Research Goals
The Ash Lab is committed to the following research goals:
- Generate theory on how families learn in dialogue and interaction with each other, particularly in out-of-school settings;
- Develop theoretically-grounded tools to collect and analyze data and understand scientific meaning making over time
- Examine the potential contribution of out-of-school environments to contribute to science education for a public of diverse learners
- Address issues of equity and access to science education for diverse learning communities
Research Perspectives
Our goals and projects are grounded in the following perspectives on learning:
- Sociocultural Theory: Our research is grounded in sociocultural theory, which assumes learning is a social and cultural activity in which meaning is negotiated collaboratively through interaction among people using objects, language, and other tools (Rogoff, 1990; Vygotsky, 1978). Learning happens during joint activity, that is in dialogue, and that dialogue need to be considered as carrying out the goals of that joint productive activity (Gee & Green, 1998; Rogoff, 1991; Tharp & Gallimore, 1988; Wertch, 1991) Science learning science means developing the ability to participate in these socially and historically situated practices (Rosebery, Warren, & Conant, 1992).
- Scientific Meaning-Making: We think about science as social activity with a particular way of exploring, conceptualizing and representing the world. Thus, science learning science means developing the ability to participate in these socially and historically situated practices (Rosebery, Warren, & Conant, 1992). Science has coevolved with particular social practices and cultures, and thus conceptual change is not a matter of merely changing ideas, but of changing identities, values, and cultural ways of thinking about the world (Lemke, 2001). Researchers interested in equity in science education must seek methodologies that question the assumptions and values behind scientific practice and consider multiple perspectives on learning.
- Equity: We are committed to working with audiences from diverse linguistic and cultural communities. We begin with the perspective that when studying science learning, it is critical to understand what learners bring to science and to the setting, and how this relates to what is valued by the discipline and the environment (Barton, 2001; Brown, 2004, Moschkovich & Brenner, 2000; Warren et al, 2001)
- Everyday & Scientific Reasoning: We believe that researchers interested in equity in science education must seek methodologies that question the assumptions and values behind scientific practice and consider multiple perspectives on learning. This agenda involves moving beyond the continuum of “everyday” and “scientific” thinking and talking. Researchers have developed many ways of thinking about scientific discourse that pose “everyday,” “informal,” or “naive “ against “scientific,” “canonical” and “experienced.” No matter what the vocabulary, these dichotomies tend to privilege a particular kind of talk. Our work attempts to discuss this in away that address the dialectic between the discipline influencing the learner and the learner influencing the discipline. We assume that if a more diverse community of people are to participate in science, the dominant, static notion of science will have to adapt to incorporate new perspectives.
- Informal Learning: Our research looks beyond schools to understand the diverse resources that contribute to science literacy. We explore role that museums, aquaria, and other out-of-school environments play in connecting school and home science, and bridging the many ways that learners make sense of science in their lives.
