Why should I be interested in phenomenographic research? Variation in views of phenomenography amongst higher education scholars

Abstract

Phenomenographic research has had a substantial impact on approaches to higher education teaching and learning and academic development. However, prevalent misunderstandings of phenomenography have led to misinterpretations by higher education scholars of findings published in the literature. All scholars need to be able to read and evaluate research literature outside their own methodological areas. But pre-existing assumptions and misinterpretations of phenomenography can limit and distort scholars’ understandings of research findings, and the implications of those findings. To investigate this further, an empirical study of variation in what educational researchers understand phenomenography to be was undertaken. The aim is to improve non-phenomenographic scholars’ ability to interpret and make use of phenomenographic findings in the literature, without having to read specialised methodological articles about the approach. The study highlights five dimensions of phenomenography that higher education scholars need to be aware of in order to maximise the value they will gain from reading phenomenographic studies: (a) the distinctiveness of the method; (b) the focus on variation in understandings of a phenomenon; (c) the focus on structural relationships between the different understandings; (d) the pedagogical utility of the findings; and (e) the implications for everyday thinking. Using the example of postgraduate programs in higher education teaching and learning, the discussion of findings explains the implications of awareness of these different dimensions of phenomenography for the interpretation of research outcomes and their implications for pedagogy.