Enquiry-Based Learning in Public Health—Opportunities for Application-Led Qualitative Method Teaching

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-25.3.4124

Keywords:

qualitative health research, interdisciplinarity, public health, qualitative method teaching, qualitative method learning, didactic methods, master degree

Abstract

The field of public health is characterised by a population and systemic perspective on health, applicability and interdisciplinarity, and a slant towards quantitative and epidemiological methods and methodological pragmatism. This presents specific challenges for the teaching of qualitative methods in public health. In this contribution we reflect on the concept of the two-semester methods seminars in the master of public health course at the School of Public Health at Bielefeld University, Germany. Our teaching is guided by the concept of enquiry-based learning. In our methods seminars, we employ the constructivist teaching method of cognitive apprenticeship to introduce students to the research process. This open approach allows us to respond to different degrees of prior knowledge and levels of competence. With our pragmatic, application-led teaching, we qualify graduates to develop and employ methodological skills in their later academic and practical careers. At the same time, it remains a challenge to sensitise students to the significance and benefits of a wide range of qualitative methods.

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Author Biographies

Anna Christina Nowak, Universität Bielefeld

Anna Christina NOWAK is an academic lecturer in quantitative and qualitative method teaching at the School of Public Health at Bielefeld University. In her PhD in public health, she investigated healthcare provision for refugees in Germany using a mixed-methods approach. Her current research interests are didactics in public health and conflicts in communities and municipalities. She also holds a post at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence at Bielefeld University.

Kerstin Hämel, Universität Wien

Kerstin HÄMEL was a professor of health science at the School of Public Health at Bielefeld University (until September 2024) with a focus on nursing services research, and head of the Public Health M.Sc. there. From October 2024 she holds a professorship of nursing science at Vienna University. Her research interests are innovations in primary health and long-term care in international comparison, patient/user-oriented care and participation in the context of chronic conditions and care dependency, advanced practice nursing and interprofessional collaboration, and qualitative methods.

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Published

2024-09-29

How to Cite

Nowak, A. C., & Hämel, K. (2024). Enquiry-Based Learning in Public Health—Opportunities for Application-Led Qualitative Method Teaching. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 25(3). https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-25.3.4124

Issue

Section

FQS Debate: Teaching and Learning Qualitative Methods