The purpose of this study was to enlarge the understandings of the problem finding process by uncovering how professors in the fields of natural science and humanities. Thus, the process, standards, and characteristics of professors were studied by co...
The purpose of this study was to enlarge the understandings of the problem finding process by uncovering how professors in the fields of natural science and humanities. Thus, the process, standards, and characteristics of professors were studied by conducting in-depth interviews with ten professors of high expertise in fields of natural science and humanities.
The results of this study were as follows. First, professors’ problem finding processes were classified into top problem finding process and sub problem finding process. Top problem finding process is professors’ figuring out of top problems of themselves. Top problems are the problems encompassing the objectives of scholastic community; shared, collective, and suggested problems through the community. This notification of top problem emerged at the point where the ego and top problem perspective, which consists of graphical and categorical knowledge about the value and information of problems shared in scholastic community, converge. The level of top problem finding differed in terms of top problem perspective of individual and the level of understandings of ego, and at the same time, change in top problem took place according to the changes in top problem perspective and ego. The sub problem finding process is professors’ process of discovering detailed problems to achieve the objectives of top problem. Sub problems are those unshared, individual, and created ones, which are stated problems stated for the study to be conducted. Sub problem finding occurred in the form of formation of novel problem, restructuring, and elaborating. Sub problem finding was accomplished while top problem and its perspective detected and united cues. These cues included new phenomenon, knowledge, communication, and accidental inspiration.
Second, professors had standards to examine problems in the course of problem finding. This standard is divided into meaning standard and implement standard. Meaning standard is for determining the importance of problem consisted of intersubjectivity, which reflects the interest of scholastic community, and influence, which reveals the core principle, enlarges the prospect of studies, and determines assistance to other study, finally originality, which determines the problem is original that other researchers do not handle. Implement standard determines the appropriateness of problem as a study subject possibility of performance, determining whether it can be dealt as actual study. Standards to examine problems contains conflicting values and professors utilized two standards in combined manner by adjusting and tuning them during problem finding.
Third, professors’ problem finding process had three characteristics. First one is the historicity of problem finding that problems discovered by professors reflect life and experience of individuals. Second one is the hierarchy of problem finding, meaning that top problem finding always occurs before sub problems finding. Last one is the circulation of problem finding. An event that problem solving leads to another problem finding and this again leads to problem solving, meaning that problem finding and solving continue to circulate.
Fourth, the process, standards, and characteristics of problem finding are united together in circulatory manner. Life and experience of professors acquiring knowledge for a long time allow them to build top problem perspective and ego, and these form the standard to determine problems. And, top problem finding through the unity of top problem perspective and ego. Then, sub problems finding occurs while professors detect novel cues and associate them, and this detection and association is enabled by top problem and its perspective. Standards of problem finding continually work during these process of top problem and sub problem finding. Research result from these found sub problems again connected to individual’s experience and knowledge, leading to another process of new problem finding.
Finally, this study sought for the difference in the problem finding process of professors studying fields of natural science and humanities as well as closely inspecting problem finding process by examining the problem finding process of professors in each field. However, no differences were found in these both groups in terms of problem finding process previously mentioned.
This study has significances as follows. First, it is meaningful that process of problem finding was rather closely examined by conducting study on examples in which actual problem finding took place. Through this, it is verified that there are two separate processes of top and sub problem finding. Secondly, it is meaningful that this study inspected the cases of professors who accomplished significant outcome, which in other words tells that problem finding process of professionals whose finding of problem has far more important meanings. Thirdly, it is meaningful that it enlarged the prospect of study by examining both natural science and humanities at the same time, overcoming the limitation of conventional problem finding study which mainly dealt with scientific fields.