Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Part of the whole


PART OF THE WHOLE:
This week I am teaching my biology students about ecosystems, biomes, and ecology. In that light, today I found myself covering food webs and the flow of energy. I made it a point to focus on how EVERY species has a relationship (either directly or indirectly) with EVERY other species. In other words, living organisms are part of a larger ecological community (and this creates an interdependency). In the same way, our research interests are also interconnected to the larger context. In other words, when Jean Anyon (2009) wrote “That is, we assume one cannot understand or explain x by merely describing x. One must look exogenously at non-x”, she was describing the fact that in order to understand and appreciate the intricacies of our research topics, we must consider and explore the contingencies that play a role in our research outcomes. Social research is never independent of the contexts!







Anyon, J. (2009). Theory and educational research: Toward critical social explanation. New York: Routledge.










Bonus - two of my favorite quotes by Einstein and Krishnamurti:
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1 comment:

  1. Prof BensonMay 23, 2018 at 12:17 PM

    David it sounds like you are doing a great job teaching your students to think/look exogenously. I'm left wondering, however, why it's important for YOU to think exogenously about science education and pedagogy. Why is it important? What shape would this kind of looking/thinking take in terms of your research and writing?

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