'No choice' but remote learning: non-traditional students making sense of social research methods

This chapter explores how non-traditional students make sense of qualitative research methods, how they apply theory and concepts in their own independent projects, and the strategies they develop to engage with the demands of assessment tasks during the shift from face-to-face to remote learning. Drawing on a qualitative study of an undergraduate and postgraduate Education Studies programme in a post 1992 university in London and employing Foucault’s theory of discourse, the authors analyse how students navigate the complex abstract principles and processes of social science research and the value and usefulness of qualitative research methods in their degrees, everyday lives, and the future. They argue that learning research methods is an emotional journey that transforms academic identities, and conclude that engaging, interactive and reflective methods are at the core of teaching and learning qualitative research whether online or face-to-face.