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All good social science researchers recognise that each investigative paradigm and their respective research tools (e.g. experiments, surveys, interviews, observations, questionnaires) is limited in its exploratory power but especially by its dependence on the interests, perspectives and skills of the researchers employing it. They determine the research questions pursued and the questions asked of the respondents. Constructivist researchers however, though they too focus on an area they deem deserving of research and carry their own biases, seek to explore the respondents' perspectives of those domains, what they consider important and construe from their knowledge and life experiences and why they act as they do. Participants in research also bring to the task their own orientations, including their suspicions about researchers' motives, their willingness to take part in the investigation and their personal gains from doing so. When the aim of the research is agentic change, these are critical considerations for research design, data analysis and interpretation. This chapter, after summarising the main tenets of personal and social constructivist theory, explores and evaluates constructivist methodology, illustrating benefits and limitations through examples from research practice of its tools and analytical procedures from research conducted by the authors and their doctoral researchers across and between disciplines and levels in higher education. Techniques used include repertory grids, narrative and pictorial methods used to study, inter alia, staff development issues and transformative doctoral learning. Caveats emerging from practice will be included that limit and focus appropriately the collection, analysis and interpretation of results. Finally, arguments are presented for why, when and how to adopt, or indeed to avoid, these approaches and methods within such research.

This paper shares findings from a constructivist grounded theory study, exploring Trainee Teachers’ perceptions of their teaching and learning experienced during university-based teacher education programmes, specifically the theoretical components. Findings led to the development of a model of program design, pedagogy and teaching strategies that were successful in creating opportunities to build Professional Capital. This paper aims to share this model, highlighting the significance of Professional Capital amidst challenges in English Teacher Education, and to suggest implications for application of the model within broader workforce development.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 trainee teachers from four English universities. To support the development of the theoretical framework, researchers employed inductive and iterative constant comparative methods aligned with constructivist grounded theory to sensitise concepts and codes, which were verified using theoretical sampling.

Informed by the findings of this study, a model is presented which highlights that participants developed human, social and decisional capital during their academic programs helping them to widen their perceptions of what counts as educationally important, beyond narrow performativity measures that are pervasive in a school system. By actively adopting a transformative pedagogy and employing constructivist approaches to curriculum design and delivery, optimal learning environments for learners to build their professional capital can be provided.

These findings may prove valuable to Higher Education academics as a model when designing and delivering professional, student-centred programmes. There are also implications for policymakers seeking to redesign initial teacher education towards schools-led and practice-oriented approaches, who wish to consider the perceptions, values and motivations of trainee teachers.

The findings highlight the significance of teacher trainees’ active engagement with academic literature and theory, in terms of contributing to the development of their professional capital, resilience and professional commitment.

Using the social constructivist perspective of learning, this study aims to examine the patterns and the key areas of entrepreneurial learning based on a case study of 16 participants who were the incubatees of two technology-based business incubators in China. The key research question is: how do novice entrepreneurs, focusing on technology-based business incubators, learn from a social constructivist perspective?

The researchers applied a qualitative methodology in this study as they wanted to understand better the complexity of the learning process that is hard to achieve quantitatively. The qualitative data was collected through in-depth interviews with the incubatees, who were the managers and owners of their businesses. The interviews with the entrepreneurs were mainly focused on the learning patterns and the factors influencing learning through the use of the critical incident technique.

This will allow incubator managers to better evaluate the extent of effective entrepreneurial learning within the incubator's eco-system. The results show that the participants learn through socially constructivist systems that are structured around the support provided by the incubators. Learning in this context takes place in an extended spectrum, and participants are more interested in learning from networking with experienced entrepreneurs rather than from other incubatees or formal courses. Findings of this study help incubator managers and novice entrepreneurs to better shape learning and teamwork in an effort to improve the learning process. Policy makers should consider introducing schemes that encourage novice entrepreneurs to exhibit the creativity and innovation behaviour reported by experienced entrepreneurs.

The focus of this study is primarily on incubators as the context of learning, whereas the macro-environmental factors, such as the socio-cultural and regulatory environments in China, were considered as playing a subtle role and would affect the incubatees' learning indirectly. The paper is based on a relatively small sample size and is geographically located in Ningbo, China. As such, the authors call for further research for comparative studies with a larger sample size so that a possible theory of entrepreneurial learning in the context of incubators might emerge in the future.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how learning solely via an assistance system influences work performance compared with learning with a combination of an assistance system and additional training. While the training literature has widely emphasised the positive role of on-the-job training, particularly for groups that are often underrepresented in formalised learning situations, organisational studies have stressed the risks that emerge when holistic process knowledge is lacking and how this negatively affects work performance. This study aims at testing these negative effects within an experimental design.

This paper uses a laboratory experimental design to investigate how assistance-system-guided learning influences the individuals’ work performance and work satisfaction compared with assistance-system-guided learning combined with theoretical learning of holistic process knowledge. Subjects were divided into two groups and assigned to two different settings. In the first setting, the participants used the assistance systems as an orientation and support tool right at the beginning and learned the production steps exclusively in this way. In the second setting, subjects received an additional 10-min introduction (treatment) at the beginning of the experiment, including detailed information regarding the entire work process.

This study provides evidence that learners provided with prior process knowledge achieve a better understanding of the work process leading to higher levels of productivity, quality and work satisfaction. At the same time, the authors found evidence for differences among workers’ ability to process and apply this additional information. Subjects with lower productivity levels faced more difficulties processing and applying additional process information.

Methodologically, this study goes beyond existing research on assistance systems by using a laboratory experimental design. Though the external validity of this method is limited by the artificial setting, it is a solid way of studying the impact of different usages of digital assistance systems in terms of training. Further research is required, however, including laboratory experiments with larger case numbers, company-level case studies and analyses of survey data, to further confirm the external validity of the findings of this study for the workplace.

This study provides some first evidence that holistic process knowledge, even in low-skill tasks, has an added value for the production process. This study contributes to firms' training policies by exploring new, digitalised ways of guided on-the-job training and demonstrates possible training benefits for people with lower levels of (initial) abilities and motivation.

This study indicates the advantage for companies and societies to invest in additional skills and training and points at the limitations of assistance systems. This paper also contributes to training policies by exploring new, digitalised ways of guided on-the-job training and demonstrates possible training benefits for people with lower levels of (initial) abilities and motivation.

This study extends existing research on digital assistance systems by investigating their role in job-related-training. This paper contributes to labour sociology and organisational research by confirming the importance of holistic process knowledge as opposed to a solely task-oriented digital introduction.

This study combines the TAM and UGT frameworks to investigate how Vietnamese students' views of ChatGPT and intrinsic needs affect their intentions to use it for education (via variables including perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, novelty, information seeking and academic content creation). We will employ TAM theory (Davis, 1989) and UGT theory to elucidate university students' motivations for utilising ChatGPT in Vietnam. Simultaneously, we aim to address the limitation stemming from data uniformity. Our research will make a substantial contribution to the understanding of researchers regarding the use of ChatGPT and its varied consequences as it grows and develops.

This study was conducted at a private university in Vietnam with an estimated population of 15,000 students. One of Vietnam’s top private information technology institutions requires its students to use a variety of information and communication technologies (ICTs) on a regular basis to facilitate and enjoy their academic pursuits (Ngo, 2024; Nguyen). Students who are familiar with ChatGPT and have access to it for educational purposes are the ones that were chosen. This research is a quantitative study that utilises primary data through a survey method. Participants answered a questionnaire online through the Google Form platform sharing via social media platforms from October to December 2023. The questionnaire was divided into two sections: the first contained screening questions and demographic information and the second had five-point Likert-scale questions that measured the study’s components. Two screening questions are used to separate out the intended responders. (i.e. “I have heard the name ChatGPT” and “I know about ChatGPT”) were set to find whether the participants had any knowledge of ChatGPT. If participants were unaware of ChatGPT, their responses were not included in the study. A total of 283 responses were received. The participant’s demographic information is shown in Table 1. It is believed that a sample size of more than 200 provides adequate statistical power for data analysis in structural equation modelling. It is evident that the 283-sample size in this study is adequate to evaluate the research hypothesis and the fitting model. 42.9% of the 283 research samples were made up of men, while 57.1% were women. Business administration accounted for 40.1% of survey respondents, followed by information technology (25.2%) and English language (14.5%). The average ChatGPT usage time of respondents was 56 min in a single use. The study sample’s average age is 20–72 years old.

The present study contributes to the existing AI chatbot literature in the educational industry in several ways. First, this study addresses a gap in the literature by investigating the factors that influence students’ ITU ChatGPT for educational purposes in Vietnam. Using the extended model, we investigated factors influencing students’ intentions to use ChatGPT. It integrates three motive factors of the UGT (ACT, IS and N) with the core factors of TAM (PeoU and PU). The integrated framework’s findings indicate that in a Vietnamese educational setting, ChatGPT is a novel technology that should be considered in conjunction with PU and PEoU.

First, only Vietnamese students make up the research sample. To increase the relevance of the findings, it is advised that future research look at the study model in various geographic regions. Second, the present investigation’s constraints arise from the lack of clarity about the Chat GPT version utilised by the respondents, specifically whether it was the free or premium edition. Furthermore, the limited duration of the survey presents an obstacle to gathering thorough data. Due to their reliance on the particular features and functionalities of the Chat GPT version used, these restrictions may have an effect on the researcher’s objectivity. Furthermore, the limited survey time may curtail the coverage of the collected answers, particularly considering that our survey predominantly focuses on business administration students, thus limiting the diversity and richness of the gathered data. We recommend that future studies should conduct comparative research between different versions of GPT Chat, including free and paid variants that can provide valuable insights into potential differences in performance and results. Such analysis can provide a deeper understanding of the strengths and limitations of different GPT Chat versions. Third, because the study focused on behavioural intention, actual usage and post-usage behaviour may not be covered by the findings. To gain a deeper understanding of users' actual behaviour, we suggest doing research on their usage and post-usage behaviours.

The findings will assist service providers and legislators in determining critical variables and influencing students' incentives to use ChatGPT in educational settings that use constructivist teaching methods. As a result, the information will assist service providers in creating AI chatbots that are more user-friendly, visually appealing, efficient, safe and convenient for education. Governments, in conjunction with service providers, have the potential to significantly accelerate the adoption of AI-based chatbots by highlighting their ethical and sustainable use. The findings demonstrate that students' ITU towards ChatGPT is substantially impacted by PU and PEoU. It is recommended that service providers emphasize the advantages and ease of use of AI chatbots in order to draw new clients. Additionally, in order to promote ChatGPT or related technologies, marketers should concentrate on raising the technology’s perceived novelty value. This is because people are open to new technologies as long as they believe they are interesting and innovative.

ChatGPT is an advanced AI-powered chatbot that has the potential to advance and revolutionize the learning and teaching process. This study attempted to look at the elements that lead students to want to use ChatGPT from an academic standpoint by combining the UGT and TAM. For practitioners, academics and educators, the findings provide a solid knowledge of and encouragement for the sustainable use of such AI tools. Despite having important practical consequences, the study contains a number of limitations that indicate possible research gaps that should be filled by further investigation.

The study aims to promote the use of qualitative methods in service research by investigating how these methods are reported in service journals, how the level of reporting has evolved and whether methodological reporting influences the downloads or citations received by qualitative articles.

Methodological reporting practices were identified through content analysis of 318 qualitative articles published in three major service research journals and comparison with prior methodological literature. Regression analysis was used to test how the level of methodological reporting influences article downloads and citations.

The study identifies 29 reporting practices related to 9 key methodological reporting areas. The overall level of methodological reporting in published qualitative articles has increased over time. While differences in the level of reporting between service journals persist, they are narrowing. The level of methodological reporting did not influence downloads or citations of qualitative articles.

Service scholars using qualitative methods should pay attention to methodological reporting as it can improve the chances of being published. Factors such as theoretical contributions are likely to have a greater influence on article impact than methodological reporting.

No prior study has explored methodological reporting practices across different qualitative methodologies or how reporting influences article impact. For authors, reviewers and editors, the study provides an inventory of reporting practices relevant for evaluating qualitative articles, which should lower barriers for qualitative methods in service research by providing practical guidelines on what to focus on when reporting and assessing qualitative research.

In illustrating and reflecting on my use of constructivist grounded theory methodology, this chapter explores findings of a study involving perceptions of learning of eight career changing trainee teachers enroled across four one-year primary or secondary postgraduate initial teacher education (ITE) programmes in England. Through four sets of unstructured interviews over the course of 10 months, qualitative findings suggest that this group of trainee teachers experience a similar learning process of convergence, change, consciousness and confidence. Diagrammatic modelling of data plays a key role in enacting a constructivist approach to grounded theory by demonstrating coding relationships through constant comparison leading to theory generation. Along with other observations, significant findings include how career changers without prior education experience may adapt and adopt new, professional identities with more confidence more quickly than those with extensive prior education experience, and, alternative teaching placements that occur in the ‘middle’ of a postgraduate course may have a significant effect in a career changers perceived confidence in ‘being a teacher’. Recommendations for ITE programmes, future teacher recruitment policy and researchers employing grounded theory are included. Recommendations for postgraduate researchers in education are scattered throughout this chapter.

This article aims to explain the role of philosophical anchors and research paradigms in business research, and how they can be extrapolated in the transformative era of automation, digitalization, hyperconnectivity, obligations, globalization and sustainability (ADHOGS) in the midst of disruption, volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (DVUCA).

This article entails a general review based on the 3Es of exposure, expertise and experience, delving into the ontological, epistemological, methodological, axiological and rhetorical aspects of the major research paradigms—i.e. positivism, post-positivism, constructivism, interpretivism and pragmatism—and their interplay with the emergent trends shaping business research.

This article underscores the multifaceted nature of business research in the modern day, with an increasing need for blending, or shifting between, research paradigms to address the complex issues arising from automation, digitalization, hyperconnectivity, obligations, globalization and sustainability (ADHOGS). This article also highlights the nuanced interplay between research paradigms and theoretical perspectives, demonstrating the rich, diverse potential of business research inquiries.

While this article provides a broad overview of the interplay between research paradigms and emerging trends, future research could explore each of these interplays in greater detail, conducting empirical studies or utilizing specific case studies.

Researchers and practitioners should be open to adopting, combining or switching between different paradigms according to the demands of their research questions, context and trends shaping the business landscape, thereby underscoring the need for methodological flexibility and reflexivity in business research.

The shift toward embracing digital transformations and integrating sustainability in business research holds significant implications, driving socially responsible and sustainable business practices at the micro-level, and by extension, industrial revolution and sustainable development at the macro-level.

This article offers a holistic and contextualized view of the philosophy of science and research paradigms for business research, bridging the gap between philosophical foundations and contemporary research trends.

This study aims to generate theory that represented charity peer leader experiences, facilitating well-being interventions to two specific groups of people: new mothers and refugees.

Part 1 of this study used in-depth interviews (n = 8) and phone calls with experienced mothers (called “peer leaders”) who had facilitated well-being interventions to new mothers. These interviews were analysed using Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT) (Charmaz, 2014) generating a theory. Following a systematic literature review using the theory categories as search terms, a training approach was devised: The Modelled Training Approach (MTA). Refugees (n = 16) were trained to facilitate another well-being intervention using the MTA followed by a further set of interviews (n = 6). These interviews were analysed using CGT.

A theory was generated representing the “journey” the peer leaders took: their lived experience triggered empathic feelings towards their peers, which motivated them to build a rapport where they gave hope. As a result, the peer leaders felt rewarded.

The literature search did not find any studies looking at the experiences of peer leaders in the above settings. The theory generated could support mental health peer work offsetting statutory health costs.

The study aimed to capture student experience during virtual internships by identifying the facilitators and barriers during their experiential learning journey. The students were pursuing their Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) program at a business school in India. The authors shed light on the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the current education system, specifically experiential learning through virtual internships.

About 38 Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted from July to September 2022 with the students of a business school located in Pune, India. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed to generate new themes for ascertaining the facilitators and barriers to virtual internships. Interpretative Phenomenology Analysis was undertaken to analyze the lived experiences of the respondents.

Students viewed virtual internships positively in terms of mentor support, active learning, flexibility, and an easy onboarding process. Poor work-life balance, lack of peer learning and infrastructure issues were some of the barriers/challenges faced by the students.

The study discusses various managerial and administrative implications. The findings help educationists design effective pedagogy by drawing insights from constructivist learning theory, where students' active role during virtual internships must be given primary attention. Corrective measures in the pedagogy can be taken while designing a virtual internship, considering the barriers found in this study.

The themes identified in the study are a novel contribution to the growing body of knowledge on virtual experiential learning. The study empirically captures student experience regarding a relatively new phenomenon of virtual internships, which is the uniqueness of this paper.