Narrative Case Study Research Articles

Problem-solving Ability of Fifth-graders in Mathematical Word Problem

This study aims to analyze the students’ problem-solving skills in solving the daily problems that deal with the operations of fractions. This research was conducted at a State Elementary School in Bandung City, West Java Province, Indonesia. The research method used was a qualitative approach with a narrative case study method. The participants in this study were 36 students of grade V. Data were collected from student test results, interviews, results between students and teachers. Data analysis was performed using interpretational analysis. The results show that the fifth-grade still have difficulty in understanding the problems. Other interesting findings were: (1) Some students still do not understand the rules or how to change mixed numbers into ordinary fractions or vice versa. (2) Some students still do not understand how to design and implement solving strategies. (3) Some students still do not understand the concepts and procedures of counting operations, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. (4) Some students do not conclude the final result from the answer to the story problem (5). Some students do not validate the question of the story problem, she/he just give answers to mathematical solutions.
 Keywords: problem-solving ability, mathematical word

The Importance of Context in a Global World

Global education is often framed in terms of standardised testing that makes comparisons across nations. This is particularly evident with international measures like the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), which tests 15-year-olds in member countries. Images on the PISA website provide representations of education that seem to clash with some of the contexts where we have conducted research. This prompted an investigation into educators’ talk about local contextual realities, and how—or whether—they were impacted by global calls for quality education. The study focused on three different educational programs: education for adolescent girls in a refugee camp in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, school education in a western Queensland rural/remote town in Australia, and the Migrant Education Program in rural Illinois in the United States. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and field observations. Following data analysis, three case study narratives were constructed. A final step of analysis identified four shared pillars that made learning in rural and remote areas impactful and effective: context relevance, educators’ openness to learning, flexibility of teaching/learning approaches, and responsiveness to learners’ needs. The data demonstrated that the educators had a broader picture—national or global—in mind, but their main aim was to provide learning opportunities that were responsive, flexible and contextually appropriate to their location.

Life After Bars: A Narrative-Case Study of Ex-convicts

In the Philippines, ex-convicts face severe hurdles during reintegration, including public stigma, restricted work opportunities, insufficient support, and discriminatory behaviors, all of which impede a smooth return to society. This qualitative narrative case study investigates the psychological, social, and economic aspects of ex-convicts’ lives after jail. The Life Course Perspective is used as the study’s theoretical framework, acknowledging the importance of personal, societal, and historical elements in individual development. Six successfully reintegrated participants, each with a minimum five-year prison sentence, constituted the basis for in-depth interviews conducted in a quiet and secure atmosphere using snowball sampling. The study sought to explore ex-convicts’ issues, coping methods, life realizations, and viable therapeutic programs. The findings highlight the numerous challenges, such as societal stigma, economic constraints, and disrupted social bonds. Coping methods, which include spiritual rehabilitation and emotional acceptance, emerge as critical components of the reintegration process. Life realizations become transforming forces, characterized by a dedication to positive change and social contributions, which is frequently motivated by familial support and a desire to protect loved ones. For effective reintegration, the study underlines the importance of public acceptance, tailored interventions, and support networks. It finds that addressing these issues, as well as encouraging familial stability, boosting community involvement, and engaging employers, are critical to reducing recidivism and facilitating long-term rehabilitation. Recommendations urge for coordinated efforts from families, communities, and businesses, emphasizing the importance of a complete strategy to assisting ex-convicts on their path to successful society reintegration.

Exploring Career Construction: A Single Narrative Case Study Guided by the Systems Theory Framework of Career Development (STFCD)

This narrative case study explores the career story of a single female medical professional in Pakistan and how the integration of the systems theory framework of career development (STFCD), the narrative approach and a constructivist worldview can help individuals in constructing or shaping careers within the unique Pakistani context. The study uses case study and narrative inquiry as merged methodological framework. Through conversational interviews and document analysis of the participant, the study examines the participant’s career experiences, choices and meaning-making processes. The findings shed light on the influence of various systems (individual, social and contextual) on the participant’s career trajectory, the construction of her career narrative and her active role in career decision-making. Additionally, these insights can inform how STFCD can help construct a person’s career journey. The career issues highlighted in the narrative of the participant may not be attributable to all women working in the same field or may be in commonality with other women regardless of their profession. Overall, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of career construction using STFCD in the Pakistani context and offers theoretical implications for women career development using a narrative approach.

Exploring the experiences of a person with dementia and their spouse who attended a telehealth music therapy programme: Two case examples from Ireland

ABSTRACT Introduction There is an increased need for accessible psychosocial interventions that support both people with dementia and their spouses. Recent research demonstrates the benefits of music therapy and caregiver-delivered music therapy for this population. This paper contributes to the emerging evidence base on telehealth music therapy for people with dementia outside of a COVID-19 era when in-person services were available. Method This exploratory phenomenological study explores the experiences of two couples who attended a six-week telehealth music therapy programme via two detailed case examples. Online semi-structured interviews with each couple were conducted pre and post intervention and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Results Three shared themes emerged from the data analysis including (1) social isolation and lack of confidence linked to dementia diagnosis is worsened in rural locations, (2) song singing and song writing enables us to revisit happy memories, and (3) telehealth delivery increases access due to geographical location. The findings are presented in a narrative case study format to provide rich detailed descriptions of the music therapy programme and to illuminate the experiences of the participants. Discussion In both examples, telehealth delivery expanded access to music therapy (which was otherwise unavailable) and stimulated reminiscence which in turn encouraged meaningful engagement between the couple. The delivery of music therapy via telehealth, alongside in-person delivery, has the potential to expand access to music therapy to those who may not have access to or are no longer able to attend community support services due to geographical location, increased cognitive decline or reduced mobility. The successful delivery of telehealth music therapy is dependent on several factors including digital literacy, access to appropriate technological devices, caregiver support and level of cognitive decline.

The impact of a regionally based translational cancer research collaborative in Australia using the FAIT methodology

BackgroundTranslating research, achieving impact, and assessing impact are important aspirations for all research collaboratives but can prove challenging. The Hunter Cancer Research Alliance (HCRA) was funded from 2014 to 2021 to enhance capacity and productivity in cancer research in a regional centre in Australia. This study aimed to assess the impact and benefit of the HCRA to help inform future research investments of this type.MethodThe Framework to Assess the Impact from Translational health research (FAIT) was selected as the preferred methodology. FAIT incorporates three validated methodologies for assessing impact: 1) Modified Payback; 2) Economic Analysis; and 3) Narrative overview and case studies. All three FAIT methods are underpinned by a Program Logic Model. Data were collected from HCRA and the University of Newcastle administrative records, directly from HCRA members, and website searches.ResultsIn addition to advancing knowledge and providing capacity building support to members via grants, fellowships, scholarships, training, events and targeted translation support, key impacts of HCRA-member research teams included: (i) the establishment of a regional biobank that has distributed over 13,600 samples and became largely self-sustaining; (ii) conservatively leveraging $43.8 M (s.a.$20.5 M - $160.5 M) in funding and support from the initial $9.7 M investment; (iii) contributing to clinical practice guidelines and securing a patent for identification of stem cells for endometrial cell regeneration; (iv) shifting the treatment paradigm for all tumour types that rely on nerve cell innervation, (v) development and implementation of the world’s first real-time patient treatment verification system (Watchdog); (vi) inventing the effective ‘EAT’ psychological intervention to improve nutrition and outcomes in people experiencing radiotherapy for head and neck cancer; (vi) developing effective interventions to reduce smoking rates among priority groups, currently being rolled out to disadvantaged populations in NSW; and (vii) establishing a Consumer Advisory Panel and Consumer Engagement Committee to increase consumer involvement in research.ConclusionUsing FAIT methodology, we have demonstrated the significant impact and downstream benefits that can be achieved by the provision of infrastructure-type funding to regional and rural research collaboratives to help address inequities in research activity and health outcomes and demonstrates a positive return on investment.

"Knowing I Had Someone to Turn to Was a Great Feeling": Mentoring Rural-Appalachian STEM Students.

Post-secondary students benefit from mentorships, which provide both emotional and academic support tailored to the unique challenges they face. STEM students, and, in particular, those with historically marginalized identities, have unique strengths and face distinct barriers that can be ameliorated by careful, knowledgeable, and well-situated mentoring relationships. With that in mind, we conducted a narrative case study with 10 rural-Appalachian STEM majors enrolled in an NSF-funded mentoring program, intending to collect stories of their impactful experiences with their mentors. We utilized the narrative reconstruction process, and, in so doing, identified five major themes related to the importance of mentor assignment and the impact of mentors' characteristics and skills related to empathy, consistency, active listening, and teaching. We situate our findings within the existing literature and provide implications for scholars and practitioners who work with mentoring programs dedicated to working with Appalachian communities.

Clinical Experiences of Perinatal Palliative Care After a Stillbirth: A Narrative Therapy for Grief.

Narrative care for families suffering from perinatal loss is rarely provided by medical institutions in China Mainland. However, with the advancement of the Chinese narrative medicine theory and practice, the clinical significance of narrative care has been increasingly recognized. Based on the principles of Chinese narrative medicine, this narrative case study described traumatic narrative foreclosures occuring in a family suffering from stillbirth, and highlighted the multidisciplinary collaboration for practising narrative care in the process of supporting the bereaved in our hospital. Meanwhile, we advocate the establishment of a narrative care ecology by training more obsteticians and nurses with good narrative competence in purpose of helping the family experiencing perinatal losses to overcome their tramatic narrative foreclosures, increasing the chances of another successful pregnancy and childbirth as well as enhancing their quality of life.

Reflections of art history instructors on an educational digital game: A narrative case study

The current paper is based on a large art-based project that aims to explore the art history instructors’ practice-based reflections on their adoption, implementation, and use of the educational video game, ARTè: Lumiére, which is an exploration game designed to enhance art history and art appreciation courses in the context of the birth of French Impressionism. The data were gathered from three art history instructors teaching in higher education through semi-structured interviews with a particular focus on reflection on their undergraduate students’ engagement and learning experience during the gameplay. Results indicate that there were four major emergent themes, including self-reflection, reinforcement of learning, Lumiére as a game changer, and overcoming the obstacles. Regarding the instructors’ reflections and experiences, we suggest that instructors’ presence during the gameplay and the game design process might have a significant impact on the students’ learning experience.

Patient Engagement in Neuroradiology: A Narrative Review and Case Studies.

The field of patient engagement in radiology is evolving and offers ample opportunities for neuroradiologists to become involved. The patient journey can serve as a model that inspires patient engagement initiatives. The patient journey in radiology may be viewed in 5 stages: 1) awareness that an imaging test is needed, 2) considering having a specific imaging test, 3) access to imaging, 4) imaging service delivery, and 5) ongoing care. Here, we describe patient engagement opportunities based on literature review and paired with case studies by practicing neuroradiologists.

Sagas of Triumphs of Leading School Heads’ Organizational Landscape Initiatives

Outstanding school leaders play a vital role in creating a successful educational environment that can positively impact organizational landscape initiatives. Thus, exploring the stories of triumphs of leading school heads who implemented innovative and effective initiatives is essential. The study purposively selected five (5) outstanding school heads who have outstanding performance in leadership. They have been awarded by the School Division Office of Laguna during the Awarding of Gawad Marangal Year 2020-2023. The data were analyzed using a Narrative Case study. It aimed to capture the narratives of these school heads and gain insights into the strategies, challenges, and outcomes of their organizational landscape initiatives. The study revealed that these leading school heads demonstrated exceptional leadership skills and strategic thinking in implementing organizational landscape initiatives. They were able to create a transformative educational environment by effectively engaging stakeholders developing innovative programs and fostering a culture of collaboration. Their initiatives resulted in improved student performance, enhanced teacher effectiveness and satisfaction, increased parent and community involvement, and overall positive changes in the school’s organizational landscape. They had set high standards of success for their schools by cultivating a proactive and collaborative learning environment. Their optimism, resiliency, and being a relational type of leader have seen them through the myriad of difficulties as school leaders. They stressed that they should be the agents of change in their schools, inspiring others to work hard to achieve their goals and continuously improve. Outstanding school heads typically use one of two approaches: transformational or democratic leadership. With their leadership philosophies, they were more successful at managing employees and creating an atmosphere that is favorable to accomplishing educational objectives. Because of pragmatism and progressivism – the leading school heads’ educational ideologies – they were able to strike a balance between ideas and uphold a clear, consistent vision for their schools.

Hegemony in medical pluralism: articulations and relationships in care, a case study

This study aims to describe and analyze the medical pluralism and the type of hegemony-subordination relation between forms of care or knowledge in the treatment of a patient with glaucoma to show the articulatory and transactional process between several therapeutic resources and understand which structural elements shaped the treatment itinerary and option. This is a qualitative research that used a narrative case study. To reconstruct the narrative, a semi-structured interview was conducted based on a thematic script previously established by a set of a priori categories to later transcribe the data and perform hermeneutic triangulation. Results showed that the hegemony in medical pluralism was based on equivalence relations, so that the patient replaced the use of pharmacological drugs with alternative medicine treatments. However, the relational process of equivalence developed itself in a context of biomedical significance, in which the treatment or control of intraocular pressure configured the substitution premise. Thus, the processes that triggered the hegemonic relations were constituted by various social, cultural, and economic factors such as unemployment, social security, and gender, which played a fundamental role during the search for care.

Women and religion in the nomadic Nat community in India: A view from within

Women and religion have a complex and multifaceted relationship that has evolved throughout history. Religion affects nomadic women's social, cultural, economic, and political standing. However, despite extensive research, many women from unique collectivities have been left out of the narratives of marginalized socio-histories and their voice is yet to be documented and heard. This study examines how religion simultaneously empowers and constrains the role of Nat women in everyday life who are engaged in productive activities in either domestic or public spaces. Narrative case studies have helped to shed a light on certain gender issues of Nat nomadic tribe. As part of this research, thirty (30) Nat households and five (5) Nat community heads from Gariyaband district of Chhattisgarh, India, were interviewed. Narrative analysis was used for analyzing the data collected, the findings of which show simultaneous practices of Hinduism and Islam by Nat community. Both religions put the Nat women in both advantageous and disadvantageous positions. For instance, Hindu Nat women perform acrobatics in public fairs while Muslim Nat women are engaged in dhol making activities restricted to the domestic space of their household. The intention of this article is therefore to promote visibility of Nat community and pave a way for any possible positive change for the betterment of Nat women.

A narrative case study of an older disabled Muslim woman during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK.

This paper explores the experiences and perceptions of Zora, an older Muslim woman living with a disability in the UK. Older disabled Muslim women in the UK often face multiple discriminations based on disability, age, gender, religious, and racial grounds and this has arguably been intensified by the COVID-19 pandemic. Drawing on multiple narrative interviews with Zora, this paper focuses on the intersections of disability, ageing, gender, race and religion within a particular social context during the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK. The paper describes the complex ways in which Zora experienced various modes of everyday disablism which were not related to the COVID-19 virus itself, rather the consequences of the movement restrictions associated with it. Much of the oppression and barriers she described were socially determined, both through direct discrimination, stares and prejudicial attitudes, and indirectly through stigmatization and an embodied fear of the reaction of others in public spaces. Nevertheless, Zora did not present herself as a victim. Instead she portrayed herself in affirmative terms, as a 'brave' woman who resisted and overcame daily social challenges and movement restrictions as part of working toward creating a more accessible, inclusive and age-friendly society. One that is inhabitable for herself and other older disabled women facing an uncertain future.

Reconceptualising Intracareer Transitions as Coach-Becomings: A Rhizomatic Narrative Case Study of an American Basketball Coach

This paper offers a poststructuralist exploration of the career transitions of an American basketball coach into and within collegiate basketball. We draw on the theory of Deleuze and Guattari to reconceptualise coaching transitions as coach-becomings contrasted with humanist conceptions of outcome-centred, staged processes. Our nomadic analysis is based on longitudinal interviews and ethnographic data collected over a 4-year period. We adopt narrative rhizomatics and ventriloquism to examine the coaching and institutional assemblages engaged in the production of coaching beliefs and behaviours in specific transition contexts. We also attend to the dialogical and performative aspects of analysis in relation to the role of researchers. Our findings suggest that collegiate environments are conducive to disciplinary coaching practices framed within discourses of masculine militarism and dualist representationalism, thus adversely impacting learning, development, and adaptability in transition. We argue that an alternative conceptualisation of transitions as coach-becomings shifts the focus away from arborescent unitary logic to more creative, nonlinear pedagogies that embrace multiplicity and fluidity. Engaging with the Deleuzian ontology of difference also implies raising awareness of coaching as a social and political practice.

Identity negotiations of a Mexican transnational in the Rio Grande Valley: Crossing the border daily

This narrative case study examines the cultural affiliations of one transnational US-born Mexican American college student, and her various intersecting veins of identity. The aim was to capture the bordered existence in the many criteria of her being. Her linguistic identity, pop culture identity, spiritual identity, as well as her general cultural affiliations are examined as intersecting rays of influence. Utilizing Anzaldúa’s (2012) bordered identity as theoretical grounding for her partitioned selves, along with Bakhtin’s (1986) notion of cultural and linguistic dialogue, we analyzed the complexities in this one bicultural, bilingual young woman venturing into adulthood. This study sheds light on the experiences and identifications of transnational young people living on the US-Mexico border. In particular, the participant seemed to continuously challenge fixed notions of identity, which contest current academic labels and frameworks that scholars have used to examine the identity of transnational students.

Using a functional multilingualism framework and online learning to develop professional repertoires and racial literacy for trainee mathematics teachers in London, England

ABSTRACT This article is a narrative case study of language provision for trainee mathematics teachers on a one-year initial teacher training course: a Postgraduate Certificate in Education in London, England. It draws on Heugh’s (2018) (Conclusion: Multilingualism, Diversity and Equitable Learning: Towards crossing the ‘Abyss’. in The Multilingual Edge of Education 2018 (pp 341-367) Palgrave MacMillan) description of Functional Multilingualism; Muscovitch’s (2015) Academic Literacy in Mathematics for English learners in The Journal of Mathematical Behaviour, 40, 43-62) to intertwine the development of professional language repertoires with the praxis of school mathematics pedagogy; and digital multimodal literacies to promote writing, professional language repertoires and critical language awareness. It models practices and tasks designed to improve outcomes in the Postgraduate Certificate in Education course and address the lack of confidence felt by trainee teachers when teaching multilingual classes. These develop safe spaces that allow for sharing of school practicum experiences and is a context for discussion of race literacy and other aspects of diversity and inclusion referred to in the Equalities Act (2010). Drawing on innovation over a four-year period (2017–2021) the case study provides a variety of starting points to develop consistency within the many initial teacher training routes leading to Qualified Teacher Status and for collaboration between schools and Higher Education Institutes during further two years of school-based training required in England before final recognition as a fully qualified teacher.

Juxtaposition, encounter and drift: transformative social innovation through culture and the arts

PurposeThis paper aims to tentatively explore the benefits of placing art’s knowledge-building tradition, with its capacity to disrupt and reframe, at the centre of how we look at alternative organizing and alternative economic spaces, positioning lived experience, its uncertainties intact, at the heart of researching and practicing social enterprise (SE).Design/methodology/approachThe paper explores indeterminacy through two case-study narratives, one of an academic arts-based research project and the other of a unique organization it encountered.FindingsThe paper describes the way juxtaposition, encounter and drift value indeterminacy as central to generative processes, challenging the control central to management and its research.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper proposes that adopting an arts-based approach that challenges control can create a research instrument sensitive to similar tendencies in case studies, thus highlighting what is different and alternative about them. This responds to concerns about the diminishing centrality of SE’s democratizing ethic expressed in its scholarship, about creativity in its research and about its socially transformative potential.Practical implicationsThe practice, by SEs of an approach welcoming chance, encounter, meandering paths and place-making with porous boundaries, proliferates transformative possibilities and is linked to democratization and participation.Originality/valueThough dangerously challenging to accepted notions of academic rigour, this paper proposes an unusual thought experiment tied in with lived experiences, in themselves experimental in practice.

Research on Service Design of Garbage Classification Driven by Artificial Intelligence

This paper proposes a framework for AI-driven municipal solid waste classification service design and management, with an emphasis on advancing sustainable urban development. This study uses narrative research and case study methods to delve into the benefits of AI technology in waste classification systems. The framework includes intelligent recognition, management strategies, AI-based waste classification technologies, service reforms, and AI-powered customer involvement and education. Our research indicates that AI technology can improve accuracy, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness in waste classification, contributing to environmental sustainability and public health. However, the effectiveness of AI applications in diverse city contexts requires further verification. The framework holds theoretical and practical significance, offering insights for future service designs of waste management and promoting broader goals of sustainable urban development.

Music teacher mothers’ career navigation during the COVID-19 pandemic

The purpose of this narrative case study was to re-present and re-story the experiences, particularly related to career navigation, of music teacher mothers in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. We explored how music teacher mothers had to adjust the balance between work, family, and personal life during the pandemic, in what ways the pandemic may have changed the way music teacher mothers parent, and how the pandemic may have affected, or already changed, music teacher mothers’ long-term career goals. Three participants, selected based on the diversity of their family structures, teaching backgrounds, and locations, shared their stories through a series of two interviews conducted via Zoom. Participants’ stories illuminated the relational, vocational, financial, and health-related struggles brought about by the nexus of teaching music during the pandemic. We explore resonances between their stories related to priorities, boundaries, career decisions, and financial considerations.