Prof. Keith S. Taber's site
Main glossary
The term paradigm is used with several somewhat different meanings:
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Epistemology concerns the nature of knowledge and how we may come to knowledge.
The term epistemology refers to this general area of study, but a particular stance/perspective on this may be referred to as an epistemology – that is there are various 'epistemologies'.
Epistemology underpins any public knowledge claims, and so is something researchers need to consider when conceptualising/designing studies.
Methodology, in everyday terms is, the way we go about something
Research methodologies are general strategies for carrying out research, such as experiments, surveys and so forth. Research methodologies generally guide both how data is collected, and how it is analysed.
learning styles are different preferences that individuals have in terms of how they learn. There are many models of learning styles and a good deal of research in the topic, but most of the posited models (such as 'VAK') have very limited support from research.
a method used in science and philosophy to test out an idea in the 'laboratory of the mind', by thinking through the consequences of a given scenario – thought experimentation involves mental simulation (and usually visualisation)
a 'rule of thumb', that is a general but fallible common sense rule that, based on previous experience, is expected to work most of the time – but not a rigorous principle having a sound theoretical basis
replication is the process of producing a reported phenomenon by recreating the conditions when it is reported to occur
Replication studies are designed to see if research results can be reported. In the natural sciences it has been suggested that in practice most 'replication' studies actually try to extend the range of the original research or modify some aspect of research design.
Arguably studies in education should not be considered true replication studies as it is never possible to fully recreate the original conditions because social kinds do not have the essential properties of natural kinds and teaching and learning is always entangled within the context in which it is embedded
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A 'reduction to absurdity' argument is used to show some particular position cannot be the case as its consequences are either clearly impossible, or contradict one of the assumptions on which the position is based.
Cognitive structure refers to the (conjectured) organisation of the components of someone's cognitive resources. It may be considered as "the facts, concepts, propositions, theories, and raw perceptual data that the learner has available to her at any point in time, and the manner in which it is arranged." (Taber, 2001, p.160)
a classification scheme for organising according to types (thus reflecting an ontology)
A case study is a study that examines one case (one instance of a particular class of phenomena among many, e.g., one class, one textbook, one learner, one school) in detail, taking into account the context in which it is embedded.
studies that seek to explore change over time by sampling different (but comparable) samples at the same point in time – for example testing students in different grades on the same material to look for general differences (cf. longitudinal studies)