Using ethnography and discourse analysis to research epistemic practices in science and engineering education

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In this workshop, I will describe research methods grounded in ethnography and discourse analysis. Participants will then use these methods to examine epistemic practices in science and engineering education. Science and engineering education are increasingly interested in epistemic dimensions of learning, including the ways that knowledge claims are justified and assessed across social configurations in educational settings. Decisions about the validity of knowledge claims are rooted in discussions of evidence. I will provide examples of discourse analysis from video of students working in elementary engineering design. My research methodology for examining epistemic practices proceeds through a series of steps that include ethnographic description of the educational context, sociolinguistic analysis of talk and action, sequential analysis of activity across time scales, and identification of specific epistemic practices through detailed coding. Discussion will distill methodological principles guiding this research approach, identify affordances and challenges of qualitative research, and address participants’ questions about analyzing video data sets.