ABSTRACT
In this discussion, we examine how theory–method relations shape what could, and could not, be known about problem-based learning (PBL) through the different approaches to discourse analysis used. We show how, by reading and analyzing the articles as a collective body of work rather than as individual articles, we created a telling case, one that makes previously obscure theoretical relations between theory and method suddenly apparent (Mitchell, 1984, p. 239). Using an ethnographic perspective, we make visible what these articles individually and collectively contribute to our understanding of discourse analysis and to the study of the processes of knowledge construction in PBL contexts. We also describe factors contributing to the challenge we found in reading and understanding these different analyses and how these factors led us to question how our own interests, theoretical background, and preference for a particular research approach influenced our interpretations.
