Like all forms of inquiry, arts-based self-study research can have unexpected consequences. Although we may start out with a fairly clear objective, the data we generate through arts-based methods might address other questions that are even more important than the ones we thought to ask initially, and our study might have an impact that extends…

This paper presents the results of the first survey conducted in Belgium about the interest in and knowledge of astronomy. Two samples were studied, the public at large (667 questionnaires) and students (2589 questionnaires), but the results are generally similar in both samples. We evaluated people's interest, main information source and…

Researchers using participatory methods that are engaging, purposeful and facilitate social change may need further pragmatic strategies to encourage the required change. Using pencil-and-paper drawings to introduce HIV & AIDS integration in a discipline such as Mathematics Education is an innovative participatory strategy to initiate change.…

The idea of using values as a means of guiding our research decisions and judging the validity of our claims of knowledge is well established in literature on the self-reflective genre of action research. Values in action research should always result in virtuous behaviour--to promote the general social good. However, ideas of what constitutes the…

In this paper we show an example of how to use a computational simulation to obtain visual feedback for students' mental models, and compare their predictions with the simulated system's behaviour. Additionally, we use the computational simulation to incrementally modify the students' mental models in order to accommodate new data,…

This article details a collaborative project between the University of Strathclyde (UK) and the University of Herat (Afghanistan). The aim was to co-construct a model of training, based on humanistic approaches, in order to enhance counselling services in Afghanistan and to establish counselling training at the University of Herat. Two groups of…

This article interrogates the connections between the self-study research methodology and the making of a piece of theatre, and explores ways in which self-study can offer a new arts-based research paradigm for theatre-makers. There are a number of useful parallels to be explored between the self-study project and structures of drama and…

After a brief history of the Levitron, the first horizontal axis Levitron is reported. Because it is easy to operate, it lends itself to educational physics experiments and analogies. Precession and nutation are visualized by reflecting the beam from a laser pointer off the "spignet". Precession is fundamental to nuclear magnetic…

In this article, I show how I enhanced my understanding of my practice as an artist, researcher and teacher using a self-study approach in my recently completed Master of Technology (M.Tech.) dissertation in Graphic Design. As part of my M.Tech. research, I conceptualised and developed a creative teaching tool that I named "PicTopics."…

Teaching, as a social justice project, seeks to undo and re-imagine oppressive pedagogies in order to transform teachers, their students, and the knowledge with which they work. In this article, I argue that self-study can contribute to social justice in a number of ways by, for instance, making the sometimes limiting norms that frame teaching and…

The context in which self-study research is conducted is sometimes complex, affecting the manner in which related data is gathered and interpreted. This article comprises collaboration between three students and two supervisors. It shares methodological choices made by graduate students and supervisors of a rural university at which, self-study…

In this article, I examine pedagogical understandings as captured through documented critical incidents of a transdisciplinary faculty self-study group which was designed and grounded in notions of sociocultural theory. I report from my lens as facilitator-participant-observer and from my work with eleven other participants in a three-semester…

There has been a significant increase in the number of international students pursuing higher education in the U.S. since 2001. Upon arrival, students are often beset with feelings of isolation and alienation, which are characteristic of adjusting to a new culture. African International students, specifically Black-African international students,…

This study examined associations of intragroup marginalization and cultural incongruity with acculturative stress and depressive symptoms among 155 undergraduate U.S. college students of Mexican heritage. Findings indicate that perceived interpersonal distancing by the family (intragroup marginalization) and perceived lack of cultural fit between…

This study extended the consideration of help-negation in regard to suicide to that of depressive symptoms in a large sample of 981 Chinese university students in Taiwan. The study examined the help-negation effects of depression and the impact of gender, anxiety, and help-seeking attitudes on that relationship. Chinese students, aged 17 to…