Methods for Researching Educational Technotheology: Actor Network Theory, Day Reconstruction Method, and Video Design-Based Research

Guiding Question: How can ANT, DRM, and VDBR be coordinated in a unique research framework for researching educational technotheology?

I will largely employ a methodological framework based on Actor-Network Theory (ANT), Day Reconstruction Method (DRM), and Video Design-Based Research (VDBR) for my research. These methods will help me address whether religion and spirituality matter in the design, engineering, and use of media and technologies.

ANT is both a methodological and theoretical framework that facilitates analysis of non-human actors in an educational network such as ideas, curricula, media, and technologies. DRM facilitates the documentation of activities. VDBR draws on video as a medium for DBR and for intervening in and improving educational practice. ANT is largely associated with science and technology studies (STS), originating in the works of Bruno Latour (1987; 2005), John Law (2009), and Michael Callon (1986). While ANT has been prominent in STS (Barter & Bebbington, 2012; Oppenheim, 2007; Saito, 2011; Tatnall, 2010, 2011; Whittle & Spicer, 2008; Wright & Parchoma, 2011), it is rare in educational studies (Fenwick & Edwards, 2010; 2012).

DRM complements ANT by analyzing the particulars of how students reconstruct their activities and experiences that reduces recall biases. In this way, my methodological framework will thus be uniquely situated to discern the detailed analysis of learner experiences using DRM (Diener & Tay, 2014; Kahneman & Krueger, 2006; Kahneman, Krueer, Schkade, Schwarz, & Stone, 2004a, 2004b; Krueger, Kahneman, Fischler, Sckade, Schwarz, & Stone, 2009).

VDBR considers the learners in complex systems that are systematically modified through multiple iterations of design processes (Barab, 2006; Barab & Squire, 2004; Barab, Thomas, Dodge, Squire, & Newell, 2004). The use of video applications and technologies allow for greater nuance and discerning complexities in design processes (Derry et al., 2010; Goldman-Segall, 1995; Goldman-Segall & Maxwell, 2002; Schnettler & Raab, 2009; Voithofer, 2005; Zahn, Pea, Hesse, & Rosen, 2010). My use of VDBR turns videos into design artifacts for intervention.

References

Barab, S. (2006). Design-based research: A methodological toolkit for the learning scientist. In R. K. Sawyer (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences (pp. 153-170). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Barab, S., & Squire, K. (2004). Design-based research: Putting a stake in the ground. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 13(1), 1-14.

Barab, S. A., Thomas, M. K., Dodge, T., Squire, K., & Newell, M. (2004). Critical design ethnography: Designing for change. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 35(2), 254-268.

Barter, N., & Bebbington, J. (2012). Actor-network theory: A briefing note and possibilities for social and environmental accounting research. Social and Environmental Accountability Journal, 33(1), 33-50.

Callon, M. (1986). Some elements of a sociology of translation: Domestication of the scallops and the fishermen of Saint Brieuc Bay. In J. Law (Ed.), Power, action and belief: A new sociology of knowledge? (pp. 196-233). London, UK: Routledge.

Derry, S. J., Pea, R. D., Barron, B., Engle, R. A., Erickson, F., Goldman, R., Hall, R., Koschmann, T., Lemke, J. L., Sherin, M. G. & Sherin, B. L. (2010). Conducting video research in the learning sciences: Guidance on selection, analysis, technology, and ethics. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 19(1), 3-53.

Diener, E., & Tay, L. (2014). Review of the day reconstruction method (drm). Social Indicators Research, 116(1), 255-267.

Fenwick, T., & Edwards, R. (2010). Actor-network theory in education. New York, NY: Routledge.

Fenwick, T., & Edwards, R. (2012). Researching education through actor-network theory. New York, NY: Routledge.

Goldman-Segall, R. (1995). Configurational validity: A proposal for analyzing multimedia ethnographic narratives. Journal for Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 4(2), 63-182.

Goldman-Segall, R. & Maxwell, J. W. (2002). Computers, the Internet, and new media for learning. In W. M. Reynolds & G. E. Miller (Eds.), Handbook of Psychology Volume 7: Educational Psychology (pp. 393-427). New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Kahneman, D., & Krueger, A. B. (2006). Developments in the measurement of subjective well-being. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 20(1), 3-24.

Kahneman, D., Krueger, A. B., Schkade, D., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A. (2004a). Toward national well-being accounts. The American Economic Review, 94(2), 429-434.

Kahneman, D., Krueger, A. B., Schkade, D., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A. (2004b). A survey method for characterizing daily life experience: The day reconstruction method. Science, 306(5702), 1776-1780.

Krueger, A. B., Kahneman, D., Fischler, C., Schkade, D., Schwarz, N., & Stone, A. A. (2009). Time use and subjective well-being in France and the U.S. Social Indicators Research, 93(1), 7-18.

Latour, B. (1987). Science in action. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Latour, B. (2005). Reassembling the social: An introduction to actor-network theory. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Law, J. (2009). Actor network theory and material semiotics. In B. S. Turner (Ed.), The new Blackwell companion to social theory (pp. 141-158). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

Law, J. (2004). After method: Mess in social science research. New York: Taylor & Francis.

Musburger, R. B. & Kindem, G. (2009). Introduction to media production: The path to digital media production (Chapter 2). Boston, MA: Elsevier.

Oppenheim, R. (2007). Actor-network theory and anthropology after science, technology, and society. Anthropological Theory, 7(4), 471-493.

Saito, H. (2011). An actor-network theory of cosmopolitanism. Sociological Theory, 29(2), 124-149.

Schnettler, B., & Raab, J. (2009). Interpretative visual analysis developments: State of the art and pending problems. Historical Social Research, 34(2), 265-295.

Tatnall, A. (2010). Using actor-network theory to understand the process of information systems curriculum innovation. Education and Information Technologies. 15(4), 239-254.

Tatnall, A. (Ed.). (2011). Actor-network theory and technology innovation. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference.

Voithofer, R. (2005). Designing new media education research. Educational Researcher, 34(9), 3-14.

Whittle, A., & Spicer, A. (2008). Is actor-network theory critique? Organization Studies, 29(4), 611-629.

Wright, S. & Parchoma, G. (2011). Technologies for learning? An actor-network theory critique of ‘affordances’ in research on mobile learning. Research in Learning Technology, 19(3), 247-258.

Zahn, C., Pea, R., Hesse, F. W., & Rosen, J. (2010). Comparing simple and advanced video tools as supports for complex collaborative design processes. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 19(3), 403-440.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *