’ s own work on teaching and learning within the discipline.

competency, and the research view of IL as a situated, contextual and socially constructed practice. My own research bridges these two worlds, and reflects my personal journey from practicing librarian to educational developer, to researcher and academic. I have used the Seven Pillars model of IL have been used to structure interventions with students and I have used it to structure analytical approaches to my data. On the other hand, my constructivist and explorative research recognizes the contextual naturel of IL, e.g. for Psychology undergraduates (paper 1); for students undertaking IBL (paper 2); or for students studying Business Intelligence (paper3). As an educator (but not a librarian) and researcher (but about my own teaching practice) I fall outside of Pilerot’s categorisations of professional

practice/policy making and research. My own conception of IL through my extensive work in the area is this:

Information literacy is a highly contextual practice distinct to individuals to find, use, manage, evaluate and communicate information that people are largely unaware of. IL development can be supported by collaboration and interaction, and it requires structured reflection to make tacit knowledge, beliefs and practices explicit in order to develop them further.

Lincoln et al. (2011) state “Reflexivity is the process of reflecting critically on the self as researcher…..it is a conscious experiencing of the self as both inquirer and

respondent, as teacher and learner, as the one coming to know the self within the processes of research” (p.124). I have engaged in reflexive practice as an educational developer (McKinney et al., 2009), and paper 2 also contains an element of

reflexivity towards the role of educational developers.

In figure 5 below, I chart the change in my role, moving from being closely

supervised in the LDRA role, to being an independent researcher, to being a research supervisor. As an educational developer I developed significant skills in research and evaluation project management, and worked closely with academic staff across a range of disciplines to design, implement and analyse evaluation data from curriculum development projects. This involved developing awareness of, and negotiating, a range of research worldviews, and I developed a broad knowledge

discipline-specific opinions of pedagogy and research. As an academic I have supervised 24 Masters dissertations, co-supervised 2 PhD students to completion. I have been PI for 2 internally funded research projects and been Co-I on a further 2 projects. I have developed experience of supervising researchers both through these projects, and through the SURE student researcher scheme (paper 5).

Figure 5: Researcher journey

Paper 1 Paper 2 Paper 3 Paper 4 Paper 5

Paradigm Pragmatism / postpositivism Pragmatism / post-positivsim Constructivist/interpretivist Postmodernism/ constructivism Constructivist/ Interpretivist

Epistemology Impossible to divorce the knowerfrom the known, there is not one objective reality

Impossible to divorce the knower from the known, there is not one objective reality

All knowledge comes from interactions

between the knower and the known All knowledge comes frominteractions between the knower and the known. Social reality is messy & complex

All knowledge comes from interactions between the knower and the known. Research is value laden

Ontology Relativist: There are multiple realitiesthat are co-constructed by individuals

Relativist: There are multiple realities that are co-constructed by individuals

Relativist: There are multiple realities

that are co-constructed by individuals Relativist, but with theunderstanding that complexity is central to understanding the world

Relativist: There are multiple realities that are co-constructed by individuals. Data does not represent “true” reality & is time dependent

Axiology Research is value-laden, multipledata collection methods enhance validity

Research is value-laden, multiple data collection methods enhance validity

The researcher cannot be separated from the research meaning research is inherently subjective

The researcher cannot be separated from the research meaning research is inherently subjective

The researcher cannot be separated from the research meaning research is inherently subjective

Methodology Mixed method using Theory of

Change framework Mixed Methods using Theory ofChange framework Qualitative: Thematic analysis Qualitative: Situational Analysis Visual methods: qualitativethematic analysis of drawn data

SoTL context Working in partnership to research

other’s teaching Working independently toresearch other’s teaching Working in partnership to research ownteaching Working in partnership to researchown teaching Working independently to developconceptual understanding of student experience

Contribution

to knowledge An IBL pedagogical approach to teachIL; use of pre- and post test to measure IL; example of partnership for SoTL between Librarians, academics and educational developers

Understanding of relationship between IL and IBL in multiple contexts; examples of IBL pedagogies to teach IL including reflection, collaboration and peer support

Understanding of how reflective writing can support IL development in an IBL context. Extension of conceptual understanding of IL

Understanding of how students use technology to support collaborative inquiry (digital literacy); application of theory of convivial tools in an HE context

Understanding of the multiple conceptions of group work held by students

Being supervised Increasing autonomy and agency supervising research

Identity: Librarian & IL practitioner Educational developer & IL researcher Academic with multiple and diverse research & teaching perspectives

Increasing belief in messy complexity of everyday life & contextual nature of IL and learning

Moving between module specific and more general teaching contexts as sites of research

8. Contribution to knowledge