Constructing Networks of Activity: An In-Situ Research Methodology.

This article adopts a situative perspective on what it means to know and to learn, describing knowing as a continuous event distributed across multiple time frames and environmental particulars (e.g., textbooks, collaborating individuals, previous experiences, and computer representations) . A methodology is presented that captures cognition in situ, with the goal of tracing the emergence and development of practices, concepts, and resources, as well as the role of particular interventions in supporting this process. The sociological approach of actor-network theory provides the structural framework within which the Constructing Networks of Activity (CNA) methodology is grounded. In advancing CNA methodology, a set of criteria for researchers introducing novel methods that was developed by A. Schoenfeld (1992) is applied. In addition to setting the context and providing a rationale for the CNA methodology, the discussion includes an in-depth description of the methodology and its application to data sets and a discussion of the reliability, validity, scope of application, and limitations of the method. Three appendixes contain scenarios of the method in use. (Contains 2 tables, 7 figures, and 44 references.) (Author/SLD) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** Running Head: Constructing Networks of Activity Constructing Networks of Activity: An In-Situ Research Methodology Sasha A. Barab Indiana University Kenneth E. Hay Learning and Performance Support Laboratory, University of Georgia Lisa C. Yamagata-Lynch Indiana University This paper was presented at the 1999 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. Please do not duplicate without the permission of the authors. Correspondence about this article should be addressed to Sasha A. Barab, School of Education, Room 2232, 201 N. Rose Ave, Bloomington, IN, 47405. SBarab@Indiana.Edu. 812 856-8462. u 2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE

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