Teaching research methods: Introducing a psychogeographical approach

Abstract

This paper explores teaching business students research methods using a psychogeographical approach, specifically the technique of dérive. It responds to calls for new ways of teaching in higher education and addresses the dearth of literature on teaching undergraduate business students qualitative research methods. Psychogeography challenges the dominance of questionnaires and interviews, introduces students to data variety, problematizes notions of success and illuminates the importance of observation and location. Using two studies with undergraduate students, the authors emphasize place and setting, the perception of purpose, the choice of data, criteria of success and the value of guided reflection and self-reflection in students’ learning. Additionally the data reflect on the way students perceive research about management and the nature of management itself. The paper concludes that the deployment of psychogeography to teach business research methods although complex and fraught with difficulty is nevertheless viable, educationally productive and worthy of further research.

Tricks, practicalities and ethics of teaching outdoor walking research, including interviews and group tours

“…Existing writing considers teaching physical sciences such as biology, chemistry and physics (Beavington, 2021), furthering the study of affect (Beyes & Steyaert, 2021), critical criminology (O'Neill, et al, 2021), and embodied methods for business students (Hindley, Knowles, & Ruth, 2019). There seem to be few textbooks which help teachers to guide students with methods and how to progress.…”

A study on the interactive relationship of youth ideological and political education based on social network analysis

“…A social network is a form of network service that can realize data and visualization of a series of social relations, such as interpersonal and service relations between people and institutions in real life, and social software and social websites that can realize interactive exchange of messages by certain network platforms and media technologies [18][19]. This conceptual definition aims to weaken the tendency to treat social networks exclusively as technological tools and align them more with the practical needs of ideological and political education.…”

Learning atmospheres: Re-imagining management education through the dérive

“…The practice of dérive invites us to take a less representational or imitative stance, by working with students in the context of their own life-worlds. However, it has received scant attention in business and management research (but see Knowles, 2009) or as an educational tool (but see Hindley et al, 2019; Rich and Brown, 2012).…”

“…Holtham and Owens (2011), Rich and Brown (2012) and Hindley et al (2019) suggest that more research on the pedagogic application of this technique would be valuable. We present the dérive as a technique as a response to their suggestion and to calls for developing learning experiences that are open-ended (Monk et al, 2011), engaged with the world, sensitive, and which attend to the affective capacities of organizations (Gherardi, 2018).…”