ABSTRACT
Arts-based inquiry and reflective practice are innovate research approaches used within educational contexts to help individuals articulate profound aspects of their learning and identity. This chapter focuses on the use of a strategic application of artsbased reflective practice to leverage student learning within qualitative research. The main guiding question was, what does arts-based inquiry and reflective practice allow university students to discover about the nature of social research and their role as a researcher? Seventy undergraduate students enrolled in qualitative research course participated in arts-based self-study and reflective practices to help them articulate their tacit values and approaches as social researchers. Findings indicated that participating students were able to use reflective protocols to leverage self-understanding of values, influences, and abilities that helped constitute their developing identities as social researchers. Based on study findings and established reflexivity methodology, a set of general guidelines for teaching reflexive research methodology are advanced which address key elements, namely: the locus of research control, the locus of researcher exposure, the locus of researcher positioning, and the scope of researcher authority. Overall, this study is significant in revealing the power of arts-based inquiry and reflective practice in helping students explore challenging aspects of their learning and identity. These chapter findings are useful as a best practice to aid university instructors and other educational professions.
