Teaching and learning to conduct research in the virtual environment: evidence of consumption in the "Research Methodology" classroom

Abstract

In recent decades, reflections on the teaching of social research methodology at univer- sities have become more relevant not only in the classroom but also in numerous academic fields. These reflections have acquired greater importance due to the health crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the transition to virtual environments at all levels of education. In university education, 2020 and 2021 were clearly dominated by the use of various online platforms. Research practice and the processes involved in the teaching and learning of research methodology involve considering how the theories at hand, the instruments, and even our ideas of perception, observation and interpretation of the world are influenced by the processes and approaches of a particular era. In the context of social structuring methods based on immediate enjoyment through consumption (Scribano, 2004), in this paper we review how the teaching and learning of social research methodology are not excluded from this view. As teachers of this subject at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels, we pose several questions based on our experience teaching online courses in 2020. Has consumption, as a means of social relationship, entered the classroom? What is the relationship between consumption and the teaching and learning process? How did the online environment affect this relationship? How close to or distant from those of the market are the interactions between teachers and students? To conclude our paper we underline the ways in which the academic ex- perience is imbued with sensitivities that are linked to immediate enjoyment through consumption and how this may be an obstacle to the teaching and learning of research methodology.