Drawing on Families' Ways of Perceiving and Knowing to Learn About Diverse Epistemologies in Action

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Research on children’s epistemological development (e.g., what counts as knowing, how we come to know) has focused on characterizing the nature and progression of individuals’ beliefs (Kuhn et al., 2000; Hofer & Pintrich, 1997), only recently attending to the socially mediated processes by which learning and development co-occur (Medin & Bang, 2014). In line with socio-cultural and interactional approaches to the study of learning, we suggest that exploring how learning unfolds in everyday activity can inform our understanding of families’ epistemologies. We present video data from four studies of minimally structured environments without explicitly stated learning goals. Each of the papers works to understand how learning agendas unfold in interaction as families negotiate sensemaking through question-asking, exploration and explanation building.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Informal Learning Environment Research

Chair

• Ananda Maria Marin, Northwestern University

Papers

• Epistemological Practices in Family Science Learning Activity: A Case Study - Megan R. Luce, Stanford University; Luke David Conlin, Stanford University

• Epistemic Ecologies Within Family Forest Walks - Ananda Maria Marin, Northwestern University

• "Reading the Land": Ontologies of Ecological Reasoning in Family Forest Walks - Priya K Pugh, University of Washington - Seattle

• Family Questioning Practices During Inquiry: Shaping Young Children's Ways of Perceiving and Knowing - Danielle Keifert, Exploratorium

Discussant

• Maureen A. Callanan, University of California - Santa Cruz