The growing use of mobile technology on college campuses suggests the future of the classroom, including learning activities, research, and even student faculty communications, will rely heavily on mobile technology. Since Fall 2010, an interdisciplinary team of faculty from Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) has experimented with the use of iPads in the classroom. This paper includes the preliminary results of a study on student impressions of mobile technology in the classroom. The paper will report both opportunities and limitations for incorporating mobile technologies in learning environments.

iLearning: The Future of Higher Education? Student Perceptions on Learning with Mobile Tablets

WHEN Alvin Toffler coined the term 'information overload' in his classic 1970 book, Future Shock, it is doubtful that even he imagined the formidable array of information sources that we now have access to. Speculation quickly surfaced that such an information supply could lead to poor decisions as the capacity of our human processing ability becomes taxed. Research has established that job productivity and performance can be severely reduced due to excessive information and the intrusion of data sources into our lives. Could it be that we will reach a time when it is quicker to discover something from scratch than from facts we can sort out from a library or the web?

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/46/5494366/05494691.pdf

Information overload

This article provides with an overview of the qualitative research methods. Over last few decades, qualitative research is getting very popular in the fields of business, sociology, psychology and others. This article, in its introduction, gives a general idea about the qualitative research. Then it discusses the main differences between qualitative and quantitative research methods. The article also discusses about the ethical issues important for qualitative research. Lastly it discusses about the several approaches and data collection methods of qualitative research.

Qualitative Research Process

Degree completion nursing students bring professional maturity, clinical expertise, and practitioner experience to the education setting and are searching for ways to understand and deal with the complexity of their practice and the complex adaptive systems of health care. Through a qualitative phenomenological research design based on human science inquiry, the ways in which registered nurses (RNs) experience professional transformation in Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree completion education programs informed by complexity science were explored. Eleven study participants were interviewed using open-ended questions and semistructured dialogue. Six thematic structures emerged from the interview data: professional self, professional relationships, professional leadership, professional transformation, professional role, and broadened professional horizons. Experiences and attitudes related to professional transformation were evident in the data and program elements perceived to facilitate professional transformation in students were identified from the interviews.

A Phenomenological Study

The social care evidence base reveals a distinct preference for qualitative methods covering a broad range of social care topics. This review provides an introduction to the different ways in which qualitative research has been used in social care and some of the reasons why it has been successful in identifying under-researched areas, in documenting the experiences of people using services, carers, and practitioners, and in evaluating new types of service or intervention. Examples of completed research on a selection of topics are chosen to give an understanding of some of the differing underpinning approaches to qualitative research, including grounded theory, case studies and ethnography. These are used to illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of the methods of data collection used most frequently in qualitative research, including in-depth interviews, focus groups and observation as well considering issues such as sampling and data analysis. The review ends with a discussion on how qualitative social care research might be improved in terms of its quality and in extending the repertoire of research methodologies on which it draws.

Qualitative Methods Overview

Preface Purpose Audience Format Outline of Chapters 1. PRELIMINARY CONSIDERATIONS Ch 1. A Framework for Design Three Elements of Inquiry Alternative Knowledge Claims Strategies of Inquiry Research Methods Three Approaches to Research Criteria for Selecting an Approach Personal Experiences Audience Summary Writing Exercises Additional Readings Ch 2. Review of the Literature Identifying a Topic A Researchable Topic Purpose of the Literature Review Literature Reviews in Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Method Research Design Techniques Example 2.1 Review of a Quantitative Study Example 2.2 Review of a Study Advancing a Typology Style Manuals A Model for Writing the Literature Review Summary Writing Exercises Additional Readings Ch 3 Writing Strategies and Ethical Considerations Writing the Proposal Central Arguments to Make Example 3.1 A Qualitative Constructivist/Interpretivist Format Example 3.2 A Qualitative Advocacy/Participatory Format Example 3.3 A Quantitative Format Example 3.4 A Mixed Methods Format Writing Tips Example 3.5 A Sample Passage Illustrating the Hook-and-Eye-Technique Ethical Issues to Anticipate Summary Writing Exercises Additional Readings Part 2 DESIGNING RESEARCH Ch 4 The Introduction The Importance of Introductions Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Introductions A Model for an Introduction Example 4.1 Deficiencies in the Literature - Needed Explorations Example 4.2 Deficiencies in the Literature - Few Studies Summary Writing Exercises Additional Readings Ch 5 The Purpose Statement Significance and Meaning of a Purpose Statement A Qualitative Purpose Statement Example 5.1 A Purpose Statement in a Qualitative Phenomenology Study Example 5.2 A Purpose Statement in a Case Study Example 5.3 A Purpose Statement in an Ethnographic Study A Quantitative Purpose Statement Example 5.4 A Purpose Statement in a Grounded Theory Study Example 5.5 A Purpose Statement in a Published Survey Study Example 5.6 A Purpose Statement in a Dissertation Survey Study Example 5.7 A Purpose Statement in a Experimental Study A Mixed Methods Purpose Statement Example 5.8 A Mixed Methods Purpose Statement, Convergent Strategy of Inquiry Example 5.9 A Mixed Methods Purpose Statement, Sequential Strategy of Inquiry Summary Writing Exercises Additional Readings Ch 6 Research Questions and Hypotheses Qualitative Research Questions Example 6.1 A Qualitative Central Question From an Ethnography Example 6.2 Central Questions From a Case Study Quantitative Research Questions and Hypotheses Example 6.3 A Null Hypothesis Example 6.4 Directional Hypotheses Example 6.5 Nondirectional and Directional Hypotheses Example 6.6 Standard Use of Language in Hypothesis Mixed Method Research Questions and Hypotheses Example 6.7 Descriptive and Inferential Questions Example 6.8 Hypotheses and Research Questions in a Mixed Methods Study Summary Writing Exercises Additional Readings Ch 7 The Use of Theory Quantitative Theory-Use Example 7.1 A Quantitative Theory Section Qualitative Theory-Use Example 7.2 An Example of Theory-Use Early in a Qualitative Study Example 7.3 A Theory at the End of a Qualitative Study Mixed Methods Theory-Use Example 7.4 A Transformative-Emancipatory Mixed Methods Study Summary Writing Exercises Additional Readings Ch 8 Definitions, Limitations, and Significance The Definition of Terms Example 8.1 Terms Defined in a Mixed Methods Dissertation Example 8.2 Terms Defined in an Independent Variables Section in a Quantitative Dissertation Delimitations and Limitations Example 8.3 A Delimitation and a Limitation in a Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Significance of the Proposed Study Example 8.4 Significance of the Study Stated in an Introduction to a Quantitative Study Summary Writing Exercises Additional Readings Ch 9 Quantitative Methods Defining Surveys and Experiments Components of a Survey Method Plan Example 9.1 An Example of a Survey Method Section Components of an Experimental Method Plan Example 9.2 Pre-Experimental Designs Example 9.3 Quasi-Experimental Designs Example 9.4 True Experimental Designs Example 9.5 Single-Subject Designs Threats to Validity Example 9.6 An Experimental Method Section Summary Writing Exercises Additional Readings Ch 10 Qualitative Procedures The Characteristics of Qualitative Research Strategies of Inquiry The Researcher's Role Data Collection Procedures Data Recording Procedures Data Analysis and Interpretation Validating the Accuracy of Findings The Qualitative Narrative Example 10.1 Qualitative Procedures Summary Writing Exercises Additional Readings Ch 11 Mixed Methods Procedures Components of Mixed Methods Procedures The Nature of Mixed Methods Research Types of Mixed Methods Strategies Alternative Strategies and Visual Models Data Collection Procedures Data Analysis and Validation Procedures Report Presentation Structure Examples of Mixed Methods Procedures Example 11.1 A Sequential Strategy of Inquiry Example 11.2 A Concurrent Strategy of Inquiry Summary Writing Exercises Additional Readings References Author Index Subject Index About the Author

John W. Creswell

Papers

Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative, and Mixed Methods Approaches -3/E.