‘Just Google It?’: Pupils’ Perceptions and Experience of Research in the Secondary Classroom

ABSTRACT

While numerous studies examine perceptions of research held by university researchers, studies examining perceptions held by school pupils are rare. To address this gap and following analysis of questionnaire data (N = 2634, KS3/4/5 pupils), we conducted 11 group interviews with 100 pupils in England to investigate their experiences of research during schooling and their perceptions of how research is conceived, conducted and where its utility and significance lie. Thematic analysis of the interview data – informed by Angela Brew’s 4-tier descriptor of perceptions of research (domino, trading, layer, journey), Jenni Stubb's and colleagues' elaboration of this descriptor, Jan Meyer's and colleagues' conceptions of research inventory (CoRI) and Diane Bills’ distinction between Research and research – led to seven themes. Here we elaborate the most significant of these themes: fact finding as research; who formulates and owns a research question; and the friction between uninformed opinion and informed view. We conclude that secondary pupils’ experiences and perceptions of research, while overall relatively rich, vary across different disciplines. We also conclude that pupils would benefit substantially from more comprehensive engagement with research processes, and we observe the role that qualifications such as the Extended Project Qualification can play in fostering said engagement.

Keywords:

• perceptions of research
• secondary education
• Kolb’s learning cycle
• conceptions of research inventory (CoRI)
• domino
• trading
• layer
• journey 4-tier descriptor of research

10.

Acknowledgements

We thank the secondary pupils, and their teachers, who participated in this study very warmly. The UEA SUPI (http://ueasupp.org/) is funded by the RCUK ‘School: University Partnership Initiative’ (SUPI, http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/pe/PartnershipsInitiative/, EP/K027980/1). The interviews were conducted by the first author, with valuable assistance from doctoral student, and intern to the project, Claire Bushell.

11. Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The UEA SUPI (http://ueasupp.org/) is funded by the Research Councils UK (RCUK) ‘School: University Partnership Initiative’ (SUPI, http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/pe/PartnershipsInitiative/) [EP/K027980/1].