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The University of Sydney Page 1
Interdisciplinary
methods for researching
teaching and learning
Workshop
Lina Markauskaitė
24 November 2016 @ University of
Stirling

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The University of Sydney Page 2
Background

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The University of Sydney Page 3
My 2 (out of 5) “modes” of making
interdisciplinarity

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The University of Sydney Page 4
Interdisciplinarity: ‘hot’ but not ‘new’
Origins
– Circa1920
– US Social Science
Research Council
– A bureaucratic shorthand
to refer to all SRC’s
societies

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The University of Sydney Page 5
Two images of interdisciplinary: Bright
From Frank, 1988, p. 146

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The University of Sydney Page 6

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The University of Sydney Page 7
What do we mean by it?
From Frank, 1988, p. 143

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The University of Sydney Page 8
Interdisciplinarities…
Multidisciplinarity
Within disciplines
Close disciplines
Complementing
Methodological
Instrumental
‘Single man’ science
Cooperative
Collocated
Knowledge focussed
Professional
Transdisciplinarity
Across disciplines
Remote disciplines
Hybridizing
Theoretical
Critical
Team science
Collaborative
Remote
Problem-focused
Social
Integration
Scope
Proximity
Function
Extent
Sharing
Nature
Mode
Role
Distribution
Space

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The University of Sydney Page 9
Disciplines of education
1. Psychology
2. Sociology
3. Philosophy
4. History
5. Economics
6. Comparative ed
7. Geography
8. …
Education as major “importer” from other disciplines
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v534/n7609/ful…

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The University of Sydney Page 10
What is “within” and what is “across”?
Education as an (interdisciplinary) field of study
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v534/n7609/ful…

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The University of Sydney Page 11
Discipline as…
…a set of shared dispositions
about:
a) Objects
b) Evidence
c) Methods
d) Expertise
Production of cumulative
knowledge
A dual mandate of “science”:
• values intellectual agency
• imposes constrains on
knowledge development
https://www.findaupair.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/kids-discipline

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The University of Sydney Page 12
Educational research as…
Research-as-science
1. Finite cluster of social
sciences: psychology,
sociology, etc
2. Loose groupings:
curriculum, professional
development, etc
3. Discipline(s) on its own
right: the learning
sciences, other
institutionalised practices
….as disciplined inquiry
Research-as-project
1. “Normal” science-as-
project: diffuse,
interpretative, textually
driven, implicit
2. Researcher-participant
collaboration
3. Multi-, Inter-, Trans-tribal
research
…as activity in the world
MacDonald, 1994; Tolumin, 1972

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The University of Sydney Page 13
Has educational research
ever been mono-
disciplinary?
John Furlong, 2016 Nov 17

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The University of Sydney Page 15
Your questions, comments, reflections…
1. How do you describe your “tradition”?
2. What is “inter-” in your project?
Education
Source: http://xkcd.com/435/

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The University of Sydney Page 16
EXAMPLE 1:
‘Easy’ interdisciplinarity
Following a tradition

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The University of Sydney Page 17
From ISLS Vision 2009
Interdisciplinary tradition of the learning
sciences

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The University of Sydney Page 19
A view of learning
Learning is distributed…
…across people, and across tools and artifacts.
Activity
System
…therefore, it is situated and,
importantly, mediated.
Research involves production of
design artefacts – technology,
models, principles, theories

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The University of Sydney Page 20
Design-based research
…a systematic but flexible
methodology aimed to improve
educational practices through
iterative analysis, design,
development, and implementation,
based on collaboration among
researchers and practitioners in
real-world settings, and leading to
contextually-sensitive design
principles and theories.
Wang & Hannafin, 2005, p.
6
…involves the creation of a
theoretically-inspired innovation,
usually a learning environment, to
directly address a local problem.
Barab, 2008, p. 155
Action
research
(Lab)
experimen
ts
DBR

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The University of Sydney Page 21
DBR: Main steps & characteristics
1. Grounded in theory and
real-world settings
2. Addresses theory-
building and practice
innovation
3. Interactive, participatory
4. Iterative, flexible
5. Integrative (mixed
methods)
6. Contextual
1 Exploration and
development of
“grounded models”
2 Development of
artifacts
3 Feasibility/Field
Study/ Definitive
Test
4. Dissemination &
Impact
5. Refinement
Middleton et al, 2008

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The University of Sydney Page 22
Example: Learning about climate systems
– Learning complexity
knowledge
– “Productive failure” and
analogical encoding
– Developing concrete
models, worksheets, etc
– Trialing solutions in a
classroom, refining
Acknowledgement: ARC Linkage project with Michael Jacobson

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The University of Sydney Page 23
DBR: Some challenges
1. Researcher-participant relationship and roles
2. Hawthorne effect
3. Reliability and validity
4. Capturing context and process
5. Managing, integrating and analyzing various, often ‘rich’,
data formats
Design &
Refine
Implement &
Observe
Analyze
Design &
Refine
Implement &
Observe
Analyze

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EXAMPLE 2:
‘Hard’
interdisciplinarity
Working outside
educational traditions

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The University of Sydney Page 25
Some layers of social inquiry: and living
between the “ends”
What kind of conclusions will
we be able to draw?
Where do we focus?
What kind of evidence do we
collect?
What things do we choose to
notice?
How do we know & research?
What kinds of questions do we
ask?ONTOLOGY
EPISTEMOLOGY
METHODOLOGY
INSTRUMENTATION
DATA
ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES
Realism
Positivism
Nomothetic
Segregation
Numerical
Statistical
Nominalism
Anti-positivist
Ideographic
Integration
Qualitative
Interpretative

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The University of Sydney Page 26
“Descartes error”
Post-positivism Critical
(Discourse analysis)
Participatory,
Constructivist
(Action research)
Post-modernism
New materialism
Ecological perspectives
Performative
(Arts-based inquiry)
Complexity
Positivist Interpretativist
(Interaction analysis, Phenomenology)
Critical realism
(Design based research)
Feminism
(Discourse analysis)

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The University of Sydney Page 27
“Performative” science
Ontology
– Materialist
– Phenomenological
– Psychology of perception
Epistemology
– Performative: centrality of
“raw” perception, skill, body
and action
– [Anthropology] is not a study of at
all, but a study with.
Anthropologists work and study
with people. Immersed with them in
an environment of joint activity, they
learn to see things (or hear them, or
touch them) <…> it educates our
perception of the world, and opens
our eyes and minds to other
possibilities of being.” (Ingold,
2010, 238)
Material ecology
It is NOT an eclectic constellation of
different ontologies, epistemologies
and methodologies

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The University of Sydney Page 28
Example: Studying “actionable knowledge”
Ontology: realist, dynamic
Axiology: internal-external
Epistemology: manifold
Human nature: grounded
Methodology: interpretativeImmanuel Kant
1724-1804
Thomas S. Kuhn
1922-1996
David Hume
1711-1776
Manuel Delanda
Lawrence Barsalou
Stephen Toulmin
1922-2009
Atkinson & Shriffin
Grounded cognition & manifold view of human conceptual understanding
It is NOT an eclectic constellation

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The University of Sydney Page 29
Research as “method” and Research as “craft”
Design
Data
Analysis
Findings
Hypothesis
Design
Data
Analysis
Findings
Hypothesis
Design
Data
Analysis
Hypothesis
Data
Analysis
Analysis
Analysis
Hypothesis
Findings
Findings
Findings
Improvisation based on Patton (2011) Developmental evaluation

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The University of Sydney Page 30
Traditional challenges
Design
Data
Analysis
Findings
Hypothesis
Design
Data
Analysis
Hypothesis
Data
Analysis
Analysis
Analysis
Hypothesis
Findings
Findings
Findings
Improvisation based on Patton (2011) Developmental evaluation
1. Lack of compact theoretical language
2. No ready methodological toolbox
3. Being outside “epistemic renting” culture
4. Creating cumulative knowledge

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The University of Sydney Page 31
Your questions and comments
1. What are your main methodological challenges working in
your “inter” spaces?
Education
Source: http://xkcd.com/435/

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The University of Sydney Page 33
Interdisciplinary work requires
epistemological awareness and...
epistemic fluency
Email:
Lina.Marakauskaite@sydney.edu.au
My final note