Against methodocentrism in educational research

Abstract

This essay defines and critiques ‘methodocentrism’, the belief that predetermined research methods are the determining factor in the validity and importance of educational research. By examining research in science studies and posthumanism, the authors explain how this methodocentrism disenables research from taking account of problems and non-human actants that are presumed to be of no importance or value in existing social science research methodologies, both qualitative and quantitative. Building from a critique of these methods as profoundly anthropocentric, the authors examine three crucial problematics in which methodocentrism functions in educational research: the institutionalization of graduate training, a wide-spread privileging of the visual (part and parcel of empiricism), and the seeming necessity of ‘data’ in social scientific research methodologies. Ultimately, this article does not reject the necessity of particular studies having methods—rigorous, philosophically grounded approaches to problems in the world—but it argues that the belief that methods must be selected from existing options and assembled before approaching the ‘objects’ of study is not only a form of bad science, it is also deeply implicated in anthropocentric and colonialist politics. Instead, what research requires today is a thorough rethinking of the very distinction between subject and object and a renewed questioning of how agency functions in specific research settings.     

Concurrent and longitudinal neuropsychological contributors to written language expression in first and second grade students

The primary purpose of this study was to examine several key questions related to the neuropsychological contributors to early written language. First, can we develop an empirical measurement model that encompasses many of the neuropsychological components that have been deemed as important to the development of written language? Second, once derived, will the neuropsychological components of this model remain stable over first and second grades or will the model change in its composition? Third, will the strength of the relationships between neuropsychological components and writing outcomes be constant over time, or will the strength of the relationships change over time? Finally, will the derived empirical model show significant concurrent and predictive relationships with written expression? The sample included 205 first grade students recruited from a single school district who were followed into the second grade via two cohorts: Measures were aligned with major neuropsychological components as extracted from theoretical models of written expression and available empirical findings examining the neuropsychological contributors to writing in children. These domains included fine-motor speed, language, short-term memory, long-term memory, and various attention/executive functions including working memory. Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) and longitudinal structural equation modeling (SEM) methods documented that three core latent traits were present and stable at both grades 1 and 2: Fine-Motor, Language, and Attention/Executive Functions. The overall model was highly related to written expression and spelling at both grades 1 and 2, with the first grade latent traits accounting for 52 and 55% of the variance in second grade written expression and spelling, respectively. At both grades, the Language and Attention/Executive Functions latent traits were more highly associated with written expression and spelling than the Fine-Motor latent trait.     

Electronic detection of dielectrophoretic forces exerted on particles flowing over interdigitated electrodes

Dielectric particles flowing through a microfluidic channel over a set of coplanar electrodes can be simultaneously capacitively detected and dielectrophoretically (DEP) actuated when the high (1.45 GHz) and low (100 kHz–20 MHz) frequency electromagnetic fields are concurrently applied through the same set of electrodes. Assuming a simple model in which the only forces acting upon the particles are apparent gravity, hydrodynamic lift, DEP force, and fluid drag, actuated particle trajectories can be obtained as numerical solutions of the equations of motion. Numerically calculated changes of particle elevations resulting from the actuation simulated in this way agree with the corresponding elevation changes estimated from the electronic signatures generated by the experimentally actuated particles. This verifies the model and confirms the correlation between the DEP force and the electronic signature profile. It follows that the electronic signatures can be used to quantify the actuation that the dielectric particle experiences as it traverses the electrode region. Using this principle, particles with different dielectric properties can be effectively identified based exclusively on their signature profile. This approach was used to differentiate viable from non-viable yeast cells (Saccharomyces cerevisiae).     

Designed by the pupils,for the pupils: an autism‐friendly school

There is growing interest in promoting autism‐friendly environments, especially in a school setting. Findings to date have generally advocated an accepted reductionist or generalist approach when providing an autism‐friendly built environment. However, previous studies, while very well intentioned, have rarely involved those with autism spectrum condition (ASC) to comment on and then instruct designers on what, for them, constitutes an autism‐friendly learning environment. If going to be truly inclusive, the authors contend that those who are most knowledgeable about ASC, those with ASC, should, whenever possible, be given the opportunity to comment on the design of our shared built environment. Hence this article first introduces some of the challenges faced by those with ASC in trying to cope with their surroundings, before proceeding to outline the development of a simple school design ‘jigsaw’ kit that helped pupils with ASC to communicate ideas for their perfect school. Used in four design workshops, secondary school aged pupils (aged 13 to 18) with ASC imparted their likes, dislikes and what was most important to them within the school environment. This facilitated comparison with current autism‐friendly guidelines and provides a valuable insight into the mind of the secondary pupil with ASC. It is hoped that by increasing awareness and then including those with ASC in describing what might constitute an autism‐friendly learning environment, it will help facilitate greater inclusion of the child with ASC into mainstream education and society at large.     

Teaching Statistics – Despite Its Applications

Evidence‐based policy requires sophisticated modelling and reasoning about complex social data. The current UK statistics curricula do not equip tomorrow's citizens to understand such reasoning. We advocate radical curriculum reform, designed to require students to reason from complex data.