The scientific method as a design
Consider an example. Somewhere along the way, you likely were taught some version of the stages in the scientific method. Way back when, I learned a version that went something like this; ask a question, construct a hypothesis, design and conduct an experiment, analyze your results, and reach a conclusion. Today, I teach Introductory Psychology and offer a similar model with the exception that the process now concludes with “publish your results”. The difference is that the advancement of science requires the sharing of findings and interpretations. The consideration of such findings frequently begins the cycle anew by triggering another researcher to ask a question and often to propose and test a different hypothesis. Mapping the scientific method to the sequence we propose is pretty easy. Of course, at a deeper level, the terms take on unique forms of application. Publish requires an understanding of a required communication style. The goal is not entertainment and not the development of suspense. It is important to communicate very clearly and precisely with the intend that the reader understand exactly how the data were generated and how the researcher used these data to come to any conclusions she was willing to claim. Certain sections of the write-up are copiously referenced because it is expected that the reviewers and eventually the readers will be able to understand where claims made originated and others can then compare and contrast any findings in a particular article with the work of other scholars.
Perhaps functioning as historian, scientist, writer, story teller, or film maker all involve generative processes culminating in communication. We see value in experience with different approaches - clarity in communicating the details of a process require a different approach then the development of suspense by offering some bits of information and withholding others. Our online content presently explores models of digital storytelling and filmmaking. Advocates have developed concrete strategies for using storytelling and filmmaking in the classroom and we will do our best to help you understand what projects based on these strategies might look like. We encourage you to consider the perspective of the advocates and contrast it with your own experience. Consider why an activity is supposed to be effective and whether the arguments seem to apply in your situation. We offer examples, but we do not want you to consider these recipes you must apply as we describe them. Just because we show you how to use a certain technology tool, we are not suggesting that this tool is the only option. Experience with tools makes it far easier to learn how to use other tools that may be better suited to your need. The same is true of learning tasks. Just because we provide one example of a learning task we do not assume you should try to duplicate this learning task in the content area that interests you. The example is intended to illustrate a strategy and to encourage you to think about how external activities might influence internal learning processes.