Teaching Research Methods Courses in Human Geography: Critical Reflections

Abstract

The authors reflect critically on their experiences of teaching research methods/methodology/techniques (MMT) courses in human geography for the first time. Through a highly reflexive process involving journaling, they engage with the broader scholarship of teaching and learning approach. Three themes characterize commonalities in their instructional experiences: (1) prior knowledge, (2) preparation, and (3) confidence. Specifically, they were challenged by needing to teach particular MMTs that they had not previously applied in their own research, by not knowing how best to prepare for teaching such courses, and by a lack of confidence with their approaches that stemmed from numerous issues.

Keywords:

• Research methods
• reflexivity
• methodology
• technique
• scholarship of teaching and learning
• geography

Notes

¹ Two of us have since taught our respective courses a second time and the third has since developed and taught at new graduate-level research MMT course. We have utilized our journals as an additional source of data (beyond, for example, end-of-course student evaluations) for course planning and delivery. In one case, one of us has turned her attention to the student learning aspect of the SOTL, inviting students after the course had been completed to engage in a collaborative process to explore connections between their own and each others' transformative learning processes in relation to teaching and research in the discipline.