Inquiry Practices Research Articles

Theology and Policing

This article assesses the notion of “policing” in John Perry and Joanna Leidenhag’s Science-Engaged Theology to consider the contemporary practice of theological inquiry as a theoretical endeavor. Drawing on their construal of science-engaged theology, which involves a twofold resistance towards “authoritarian” tendencies of asserting theology as the queen of the sciences as well as modernity’s “border police” who seek to exclude religion and theology from public discourse, this essay suggests that Perry and Leidenhag’s vision for science-engaged theology not only brings to light one of the ways theology is sometimes deployed as a political mechanism for policing but also how theology itself can perhaps even be considered an act of “theological de-policing.”

Empowering Learning Networks: Insights from Social Network Analysis in Inquiry-Based Discussions

This study investigated the dynamics of complex interactions within inquiry-based discussions by visualizing patterns using social network analysis. Researchers explored network measures when learners participated in inquiry-based discussions with Practical Inquiry Model (PIM) questions and non-PIM questions while playing the weekly moderator’s role. The findings revealed that at the group level, purposefully designed inquiry-based discussions can create fairly cohesive, evenly distributed, and proportionally consistent networks. Discussions featuring both PIM and non-PIM questions resulted in a moderate level of interaction, as learners adhered to the specified requirements for the number of responses. While discussions with non-PIM questions appeared more interactive with higher response requirements, discussions with PIM questions actually resulted in greater interaction, as evidenced by students exceeding the average number of required responses per student. The findings also revealed that despite similar discussion prompts and discussion requirements in both PIM and non-PIM, the flow of information can vary based on how closely learners are connected. At the individual level, the results revealed that learners' levels of participation, influence, and network positions fluctuated and shifted in each discussion. In addition, the results did not reveal any impact of the moderator's role on learner participation and interaction in discussions with both PIM and non-PIM questions. This study’s findings can help researchers and practitioners design a well-distributed network to enhance learner interaction in inquiry-based discussions with the balance of PIM and non-PIM questions.

Toward ethical praxis in longitudinal research with children: Reflecting on ethical tensions in participatory research

The field of early foreign language learning research has witnessed an increasing trend to employ participatory methods, stemming from a paradigm shift in how children are viewed in research. In contrast to more traditional approaches that place children as the objects of research, children are considered active agents and participants in research with expert knowledge of their own lives. In this paper I discuss the ethical tensions that surfaced prior, during, and after a research project that employed participatory methods with young children. I reflect on how the methodology broadened understanding of emerging power differences in the researcher–participant relationship, such as how asymmetry in knowledge and participation alternate and manifest during a longitudinal project, engaging the researcher and the children in recurring negotiation of roles and power. While ethical considerations are often presented as a checklist with do's and don't’s for how to proceed, with this article I draw on experiences from my own project and aim to dismantle the complex and messy picture of the ethical process in research with young children. I argue that while the application of participatory methods in early foreign language learning research alleviates ethical tensions to an extent, such as by helping reduce epistemic and institutional power between the researcher and the participants, it is essential to report and reflect on the ethical weighing and reflection undertaken throughout the study as unequal power structures will remain regardless of method.

‘When we put our thoughts and ideas together, policy makers are listening to us’: Hope-work and the potential of participatory research

This article brings together a theorisation of hope with the everyday practices of participatory research against a difficult – often entrenched – policy context. We posit that ‘hope-labour’ can characterise engagement in participatory research, which can itself be generative of hope as part of resistance to the status quo. This novel analysis links, and is relevant to, broader theorisations of resistance and critical policy analysis. While there is a growing recognition of the need to subvert traditional forms of political activism and engagement, there has been less specific theorisation of how and why participatory research might play a role. This article corrects this, drawing directly on four years of participatory research working with parents and carers living on a low income to explicate how hope manifests in our practice. We argue it is important to recognise and carefully work through the significant ethical challenges which characterise hope-labour in participatory research. These include how hope is mobilised and the markedly different ‘stakes’ at play in working with hope for researchers and participants. These represent stubborn challenges, and it is incumbent on researchers to be transparent with participants about them in line with an ethics of reciprocity and feminist research praxis. Research can be aimed at a different – and radical – future, because of its orientation towards delivering substantive changes but also, and significantly, because it foregrounds a fresh, different way of collaborating and connecting, one that values and incorporates a diversity of expertise and promotes collective self-determination rather than competition.

Addressing Racial and Ethnic Inequities in Opioid Overdose Mortality: Strategies for Equitable Interventions and Structural Change.

This review synthetizes findings reflecting the increasing racial and ethnic inequities in opioid overdose mortality and emphasizes the necessity for tailored interventions as well as other policy-level and structural strategies to stem this trend. Factors contributing to inequities in overdose mortality include changes in drug supply, persistent social-structural vulnerabilities stemming from structural racism, and inequities in access to medication for opioid use disorder and harm reduction services. Key strategies to address these inequities include the cultural adaptation of evidence-based interventions within an equity-based framework, integrating social determinants of health into addiction treatment, centering anti-racism praxis in addiction research, diversifying the addiction workforce, and integrating structural competency as a tool to restructure education and inform practice. Structural racism must be recognized as a key driver of inequities in substance use outcomes, and this understanding must be integrated into existing models of substance use disorder prevention, treatment, and research.

Advancing a Practical Inquiry Model with multi-perspective role-playing to foster critical thinking behavior in e-book reading

In the digital age, where media proliferation challenges traditional reading habits, this study investigated the impact of digital platforms on critical thinking (CT) and reading practices. Some conventional e-books may not sufficiently encourage reflective thinking or foster CT skills due to their linear nature and lack of engaging elements. Employing the Practical Inquiry Model (PIM) within the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, this study highlights the integration of multimedia elements and the use of students' selfies to boost engagement and social presence in a digital learning environment. This study introduced selfie role-playing reading, along with group discussions from various perspectives as an innovative pedagogy to enhance cognitive presence within the CoI, ultimately enhancing learners’ CT performance. Using a quasi-experimental design, 63 participants were grouped into single-perspective or multiple-perspective categories by narrative perspective exposure, and then engaged in online story discussions with worksheets. Reading performance was measured through a detailed examination of their CT patterns via behavioral sequential analysis. Results revealed that students in the multi-perspective groups demonstrated superior CT and reflective thinking levels, underscoring the potential of innovative e-book designs in enhancing CT. This study not only validates the importance of diverse narratives and role-playing in CT development, but also pioneers a method for analyzing such skills through behavioral sequence analysis. It signifies a leap in applying the PIM to multimedia e-book reading, offering insights for future educational strategies and CT assessment in the digital era.

Investigating Teachers’ Use of an AI-Enabled System and Their Perceptions of AI Integration in Science Classrooms: A Case Study

Recent research indicates the significant potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in enhancing teachers’ instructional practices in areas such as lesson planning, personalized teacher intervention and feedback, and performance assessment. To fully realize the potential of AI in teaching, it is crucial to understand how teachers innovatively apply and critically evaluate AI applications in their teaching practices. However, there is a research gap in investigating how teachers use various features of an AI-enabled system and their perceptions of AI integration in teaching to promote teachers’ effective AI integration practices. Employing an exploratory case study design, we investigated how six science teachers utilized an AI-enabled inquiry intelligent tutoring system (Inq-ITS) within their teaching and examined their perceptions of AI integration. Classroom observations and teacher interview data were collected. When using Inq-ITS functionalities, two teachers with a pedagogical orientation of teacher-guided scientific inquiry mainly engaged with its virtual tutor and teacher report summary features. Conversely, four teachers, practicing the pedagogical orientation of AI-guided scientific inquiry, relied on the AI system to guide student learning, interacting intensively with its features, particularly real-time teacher alerts and teacher inquiry practice support. Regardless of the differences in using Inq-ITS features, all teachers recognized the potential benefits of pedagogical change and encountered various challenges. This analysis also revealed that teachers exhibited distinct perceptions regarding the role of Inq-ITS integration in their teaching. Teachers who adopted a teacher-guided pedagogical orientation perceived the Inq-ITS as a supporting tool that enhanced traditional teaching methods. In contrast, those with an AI-guided pedagogical orientation viewed the Inq-ITS as akin to a teaching assistant and a pedagogical collaborator. The findings underscored the importance of enhancing teachers’ realization of the pedagogical affordance of AI in teaching through their use of AI functionalities. It is essential to consider teachers’ diverse perceptions of AI integration when promoting their integration of AI into teaching practices.

Co-construction during online learning: cognitive presence through asynchronous video discussion

This study explores cognitive presence (CP) during remote learning by applying content analysis to English language learners’ (ELLs) asynchronous video discussions. The study draws on the framework of Community of Inquiry (CoI) and a four-phase inquiry called the Practical Inquiry Model (PIM). ELLs participated in weekly video discussions over the course of a semester using Flip, a video-based asynchronous computer-mediated communication (ACMC) tool. The data for this study include main reflection videos (N = 137) and peer-response videos (N = 153), and the content analysis provided an understanding to develop deeper learning and co-constructing meaning and knowledge. The findings offer a critical reflection on using asynchronous video discussion for co-constructing knowledge and enhancing social interaction.

Inquiry as Resonance: Wiry Workings of Failure and Patience

In this article, I offer inquiry as resonance, an axiological inquiry practice that seeks to amplify transformative resonances in the world. This inquiry practice gets to work with Rosa’s modes of resonance that include the qualities (i.e., af<-fection, e->motion, transformation, and uncontrollability) as well as horizontal (i.e., human actors), vertical (i.e., art, history, and the like), and diagonal (i.e., structural and ideological entities) axes that create resonances between a human actor and the interconnected world in which they live. Inquiry as resonance advocates for an accountable “I” in an interconnected and shifting world. I came to inquiry as resonance through a journey of failure (or lack of resonance) with theory and patiently writing and working with, though, and against that failure. That journey created space for me to consider resonance and what an inquiry of resonance might look like.

Screening Buccal Smear to Identify Cytological Alterations Brought on by Hormone Therapy

Objective: To assess the differences in buccal cytology changes caused by hormone therapy in Sudanese women with breast and endometrial malignancies by comparing wet fixed and air dry H&E stained buccal smear samples. Method: The eight-month study period ran from October 2015 to May 2016. The practical inquiry began in November 2015, and during that time, data gathering, a literature review, and research script typing were completed. One hundred participants had buccal smear samples taken, and these were ready for H&E staining using a wet and dry procedure on women receiving hormone medication. Results: The wet method produced buccal smears with pathology that was 56% malignant, 34% inflammatory, and 10% normal; the dry method produced identical results. The wet method produced excellent (40%), very well (28%), well (20%), acceptable (8%) and bad (4%) affinity, which was in line with the results of the dry method. There were no appreciable variations in the pathology and affinity of the wet and dry-prepared buccal smears (P = 0.14 and 0.0011 > 0.05). The cancerous The pathology of wet and dry buccal smears was reported in 7.7%, 47.1%, and 95% of the smears obtained from patients who had been on hormonal therapy for less than three years, three to nine years, and more than nine years, respectively. Wet and dry smears were reported in 20%, 21.1%, and 88.5% of the smears obtained from patients who had been on hormonal therapy once, twice, or three times a day, respectively. Conclusion: The pathology of the buccal smears showed significant differences based on the frequency and duration of hormone therapy.

A literature review of posthumanist and new materialist research in applied linguistics

ABSTRACT A growing interest in language and materiality has set in motion a paradigmatic shift in applied linguistics. In particular, increasing consideration is being given to relations between the social and material world by way of posthumanist and new materialist theories. As this scholarship is nascent, this literature review aims to understand how these theories are being put to work in applied linguistics research. To conduct the literature review, the authors reviewed a list of 237 journals and employed thematic analysis (Braun & Clark, 2006) to code and categorize over 100 articles that made use of posthumanism and the new materialisms. Findings showed that inroads for these theories are being created on a cline of inventiveness that operationalizes assemblage thinking, moves away from representational logic, and experiments with performative inquiry practices. Implications include the need to further explore how posthumanism and the new materialisms demand a rethinking of the field’s most taken-for-granted constructs along with how they have come to structure the design, implementation, and dissemination of applied linguistics research.

Intersecting inequalities: towards a critical discursive approach

ABSTRACT This introduction to the Special Issue delves into the intersection of critical discursive approaches and intersectionality in the study of language, gender, and societal inequalities. It traces the evolution of gender and language studies, with a focus on how discursive methodologies have facilitated the examination of the material consequences of discourse, particularly in relation to power, gender, and social structures. The aim of this Special Issue is to foster academic synergy by merging discursive and intersectional frameworks to analyze how socio-cultural categories—such as gender, race, and class, among others—intersect to produce inequalities. Furthermore, the issue incorporates a decolonial perspective, critically engaging with the Eurocentric foundations of existing methodologies and advocating for a more inclusive analysis of global power dynamics. The articles within this issue adopt interdisciplinary approaches, including Critical Discourse Studies and Sociocultural Linguistics, to explore diverse experiences and social structures. By integrating these frameworks, the issue offers a multifaceted understanding of how intersecting identities shape discourse and social power relations, underscoring the importance of critical praxis and self-reflexivity in academic research.

The Periodical as Political Educator

Abstract This essay discusses how forms like political magazines, cultural journals, and party newspapers produced by twentieth-century anticolonial, left, and oppositional movements instituted practices of alternative pedagogy and political education across the Global South. These “revolutionary papers” served as a pedagogical infrastructure encompassing a critical curriculum drawn from ongoing movements, alternative histories, and regional literary production, to be used for collective practices of debate and inquiry. The essay introduces a series of digital teaching tools featured in the issue that study revolutionary periodicals such as the Cairo-based Afro-Asian literary magazine Lotus and underground pamphlets from the Mau Mau movement in Kenya. These teaching tools are accessible, interactive resources that provide archival, literary, and historical insights on movements and associated print cultures and are designed as pedagogical aids for the classroom and for political education in community settings. Along the way, the essay reflects on anticolonial periodicals as a resource for ongoing debates around decolonizing the university, and the possibilities presented by digital humanities approaches for the study of anticolonialism and Global South cultures.

The role of environmental tax in guiding global climate policies to mitigate climate changes in European region

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to perform a practical inquiry into the influence of environmental tax laws on the execution of climate‐related financial policies. Our research will assess the effectiveness of environmental tax measures in 23 European countries from 2011 to 2020. The panel‐corrected standard error (PCSE) model and the feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) model are used in the empirical examination of the link between environmental tax laws and the implementation of climate‐related financial measures. This study is based on panel data with cross‐sectional dependence. The results of our estimation highlight the need to improve policy effectiveness by using all four ecological tax indicators. These include total environmental tax revenue, energy tax revenue, pollution and resource tax revenue, and transportation tax revenue. Furthermore, we provide actual evidence clarifying the process by which the implementation of environmental tax policies improves the efficacy of climate‐related financial policies in the short term as well as the long term. According to the findings, a third of environmental tax policy indicators have a long‐term effect on the implementation of climate‐related financial measures, with no short‐term effects seen. Our findings are critical for economists and policy‐makers who support the environmental tax as an effective tool to promote a country's climate policy implementations.

Students' views of a networked practice inquiry course

In the higher education sector both networked learning and inquiry-based learning are signalled as flexible pedagogical approaches which support and encourage the development of skills, competences and qualities expected of “21st century” learning. Whereas networked learning distinctively attends to connectedness enhanced and mediated by technologies for the creation of learning networks and socio[1]material assemblages, inquiry-based learning distinctively brings together teaching and researching encouraging students' learning engagement and development. A networked practice inquiry approach was envisaged as helpful to encourage postgraduate students to engage for learning on and with digital technologies and inspire professional practice development. Past the course experience an interpretative study was taken up in an attempt to obtain an initial picture of the student perspective of this course approach. This paper shares a preliminary qualitative picture describing students’ viewpoint of the networked practice inquiry learning experience. It is a first glimpse into technology enhanced and mediated learning experience of the postgraduate student in Malta. These preliminary findings suggest that students are forward looking. Students demand and celebrate innovative digital tools and practices in and for learning, especially when these are seen accommodating them and resonating to their wider life and work practice experiences. They are generally enthused to assume explorative and inquiry attitudes into life and work practices for learning and practice development. They are also into connectedness for learning but on their own terms. This is a threefold appeal coming from mature students regarding their higher education course experience which, in a local context of fast developing socio-technological change, is simultaneously energising and challenging. Considering that in the local context there is currently a lot of work going on the political and executive tables to see artificial intelligence and immersive technologies compellingly transforming mainstream societal sectors including education, in the local higher education scene we urgently need to make a start for making the course experience the first port of call where one has the "an opportunity to think and dream" as one of the research participants put it; constructively and critically laying down our future and that of the generations to come.

Does kindness matter? Discourses on kindness during the pandemic

PurposeOur research takes inspiration from stories of kindness in the context of the COVID-19 global pandemic and investigates what generational entrants, namely those entering the workforce in large numbers, dubbed emerging leaders (ages 19–39) think of the phenomenon of kindness and its potential role in organizations. Guiding the study is the question: “What can emerging leaders tell us about kindness and work?”Design/methodology/approachAdopting discourse analysis fused with kindness as research praxis, we conducted 66 qualitative interviews with young leaders (born between 1981 and 2001) across North America, Europe and Africa. Interviews were conducted in the summer and fall of 2020.FindingsOur research sets out to expand theorizing related to kindness as a phenomenon, illustrates implications relevant to management and organizational studies and offers insights into the value of kindness as research praxis. This paper makes three related contributions and one methodological one: (1) it contributes to the literature on kindness and how it can be theorized in management and organizational studies, (2) it explores emerging leaders perceptions of kindness in a pandemic context, (3) it offers insights into how kindness might be leveraged as a model of moral and ethical behaviour valued in organizational environments, and (4) the paper promotes epistemic properties of kindness when fused with research praxis.Originality/valueAuthored during a rapidly unfolding scholarly conversation on the influences of the pandemic on organizational life, our research draws insights from experiences of kindness during COVID-19. This paper applies discourse analysis fused with kindness as research praxis to an understudied area of human behaviour (kindness) which has implications for management and organizational theory and practice. These implications include: (1) individual kindness capacity or inclination towards kindness behaviour that may be depleted by stressors such as the pandemic, (2) that kindness has socially contagious qualities, (3) and kindness as praxis has material benefits in the context of research methods, benefiting the research team and the research outputs.

A purposeful design for transformative networked learning in an online doctoral programme

In recent years, there has been a growing effort within a research community of NL to re-define the notion of NL and re-configure the landscape of NL practice. The present authors, who are also members of the NL community, aim to contribute to such a collective effort by filling an existing gap in the ongoing conversation—the community has mainly focused on promoting and facilitating the “network” part of NL while assuming and neglecting the “learning” part. The article first argues that the ultimate purpose of NL is to create meaningful personal and social changes: transformative NL. Therefore, the emphasis of the transformative NL design should not be restricted to facilitating learner interactions and knowledge acquisition inside an online course but expanded to helping learners’ holistic development that leads to meaningful changes in their lives outside the course. The article then proposes a “purposeful” design framework including three levels of interconnected NL communities that need to be considered when designing transformative NL: i) internal NL community in an online course that aims to transform individual students’ perspectives through tutor-driven collaborative learning, ii) external NL community in students’ real-life contexts that aims to transform group perspectives through student-driven collaborative practice, and iii) social NL community in broader contexts (or society as a community) that aims to transform social perspectives through community-driven collective action. The article also provides a brief illustration of purposeful NL design in an online doctoral programme in which the authors’ teaching and research praxis is situated.

Community-Led Solutions: How Local Organizing Committees Drive Change for Housing and Health Equity in California’s Central Valley

In this research brief, we describe how the HOPe Lab (UC Merced), Faith in the Valley (Fresno), and Cultiva Central Valley (Merced) are collaborating to address housing-related disparities within California’s culturally diverse Central Valley. Focused on the transformative role of Local Organizing Committees (LOCs), our research employs an anti-racist research praxis to actively engage residents, enhance leadership capacity, and foster communication between residents and elected officials. Drawing on several theory-of-change statements and the practical insights gained from “field experts” carrying out ongoing initiatives, this report explores the positive impact of LOCs on meaningful community involvement, empowerment, engagement, accountability, and policy changes.

“I take hot showers so I can practice burning in hell” A corpus analytical study of Tinder female profiles in the UK

The focus of this article is the linguistic choices made by women-seeking-men (WSM) and women-seeking-women (WSW) on Tinder profiles in the UK, which builds on prior corpus-analytical research on dating profiles (Baker 2018; Collins 2019). Data was collected through TinderBotz, a scraping tool which gathered the information publicly displayed on Tinder profiles. Then, to ensure an ethical research praxis, it assigned each profile random identification numbers that guaranteed the anonymity of the users. The corpus consists of two subcorpora (WSM.C and WSW.C) each containing 405 profiles (average number of words=20.15) from women (18-24 y.o.) based in the UK. Given that profile creation on Tinder consists of two parts (the first being semi-guided and the second part, aka the ‘about me’ section, being fully creative), each sub-corpora (WSM.C and WSW.C) was in turn divided into two parts. UK.WSM.T.P.C.1 and UK.WSW.T.P.C.1 include the semi-guided part of the profile while UK.WSM.T.P.C.2 and UK.WSW.T.P.C.2 include the ‘about me’ section). Sketch Engine was used to search for significant n-grams and keywords in both sub-corpora and chi-square tests were conducted to determine the significance of our findings. Our results showed that WSM had less elaborate profiles, mentioned physical attributes (e.g., height) and often redirected potential matches to other platforms (i.e., Instagram). Meanwhile, WSW had more creative ‘about me’ sections in which they described their identity in greater detail (e.g., leatherdyke). Overall, both groups showed similar profiles in terms of work and relationship status.

Becoming and Remaining (Un)Critical: A Longitudinal Study of Beginning History Teachers

In this study, researchers used a longitudinal multisite qualitative cross-case study to examine the beliefs and practices of five beginning teachers related to critical historical inquiry. They collected interview, observation, and classroom artifact data over a 5-year period, from teacher preparation through the teachers’ 4th year in the classroom. Using critical theory as the frame, the researchers found that the beginning history teachers tended to move along two pedagogical continuums: one related to the criticality of content and the other related to didactic- or inquiry- based instruction. Teachers were more successful in engaging in critical historical inquiry practices if they had well-developed conceptual and practice tools and had opportunities to teach within school contexts that supported the use of critical historical inquiry.