Uses of Theory in Proposals (“grand” to more specific theories) Day #4, June 20th CEP 955 Summer Hybrid 2013 Jack Smith Michigan State University

Back to the RQ Lab Laura: Background on her Practicum inquiry Work on her draft RQs New issue: What kind of analysis does each RQ call for? Joel: Background on his Practicum inquiry Work on his draft RQs Same issue: What kind of different analysis does “of-with-through” call for?

Homework check-in Did anyone last night decide “no theory” (really) in my Practicum? Currently, how many theories are shaping your studies? How and where to talk about theory, e.g., separate section or in Literature Review?

The Role of Theory (generally) Seeing is a conceptual act => we see with our ideas Looking, observing, recording, interpreting are all conceptual actions (applications of our ideas to raw observable data) Frameworks direct our attention to particular features of the world that we could notice, label, and record No explicit framework does not imply no framework (implicit, intuitive, unconscious frames) Researcher’s responsibility and reflective practice: Try to be explicit about what guides your seeing

Theory Scale (or “reach”) In educational psychology (at least)—as in other fields—theories differ in the range of phenomena they address “Grand” theory: All of human learning and/or development, e.g., Skinner’s operant conditioning theory Outside of education: plate tectonics in geology Many other theories narrow the range of their target phenomena; “medium” to “small-scale”?? Examples: TPACK: phenomenon = what teachers know about educational technology Wentzel: phenomenon = how social support, motivation, and achievement relate But scale is also dynamic; small-scale theories can be adapted to account for a wider range of phenomena (e.g., “perceived loss”)

Examples, Non-examples, & Questions Wentzel’s study had no orienting theory, right? One meaning of TPACK: A framework for examining teachers’ knowledge: CK, PK, TK, PCK, TCK, TPK, and finally TPCK; a theory of types of teacher knowledge If I think “cognitive load” and “self-regulation” have meaning, am I using cognitive load theory and the theory of self-regulated learning? “Communities of practice” (Wenger) as a lens on the activity of anime conference organizers

Theory Bites (x 2) Introducing Ginny’s Practicum Ginny: Andragogy (Knowles) Q&A; discussion Introducing James’ Practicum James: Gibson’s ecological theory (of affordances)

Grand Theory (of thinking, knowing & learning) Greeno, Collins, & Resnick (1996) provide a very useful top-level categorization of their families of theories Three broad perspectives (groupsof theories) Behavioral theories Cognitive theories Situative theories Situative (sometimes called “sociocultural”) theories focus on participating (as knowing) and on individual and collective knowing Rogoff, cognitive apprenticeship Brown, Collins, & Duguid (1989) “situated cognition” Jean Lave Etienne Wenger Perspectives form a temporal progression of the field (B->C->S)

General Writing Suggestions Use headers and sub-headers to direct the reader’s attention and support their comprehension Do worry about “smooth transitions”; a proposal is not an essay Watch out for long sentences; try for simple declarative sentences Stick with the active voice as much as possible (avoid constructions like “it was shown that…” Engage other readers for their suggestions; where do they have questions/get lost? Outline or enter short phrases and sentence fragments in “new sections” as placeholders

Homework for tomorrow Focus: Structuring your literature review Text: Gall, Gall, & Borg, chapter 4 Read for the overall gist; focus down selectively in sections that feel useful Question tomorrow: Which sections were useful? Writing task: Try either outlining your review section (if there have been changes) or revising and editing your section (if not) Some issues: Order of main points/results; does theory structure?; are you building an argument for a “hole” or open issue(s)? Schedule: Someone willing to move up their theory bite to tomorrow?