Verbal report protocol in heuristic inquiry research on teachers` habit of mind

Abstract

Qualitative interviewing is a versatile and effective method for capturing respondents' voices. The discussion of this method usually centered on its ways of making sense of the respondents` experience. This study uses retrospective verbal protocol (RetV) as the research method is to seek subjective interpretation of teachers` agency. Verbal protocol enriches the data collection when measuring cognitive processes either during or immediately after task completion. By tapping the content of working memory, the verbal protocol focuses on dispositional practices involved when executing representative domain tasks. This study aims to explore the use and assessment protocol developed in advance for RetV to gain an up-close look at teachers` habit of mind when mobilizing the agency. A reliable verbal report protocol is the key to obtain a high quality of interview data. This article will present the development and the refinement process of verbal report protocol based on the four phases of interview protocol refinement (IPR) framework. The four phases are: (1) ensuring interview questions align with research questions, (2) constructing an inquiry-based conversation, (3) receiving feedback on interview protocols, and (4) piloting the interview protocol. The refinement processes allow modification been made on some inadequacies in the constructed questions. In the development of this RetV, teacher agentic behaviors are grouped into four characteristics that are lifelong learning, mastery, entrepreneurship and collaboration. It is expected that the RetV interview questions may help teachers to be reflexives on their inquiry Physics lesson. However, after the preliminary test and expert validation, the agency term was changed into a more layman word for Malaysian culture that are decision making and action taking. The pilot testing is to confirm that the refined questions were understood by the respondents and able to obtain the intended answers based on the research objectives.