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ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues
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Methodological Issues to Consider when Conducting CHAT Educational Research with Activity Systems AnalysisLisa C. Yamagata-LynchAssociate Professor
University of Tennessee Knoxville
ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues
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Presentation GoalsStart discussion among CHAT
scholars on how to conduct research while understanding and communicating transformative relationships between the organism and the environment
Or maybe there are conversations taking place, but we are not all conversing together so lets get together
ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues
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North American CHATEducational ResearchSince the late 1980s there has been a
growing interest in theoretical paradigms that capture complex learning environments for understanding the relationship between the organism and the environment
CHAT is one of several theoretical frameworks that has become popular
The number of consumers of CHAT in educational research has grown
ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues
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North American Introduction to CHATCole (1985, 1996) and Wertsch
(1981, 1985) introduced Vygotsky’s work
Engeström (1987, 1993) introduced activity systems analysis as part of the expansive learning model
The number of consumers of activity systems analysis as a data analysis tool grew, whether the work was interventionist or not
ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues
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Applications of CHAT in North American Educational Research
Many treat activity systems analysis as an independent descriptive methodology
Activity systems analysis is applied as a borrowed method in a manner that quantitative researchers choose one statistical method over another
ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues
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North American Discussions on CHATServes as a theoretical perspective
for interpreting human interactions from a relational ontology
Lack of discussion on:◦Methodological guidance on how to
engage in research from this perspective (Yamagata-Lynch, 2010)
◦How to capture and communicate human interaction as a transformative process (Stetsenko, 2009)
ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues
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Is this a problem?Not much public discussion among
the CHAT community whether this is problematic or not
It can be difficult for:◦Newcomers to engage in CHAT research◦CHAT community to develop a set of
agreed-upon, trustworthy methodologies
◦Engaging in meaningful transformative research
ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues
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North American Applications of ASAUsed primarily in qualitative
educational research as a descriptive tool to: ◦Capture organizational change processes◦Identify how to design constructivist
learning environments ◦Identify systemic contradictions and
tensions that shape developments in educational settings
◦Demonstrate historical developments in organizational learning
ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues
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ASA Advantages in Educational Research
Provides new methods for researchers to extract the essence of complex data sets in a graphic model that they can communicate with others (Yamagata-Lynch, 2010)
Can capture educational change as it occurs rather than as it is hypothesized to occur (Rasmussen & Ludvigsen, 2009)
ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues
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Advantages During Analysis (Yamagata-Lynch, 2010)
Work with a manageable units of analysis
Find systemic implicationsUnderstand systemic
contradictions and tensionsCommunicate findings from the
analysesThere are probably more
ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues
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Methodological Issues that need Further Discussion in North America
Unit of AnalysisTheory and Methodology
CoherenceGeneralizability IssuesSimplification Issues in Analysis
ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues
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Unit of AnalysisResearchers and practitioners need to
understand Vygotsky’s work on mediated action and subsequent works by Russian scholars to conceptualize the transformative unit of analysis in CHAT as object-oriented activity
Activity includes both observable experiences and mental activities (El’konin, 1993, Galperin, 1989, Stetsenko & Arievitch, 1997)
ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues
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Unit of Analysis (continued)Need to effectively communicate
meanings associated with subject, tool, object, rules, community, division of labor, outcomes, tensions, and systemic contradictions within the mediated action framework
ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues
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Theory and Methodology CoherenceMake object-oriented activity as
the unit of analysis consistentlyDon’t walk away from CHAT once
it is introduced in the literature review
Showcase a series of mediated actions with accompanying narratives in data analysis and presentation
ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues
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Theory and Methodology Coherence (continued)
Discuss, in the findings, how CHAT as a theoretical framework and ASA as a methodological framework contributed to the investigation
ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues
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Generalizability IssuesNeed to be aware and honest
that investigative goals are not to make generalizable claims
CHAT research is interested in what Stake (1995) refers to as “petite generalization” that focuses on particularization
ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues
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Generalizability Issues (continued)
Through research and practice CHAT scholars gain and share understandings of complex human activities by particularization
ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues
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Simplification Issues in AnalysisBe aware that while ASA is
designed to understand real-world complex situations, it cannot represent the complexities in its entirety (Yamagata-Lynch, 2003)
Be systematic and purposeful about how participant experiences are introduced in narrative data
ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues
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Simplification Issues in Analysis (continued)
Focus on identifying, summarizing, and reporting activities that are essential and relevant to the research questions in order to provide a trustworthy interpretation of the data set
ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues
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Conclusion about North American CHAT in Educational Research
CHAT scholars need to engage in discussions related to methodological issues to understand, capture, and communicate human learning as a transformative experience
ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues
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Questions & Discussions