TEAC 800
Week 8 Arts-Based Research
For this week, read Section II in the Jaeger text, "Arts-Based Educational Research," pp. 71-116, by Tom Barone, Eliot Eisner, and Phillip W. Jackson. Here you will read about another qualitative approach to disciplined inquiry that is addressed in our text.
Here are some notes to help with your reading:
Verisimilitude: the appearance or semblance of truth; something, as an assertion, having merely the appearance of truth.
Epiphanic moments: a moment of epiphany. [Epiphany: a sudden, intuitive perception of or insight into the reality or essential meaning of something, usually initiated by some simple, homely, or commonplace occurrence or experience.]
“Whereas scientists aim to state meaning, artists aim to express meaning” (p. 75, emphasis in original).
Pay attention on pp. 73-78 to the seven features of arts-based research. While this is not a definitive checklist, the more features a piece has, the more likely it is arts-based.
Pay attention to the ideas of educational criticism (beginning on pg. 80) and narrative storytelling (beginning on pg. 82).
Pay attention to what Barone and Eisner have to say about the reliability, validity, and generalizability of arts-based research (beginning on pg. 84).
As you read the two examples of arts-based research at the end of the section, consider what makes these pieces research? What makes them arts-based? How do they compare to the checklist of seven features?
Beyond this week’s reading, it is time to begin reviewing the approaches we have studied thus far. This will help you prepare for the Research Representation Assignment for Week 11. On Blackboard, we will be posting the specifics of this assignment, as well as your groups (you will be in three large groups). Here is what we recommend:
Review each of the inquiry approaches we have addressed thus far (Comparative Experimental, Quasi-Experimental, Philosophic Inquiry, Case Study, Ethnography, Historical, and Aesthetic). In the coming weeks we will add Critical Theory and Surveys. For each of the approaches, be prepared to demonstrate/explain the following:
1. the types of problems/questions addressed
2. the types of settings in which the research is carried out
3. the role of the investigator(s)
4. the methods of inquiry, including the data gathered
5. the purposes of the research
Study Questions
1. (author’s view) Give three points that the authors make so elegantly that you need to quote or closely paraphrase them. Why do these passages speak to you?
2. (field’s view) What can you find out about Barone and Eisner?
3. (reader’s view/application) Tell us a short story (no more than one page) that illustrates a truth about teaching or learning. If you use a true story involving your students, make up pseudonyms for them.
4. During this week, read two of your peers’ stories. Choose one of the seven features of arts-based research and comment about how you see that feature in the story.
Week 8 To Do List (March 17-23) DUE March 23rd
1. Turn in a draft of your Research Evaluation Assignment by Sunday, March 23rd. Refer to the Peer Feedback handout (also in the Assignment folder) and be sure to conclude with questions for your peer reviewers. Post these drafts in your group (your equation name group) in Blackboard. Note: if you use Word 2007, please save your files as .rtf or as an earlier version of Word (97-2003). Not everyone’s computer has the capacity to open Word 2007 files. The same goes for peer reviewers—nothing is more frustrating than getting a review and not being able to open it.
2. Read Section II of the textbook.
3. Answer this week’s study questions and post your answers in your equation-named group on Blackboard by Sunday, March 23rd. Note that the last question asks you to respond to each other’s posts some time during the week (March 23-30).
4. Be in conversation with your big group about the research representation assignment (due April 13th).