Embedded Research Practices in Informal Science Learning: Valuing Axiological, Theoretical, and Epistemological Orientations Over Methodology

• In Event: 66.086 - MTCC Roundtable Session 29
  In Roundtable Session: 66.086-9 - Methodological Considerations in Informal Learning Environments Research

Abstract

This paper addresses two common challenges in informal learning research-practice partnership work: 1.) what happens when methodology doesn’t “work” in practice and 2.) techniques for working together. Based in an ongoing participatory research project with a museum-based informal science education (ISE) high school program, it argues that focusing on shared axiological, epistemological, and theoretical commitments can lead to emergent methods rooted in practice that serve needs of both research and practice. It responds to the call for broadening methodologies in ISE research, but also addresses concerns about methodocentrism (valuing pre-determined methods over research processes and findings). It provides three examples of “embedded research practices” that both generate and analyze data and serve as professional development and reflection for practitioners.

Author

• Shannon McManimon, SUNY - College at New Paltz