Negotiating the Complexities of a Researcher-Developer-Practitioner Partnership: Activity Systems, Positioning, and Tensions

• In Event: 16.062 - Poster Session 2
  In Poster Session: 16.062-4 - Learning Sciences SIG Poster Session

Abstract

Intermediaries bring a new dimension to K-12 research-practice partnerships (RPPs) and raise questions of how partners from such different institutional backgrounds position themselves and one another to engage in collaborative design work. In this dissertation, I use activity systems analysis and qualitative discourse analysis to explore these dynamics in an RPP, the [Identifying Reference]. I use Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) and positioning theory to understand the tensions evident between the partners, given their different institutional backgrounds and explore intergroup positioning between the partners within the design process. I draw from key project documents, 108 hours of 12 audio-recorded joint meetings, fieldnotes, participant feedback forms, quarterly reports, meeting notes, and 52 cognitive interviews with partners.

Author

• Stephanie Brown, University of Colorado - Boulder