Teaching and Learning Qualitative Inquiry Online and Impacts on Family Life

In: Qualitative report: an online journal dedicated to qualitative research and critical inquiry

Abstract

This study uses letters-to-self and a group interview to integrate the experiences of two groups of participant-researchers—(1) a professor of qualitative inquiry and two of his doctoral students in an online qualitative research class and (2) this same professor and his family. The specific purpose of this study for the first group, comprised of the professor and his two former doctoral students, was to jointly explore perceptions of teaching and learning qualitative inquiry in a formal university setting as well as these students' perceptions of the impacts that their entry into full-time doctoral study has had on their family life. The specific purpose for the second group, comprised of the professor and his family, was to jointly explore perceptions of teaching and learning qualitative inquiry in a family setting. It was found that a richer understanding of the dynamics of teaching and learning qualitative inquiry amidst the dynamics of family life emerged from this study and will hopefully lead to further explorations of this complex phenomena among professors, students, and families.