Research about Learner Agency

Phenomenography was considered to be the most suitable research method for this inquiry into students’ perceptions of their learner agency.

The first reason for choosing phenomenography was the way how it “focuses on the human-world relation” (Collier-Reed & Ingerman, 2013, p. 252), instead of attempting to describe the phenomenon itself. Learning experiences are very personal and subjective, and to me this is a great mystery: while being exposed to the same content and instruction, every individual student has a diverse take-away we call learning  Furthermore, in phenomenographic research the central research question reflects the unit of analysis, conception, here seen as learner agency.  As observing or expressing the conception is impossible, the researcher aimed to identify variation of conceptions by inquiring about and describing the learning experiences interviewees had (Marton & Pong, 2005, p.335).

Engaging in semi-structured interviews is a typical way collect phenomenographic data. The purpose in phenomengraphic research is not to explain, but to describe the qualitatively different ways a phenomenon is experienced. 

Central research questions

What are students’ perceptions of their learning experiences?

Sub-questions:  What kind of learning interactions between the student and the content in the classroom environment do the verbalized experiences represent?  How do the students describe their engagement and intentionality of their own learning? What learning experiences do students believe to promote forethought and life-long learning? What instructional choices do students describe as being impactful for their self-direction and self-regulation?

These research questions were chosen to illuminate students’ experiences of intentional and deep learning. The learning experience is considered to be constructed from the processes of interaction between the student, the content, the teacher, and the environment followed by acquisition and elaboration of learning (Entwistle, 1997; Illeris, 2003). Usually people like to learn, but they don’t necessarily enjoy schooling and the experience of being taught. Distinguishing engagement in learning experiences from the educational experience of being taught is essential for understanding the role of learner agency in contemporary education.

Students’ subjective perception in their learning experiences, including the use of learner agency and the perception of having control of oneself and over one’s learning environment, is a significant factor in the school well-being that contributes to the quality of learning (American Psychological Association, Coalition for Psychology in Schools and Education, 2015).  Researching learning experiences that emphasize autonomous and agentive participation is necessary in order to help teachers to know how to support students’ engagement and deep learning orientation in the classroom.

American Psychological Association, Coalition for Psychology in Schools and Education. (2015). Top 20 principles from psychology for pre K–12 teaching and learning. Retrieved from http:// www.apa.org/ed/schools/cpse/top-twenty-principles.pdf

Collier-Reed, B., & Ingerman, A. (2013). Phenomenography: From critical aspects to knowledge claim. In M. Tight & J. Huisman (Eds.), International Perspectives on Higher Education Research (Vol. 9, pp. 243-260).

Entwistle, N. (1997). Introduction: Phenomenography in higher education.Higher Education Research & Development, 16(2), 127-134

Illeris, K. (2003). Toward a contemporary and comprehensive theory of learning. International Journal of Lifelong Education, 22(4), 396-406.

Marton, F., & Pong, W. Y. (2005). On the unit of description in phenomenography. Higher education research & development, 24(4), 335-348.