Narrative Research and Creative Practice
Code
EDU 778
Short Course Description
This course focused on the use of narrative inquiry as a qualitative research method. Students examine and practice writing in narratives and using words and story as data instead of just numbers. Assignments and projects allow students to create their own narrative pieces and express research of a topic of their choosing in narrative form.
Greatest Course Takeaways
This was one of my favorite courses. I learned quite a bit in this course and it was a great introduction into more qualitative and creative means of research outside of the quantitative science and engineering methods that I was accustomed to. My greatest takeaway in this course was the power of narrative to not only tell a story as a means of information sharing, but to use it to learn about someone's perspective in a space or situation. One of the frustrations I have in the field of science and engineering is that too often, the conversation is geared towards scientists with advanced language and terminology without considering the many other people who would like to understand this information but were not given the opportunity to. This lack of opportunity could be through restricted access to these materials like journals behind a paywall, the presentation of the information in a way that does not meet the needs and level of the audience, or even the outright discouragement from those in higher positions in scientific fields towards others who are struggling to find their place. It tied into many of the aspects of reflection, struggle, and equity that I had in other course products (such as the History of Women at SUNY-ESF course product for HED 605).
This course - and the course product that was generated - provided me with tools and perspective to use narrative from others and from my own experience as a method of communication and understanding. I learned about gathering information from individual sources, looking at themes, and alternative ways of presenting information about science to others. People learn through storytelling, and the possibility of learning science through such narratives is no different. The nature of narrative inquiry in this class forced me to once again consider the perspective of others and their journeys, practice empathy and awareness, see how their experiences differed from mine, and observe how the systems in place in science and academia serve some but harm others. Narrative inquiry was another tool added to my shed for how I can communicate with others within my classroom and within the general public to teach them about science.
Course Product Description
The course product for this course was a working narrative crafted around a research problem that was selected by the student as significant and requiring of narrative methods to address them. After the research problem and the stance was discussed, a narrative piece (final project for the course) was constructed in response to the selected research problem. In the case of this portfolio, the constructed narrative was selected as representation of this course. A medium of choice, such as the written word, sequential art, film, etc. could be selected to present this narrative.
For my narrative, I utilized a multitude of methods to tell a story about science communication. I utilized personal observations during my time in science classrooms, my own reflections about qualitative vs. quantitative research and how I struggled with these methods as a scientist by training, fictional letters between scientists and "non"-scientists, and narratives constructed from the first-hand experiences of my peers who were accepted and rejected in science. I also used alternative methods for presenting scientific information, procedures, and results, such as telling stories of each researcher involved in a published research project, using different language to describe a scientific procedure (distillation), and demonstrating how science topics like climate change can be depicted with written narratives and visual narratives.
Click Here to See the Course Product for this Course and Others in the Portfolio.
Selection of Product for Portfolio
I selected this product for my portfolio because it was very impactful to my development as an educator and as a person in the science and engineering fields. My research problem was inspired by a real-life experience in a local City of Syracuse middle school in which I was volunteering. During this experience, I observed students in the science classroom absolutely lost and disengaged in the lesson, flooded with handouts and technical vocabulary in their textbooks that felt lifeless and uninspiring to the students. I distinctly remember sitting with two students working on understanding DNA and utilizing a conversation between the two students (concerning why one student was taller than the other when they were competing to see who was taller) as a means to connect DNA to their real-life experience in language they could understand. This begged the question - with the influence of other coursework and course products in my subconscious and my own life experiences and observations - of why scientists communicate information the way they do. Thus, this course product was born.
This course product gave me the opportunity to be creative, something that was lacking in most engineering curriculums at the college level. It allowed me to explore methods of expressing real problems in scientific society via qualitative means and weave different types of narratives and written pieces together to tell a story about science communication. In this project, I explored the frustrations on both sides of the coin of scientific information and misinformation between experts in their science and engineering fields and the general public, and how some of the root of that friction is due to the poor communication of information between the two parties. I did this through both a narrative and a more technical method. I was then able to play with the way we communicate science by presenting information from scientific research as narratives of those involved and their perspectives of their research as well as their experiences participating in the activities for the project.
I was also able to showcase how the use of visuals and how the use of more relatable language were tools that could help others understand science that were informative but non-technical in nature. Working with students of various backgrounds and prior knowledge requires the ability to figure out where they are, what their ideas are, and what their experiences are to better meet them at their current level of understanding. Having practice and skill in communicating new information in non-technical ways that is understandable and digestible to students is crucial in teaching science and mathematics at any grade, let alone the collegiate level. This course product emphasized this point to me and gave me an opportunity to dabble in new methods of science communication.
This course product allowed me to explore my own biases towards qualitative research that I struggled with throughout portions of this degree program. Qualitative research is important in the field of teaching and curriculum to learn about the experiences of your students and help reform educational practices to make them more equitable to all. This course product allowed me to move past those biases by forcing me to write in a narrative fashion and to explore creative means of bringing to light and addressing my research problem.
Most of all, I chose this research project because it is a culmination of my passion toward collegiate education. Two of my favorite pieces in this project were my interviews with two of my peers - one who was studying "soft" science (psychology) and another who was studying "hard" science (biotechnology). It was through these interviews and the retelling of their stories that I learned just how much the environment in which one is learning and engaging in science is influential in their pursuit and success in the scientific field. Utilizing narrative inquiry and interviewing to learn about the experiences of others is beneficial to shaping curriculum, teaching techniques, and overall academic systems in a way that supports all students who wish to participate, not just a select few who are seen as "bright" or "belonging" there.
Contribution of Product to Overall Program
This course product solidified my passions and goals in Teaching and Curriculum. My initial intrigue in this program came from a place of social justice that I was not aware was evident until this course, though hints of it were apparent as I dabbled in other courses and course products prior. I had taken a course on teaching skills for non-teachers in preparation to teach a class on professional engineering skills to undergraduate students the following semester. Why? I wanted to be prepared for the task asked of me - teaching - plain and simple. That kickstarted my eventual passion for wanting to pursue this degree program, and it was only emphasized by participation and completion of this course project. I realized through other course products and this one that my educational training as an undergraduate engineer was inadequate to what my standards were after learning about teaching. I grew frustrated that I was taught in a manner that did not promote true learning of this material, but instead memorization and regurgitation. Moreso, I grew frustrated as I watched my undergraduate peers - years later - struggle with the same issues in the classroom. In some cases, students transferred and dropped out because they felt discouraged from participating in science, engineering, and academia.
Completing this course product required learning about the stories of my peers and seeing situations in the educational systems around me with my own eyes. It was through this that I realized one of my true reasons for wanting to become a professor and completing this program was to ensure that I was a great teacher for my students. I learned that I loved teaching science and that I wholeheartedly believed that anyone and everyone could learn science, and that anyone and everyone should have the opportunity and support to do so. This concept is at the core of my being as an educator, and I see it in the way that I interact with students and how I respond to their feedback, how I create materials in multiple formats (video, PDF slides, and transcripts, for example) to provide information in various forms for my students with different information preferences, in the examples I use and the lessons I create to try and relate to the lives of the students, and even the projects and assessments that I assign that attempt to take advantage of multiple modes of expression of knowledge so that every student's voice is heard in the conversation.
I cannot say for certain that this perspective and social awareness would not have come without this course product, but this course product certainly accelerated that perspective and belief in each and every student. This influenced the ways in which I engaged with other courses that succeeded this one in the program, and reminded me of the importance of audience when designing instruction, collecting and evaluating qualitative data, and overall working with students in the future.