Constructing Networks of Action-Relevant Episodes: An In Situ Research Methodology

In this article, we advance a methodology for capturing and tracing the emergence, evolution, and diffusion of a practice, conceptual understanding, resource, or student-constructed artifact. The Constructing Networks of Action-Relevant Episodes (CN–ARE) methodology allows researchers to identify relevant data from a complex, evolving environment, and then to organize it into a web of action that can illuminate the historical development (evolving trajectory) of the phenomenon of interest (e.g., conception of an eclipse, applications of a mathematical formula, an evolving student-constructed Website). To accomplish this end, experiences are (a) sectioned into action-relevant episodes (AREs), (b) parsed down to codes in a database, and (c) then represented as nodes in a network so that the historical development of the particular phenomenon of interest can be traced. The CN–ARE methodology is especially useful for researchers interested in carrying out design experiments in which research findings with respect to one iteration of a course are cycled into the design of future course instantiations. In addition to setting the context and providing a theoretical rationale for the CN–ARE methodology, this discussion includes an in-depth description of the methodology along with its application to data sets. Following these examples, we close with a discussion of the scope and limitations of this methodology, touching on issues of trustworthiness, credibility, and usefulness. Correspondence and requests for reprints should be sent to Sasha A. Barab, School of Education,