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Research Focus:My research has focused on establishing rich learning environments, frequently with the aid of technology, that are both engaging and complex, potentially assisting students in learning the "whats" in a manner that provides insights into the "whys." Much of this work has built on current literature regarding situated cognition and focused on the use of multimedia as one practical means of connecting classroom knowledge to its functional and social context. I have worked to advance pedagogical models that are consistent with my philosophical commitment of a relational ontology and situative epistemology. I have created software applications, redesigned entire courses in the School of Education and with the College of Arts and Sciences. I have developed project-based interventions for K-12 learners, supported K-12 teachers in developing interdisciplinary curriculum, and am currently involved in multiple projects to establish communities of learners, as well as editing a book for Cambridge University Press exploring this issue.In addition to this design focus, my research has focused on the exploration of various means of assessing thinking and problem solving within open-ended, science learning contexts. Computerized log files (time-stamped records of students' navigational choices on the computer) initially provided me with one means of capturing the dynamic processes inherent to learning and problem solving without intruding on the processes themselves. Consistent with these earlier efforts but focusing on classroom practices as opposed to simply human-computer interactions, I recently edited a special issue for the Journal of the Learning Sciences with the goal of thematizing for the field commonalties and differences in theoretical assumptions and methods with respect to situative perspectives of what it means to know and learn. In one manuscript for that issue, my colleagues and I advance a methodology for capturing cognition in situ, with the goal of tracing the historical emergence and development of practices, concepts, and resources. The methodology allows my colleagues and I to identify relevant data from a complex, evolving environment, and then to organize it into a web of meaning. This web can be used to illuminate the emergence and historical development of various practices, conceptual understanding, and resources occurring over extended time frames, as well as the potential of a particular environment for supporting these processes. During my first couple of years there was a focus on what I now call university "boutique" projects, in which I designed a study that resulted in publications and good scholarly debate among the educational research community but did little to bring about wide-scale, systematic change. I now am committed to applied research that has as part of its criteria for success a service component. For example, I am currently serving as principal investigator on a large NSF funded project involving the design and evaluation of an electronic knowledge network to support a virtual community of in-service and pre-service science and math teachers sharing, improving, and creating inquiry based pedagogical practices (http://ilf.crlt.indiana.edu). This project uses video streaming on the Internet to support math and science teachers in visiting each other's classrooms to observe and discuss approaches to teaching mathematics and science. The research goal of this project is to understand the principles for fostering, sustaining, and scaling communities of practice in which the value to participants of sharing their practice and entering in the dialogue outweighs the "costs" of participation. I intend to continue my research on learning communities, both face-to-face and through the Internet. My publications are sometimes theoretical and other times applied, are sometimes targeted towards university researchers and other times K-12 teachers, and have incorporated multivariate procedures as well as qualitative research methods. With a commitment to practical work that cuts across research, teaching, and service, my primary focus for the future is on better understanding the challenges of designing communities of practice to support science and technology learning. I have received a NSF-CAREER grant as well as a contract from Cambridge University Press to investigate these issues. I intend to develop an empirically grounded understanding of the potentials and challenges of developing communities of practice to support learning in diverse settings, allowing me to develop understanding in building and researching for communities intentionally designed by educators to support learning.
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Last updated May 31, 2001
URL: http://inkido.indiana.edu/research/research.html Address questions and comments to Sasha Barab |
