CAPITULO III: METODOLOGÍA DE LA INVESTIGACIÓN
4.2 CONTRASTACIÓN DE HIPÓTESIS
4.2.4 Hipótesis secundarias 3
The theoretical framework informing this study is Activity Theory. Activity Theory has been identified as one of the most commonly used theoretical frameworks in contemporary educational investigations (Gedera & Williams, 2016), providing a conceptual lens to investigate the nature and development of complex dynamic systems and how they change over time. The classroom is representative of complex and dynamic social system. The iterative process of analysing a series of
lessons and identifying and implementing specific change processes suited the use of this theoretical framework.
Activity Theory emerged from Vygotsky’s (1987) theory of socio-cultural learning during the 1930s and 1940s, alongside the work of Leontiev, Luria and Engeström (Gedera & Williams, 2016). It provides a model that explains how learning occurs. The first generation model of Activity Theory (Figure 2, adapted from Engeström, 2001) identifies a triangular relationship between the subject (the phenomenon / group being studied), the object (intended learning outcome) and mediating artefact (the tool used by the subject to achieve the object) (Hashim & Jones, 2014).
It can be understood as a methodological foundation from which to observe the relations between “societal, institutional and personal dimensions of human development” (Hedegaard, 2012, as cited in Gedera & Williams).
Figure 2. Vygotsky’s first generation model of a mediated act
For the purpose of this study, the subject was the teacher who implemented the mediating artefact, the video cued reflection of the feedback strategies used, working towards the object: improving learning outcomes and feedback strategies.
Object Subject
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Activity Theory was adopted as the theoretical framework, as it presented a suitable structure for the teacher (subject) to observe, review, monitor and reflect on the teacher’s use of verbal, written and embodied feedback in lessons, which were recorded using self-tracking video technology (tool), to improve the effect of feedback on student learning. This application of Activity Theory fits with Hashim and Jones’ (2007) description of Activity Theory as the “integration of technology as tools which mediate social action. These tools, or artefacts, include instruments, signs, language, machines and computers” (p. 6). These researchers elaborate that whilst it may at times be difficult to analyse why people do things in a particular way, it can provide deeper insight to the more implicit elements of an action. Hashim and Jones argue that with the assistance of technology or “sophisticated tools” (p. 13), researchers are able to study “the elements of activities (how people do things) and the relationships between them (togetherness)” (p. 13). Therefore, in this study Activity Theory was deemed an appropriate theoretical lens for studying the elements of feedback practices and their influence on student learning, with the use of video footage to guide the teacher’s reflective analysis.The theoretical framework of Activity Theory allows a researcher to investigate components within complex social systems, and bounded structures or elements. In this study, feedback by the teacher was positioned as a bounded structure, or system element that is integral to and contributes to the functioning of the system. This theory further provided a framework for the researcher to study how the influences of society, the school, and the personal motives and demands on the teacher are constantly interacting in the classroom system (Gedera & Williams, 2016). Also providing a structure, activity theory provides insight about how student engagement is impacted by the frequency and nature of feedback given by the teacher, and the relationship between this and the development of the system as a whole (i.e., feedback and learning in this classroom setting). This facilitates analysis of complex systems, revealing contradictions that characterise such systems. In this study, activity theory is considered a suitable theoretical framework in this study as it was focused on an investigation that encompassed a classroom intervention in which the teacher sought to enhance student engagement by exercising transformative agency (Engeström, Sannino, & Virkkunen, 2014), to reveal the deeply embedded ways in which the system operates, sometimes through contradictions.
Activity Theory also offers a methodological framework that can guide researchers in their investigations. This framework espouses Vygotsky’s (1997) idea of holistic research to understand how a system develops and transforms itself. When undertaking methodological analysis of a system it is essential for the researcher to specify what is being developed, which in this study refers to effective and meaningful feedback practices by the teacher. The four components critical to holistic research as described by Vygotsky are: unit, historical development, theoretical robustness, and the role of the researcher (Gedera & Williams, 2016).
The system ‘unit’ studied in the present study was teacher feedback. Vygotsky (1987) defined “unit” as a product of analyses that possesses all the basic characteristics of the ‘whole’ (p. 46). Vygotsky (1987) identified two methods of analyses. The first is designed to study the elements within a system. In this study, this involved an atomistic approach where feedback practices as a ‘whole’ was broken down into “the simplest components or elements” (Gedera & Williams, 2016, pp. 8-9). Although this approach helps to dismantle the ’whole,’ doing so has the effect of losing the properties of the ‘whole’ in the elements. The second method occurs when the researcher breaks down the whole into units that retain the properties of the whole. This helps to retain the dynamic and relational qualities of the ‘whole.’ In using the checklist, the researcher sought to address the second method, but system level contradictions sometimes meant that atomistic approach resulted in the analysis.
Historical development is the concept Vygotsky (1987) used to articulate the complexity of ‘whole’ systems that are in continuous change. When researchers study a phenomenon historically, Vygotsky believed they are studying it in motion. Hence, this method foregrounds how systems change over time, the past is always present in how a system currently functions. Thus, the past is inseparable, embedded and merged into the present. In this study, it was apparent that the teacher’s development of feedback techniques was historically constructed, as were students’ classroom engagement; both system elements affected the change processes that occurred.
Theoretical robustness, explained Vygotsky (1987) is always demonstrated in how data is generated in social research. This is an important aspect in Activity Theory research because it relates to validity and reliability. Validity is enhanced when the researcher makes visible the concepts used in the interpretation of the data, including his/her conception of the development that has taken place, and the themes that emerged (Gedera & Williams, 2016). Reliability is enhanced in Activity Theory research when the researcher is clear about the object of the research. Both these aspects were given careful attention during data collection and analysis in the present study.
Finally, the role of the researcher that Vygotsky (1987) advocated was one of “fullness” (p. 36) in data gathering. He stressed the importance of showing how the research context was established as well as the ongoing role of the researcher during data collection, as he argued this gives greater insights into the process of development. The sections that follow (including Chapter 4) provide a detailed description of how the research context was established, and the role the researcher took throughout the data collection and analyses, which clarifies the conclusions that were drawn about feedback practices in the classroom, and the effects of the targeted developments.