This is what I presented at ISCAR Rome 2011

1. Methodological Issues to Consider when Conducting CHAT Educational Research with Activity Systems Analysis Lisa C. Yamagata-Lynch Associate Professor University of Tennessee Knoxville LisaYL@utk.edu ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues 1

2. Presentation Goals Start discussion among CHAT scholars on how to conduct research while understanding and communicating transformative relationships between the organism and the environment Or maybe there are conversations taking place, but we are not all conversing together so lets get together ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues 2

3. North American CHATEducational Research Since the late 1980s there has been a growing interest in theoretical paradigms that capture complex learning environments for understanding the relationship between the organism and the environment CHAT is one of several theoretical frameworks that has become popular The number of consumers of CHAT in educational research has grown ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues 3

4. North American Introduction to CHAT Cole (1985, 1996) and Wertsch (1981, 1985) introduced Vygotsky’s work Engeström (1987, 1993) introduced activity systems analysis as part of the expansive learning model The number of consumers of activity systems analysis as a data analysis tool grew, whether the work was interventionist or not ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues 4

5. Applications of CHAT in North American Educational Research Many treat activity systems analysis as an independent descriptive methodology Activity systems analysis is applied as a borrowed method in a manner that quantitative researchers choose one statistical method over another ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues 5

6. North American Discussions on CHAT Serves as a theoretical perspective for interpreting human interactions from a relational ontology Lack of discussion on: Methodological guidance on how to engage in research from this perspective (Yamagata-Lynch, 2010) How to capture and communicate human interaction as a transformative process (Stetsenko, 2009) ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues 6

7. Is this a problem? Not much public discussion among the CHAT community whether this is problematic or not It can be difficult for: Newcomers to engage in CHAT research CHAT community to develop a set of agreed-upon, trustworthy methodologies Engaging in meaningful transformative research ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues 7

8. North American Applications of ASA Used primarily in qualitative educational research as a descriptive tool to: Capture organizational change processes Identify how to design constructivist learning environments Identify systemic contradictions and tensions that shape developments in educational settings Demonstrate historical developments in organizational learning ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues 8

9. ASA Advantages in Educational Research Provides new methods for researchers to extract the essence of complex data sets in a graphic model that they can communicate with others (Yamagata-Lynch, 2010) Can capture educational change as it occurs rather than as it is hypothesized to occur (Rasmussen & Ludvigsen, 2009) ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues 9

10. Advantages During Analysis (Yamagata-Lynch, 2010) Work with a manageable units of analysis Find systemic implications Understand systemic contradictions and tensions Communicate findings from the analyses There are probably more ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues 10

11. Methodological Issues that need Further Discussion in North America Unit of Analysis Theory and Methodology Coherence Generalizability Issues Simplification Issues in Analysis ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues 11

12. Unit of Analysis Researchers and practitioners need to understand Vygotsky’s work on mediated action and subsequent works by Russian scholars to conceptualize the transformative unit of analysis in CHAT as object-oriented activity Activity includes both observable experiences and mental activities (El’konin, 1993, Galperin, 1989, Stetsenko & Arievitch, 1997) ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues 12

13. Unit of Analysis (continued) Need to effectively communicate meanings associated with subject, tool, object, rules, community, division of labor, outcomes, tensions, and systemic contradictions within the mediated action framework ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues 13

14. Theory and Methodology Coherence Make object-oriented activity as the unit of analysis consistently Don’t walk away from CHAT once it is introduced in the literature review Showcase a series of mediated actions with accompanying narratives in data analysis and presentation ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues 14

15. Theory and Methodology Coherence (continued) Discuss, in the findings, how CHAT as a theoretical framework and ASA as a methodological framework contributed to the investigation ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues 15

16. Generalizability Issues Need to be aware and honest that investigative goals are not to make generalizable claims CHAT research is interested in what Stake (1995) refers to as “petite generalization” that focuses on particularization ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues 16

17. Generalizability Issues (continued) Through research and practice CHAT scholars gain and share understandings of complex human activities by particularization ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues 17

18. Simplification Issues in Analysis Be aware that while ASA is designed to understand real-world complex situations, it cannot represent the complexities in its entirety (Yamagata-Lynch, 2003) Be systematic and purposeful about how participant experiences are introduced in narrative data ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues 18

19. Simplification Issues in Analysis (continued) Focus on identifying, summarizing, and reporting activities that are essential and relevant to the research questions in order to provide a trustworthy interpretation of the data set ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues 19

20. Conclusion about North American CHAT in Educational Research CHAT scholars need to engage in discussions related to methodological issues to understand, capture, and communicate human learning as a transformative experience ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues 20

21. ISCAR Congress Rome 2011 Symposium-Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a Powerful Tool Kit for Educational Research and Practice: Methodological Issues 21 Questions & Discussions