If story is central to human meaning why, in the research world, is there not more storytelling? Walter Benjamin (1973) noted that, "a story is different. It does not expend itself. It preserves and concentrates its strength and is capable of releasing it even after a long time" (p. 90). How might research not expend itself, but preserve and…

This research examines the influence of college students' electronic portfolios (i.e., ePortfolios) on learning, identity, and assessment. The study creates a narrative of students' experiences with ePortfolios that integrates critical hermeneutic theory. Findings demonstrate the diverse experiences of research participants who used ePortfolios…

Pathways healthy and physically functional centenarians take to achieve advanced old age have fascinated mankind for centuries. This hermeneutic phenomenological study documents characteristics perceived by centenarians as important and central to their attainment of advanced longevity. Secondary data including written transcripts and audio and…

Hermeneutics is both a philosophical tradition and a methodological resource. In this qualitative study, hermeneutics provided, simultaneously, a framework and a methodology for understanding empathy in synchronous multimedia conferencing. As a framework for the design of the study, hermeneutics supported the overriding objective to understand the…

Since 2006 there has been a notable increase in the number of American Jesuit colleges and universities selecting non-Jesuit leaders to serve in the position of president. These "lay" presidents (i.e., not ordained priests) now comprise approximately one-third of all chief executives in Jesuit institutions, giving rise to questions about…

This phenomenological study explores the lived experience of sexual assault survival for women in college. Through a grounding in the philosophy of hermeneutic phenomenology (Gadamer, 1960/2000; Heidegger, 1927/1962, 1968, 1928/1998, 1971/2001, 1950/2002), this work uncovers the lives of six sexual assault survivors who lived through rape during…

This article demonstrates the outcomes of taking a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to architectural design and discusses the potentials for imaginative reasoning in design education. This study tests the use of literature as a verbal form of art and design and the contribution it can make to imaginative design processes--which are all too…

Based on original doctoral research conducted with midlife women and men who completed counselling for depression, this article presents research findings of male participant perspectives and experiences in managing midlife depression and the role of counselling. Hermeneutic inquiry using conversational semistructured interviews generated multiple…

This qualitative hermeneutical phenomenological study was designed to describe general education elementary teachers' perceptions of effective instructional strategies, methods, and models of instruction to enhance the learning of core content curriculum of the English Language Learners (ELLs) in the classroom. Through questionnaires and…

Native Americans have endured historical and contemporary challenges that have adversely affected their achievement, including in the realm of postsecondary education. The difficulties have included, but are not limited to, the problems inherent in the process of assimilation into Caucasian culture, the repercussions of Indian Boarding Schools,…

The purpose of this study was to determine the role of an afterschool program on students graduating high school. The study included students that were chosen using purposeful sampling who had recently graduated high school and participated in a school's afterschool program. A qualitative design was used with hermeneutical phenomenology being…

This study explored how avid users of "Second Life" ("SL") experience and make meaning of informal learning activities in virtual art museums and similar cultural spaces through their avatars. While recent literature has laid the groundwork for studying student engagement and formal learning, the lacuna of research bound by the…

This study explores the experiences of undergraduate students enrolled in an education I-Series (University of Maryland undergraduate courses designed to inspire innovation, imagination, and intellect) course, Good Stories: Teaching Stories for Peace and Justice. In this course students are asked to produce digital stories that project themes of…

Dealing with traditions is a central issue in music education. I investigate different perspectives on tradition by engaging in a local hermeneutic study surrounding an interpretive event from a viola studio. To understand the function of tradition in this event, I construct a theoretical perspective with roots in hermeneutics and educational…

This paper reports on findings from a hermeneutic phenomenological research inquiry which explored the nature of relational experiences in teacher education. Stories of the lived experience of relationships in an educational context were hermeneutically interpreted against the philosophical writings of Heidegger, Gadamer, Levinas, and Buber. The…