Roundtable Session: Perspectives on Chaos and Complexity Theories in Education
Thu, April 8, 12:00 to 1:00pm EDT
Leading At-Risk Schools Through Phase Transitions and Probability Analysis: Educational Leadership in a Chaotic World
Don Gilstrap, University of Alabama
The recent COVID 19 crisis has created turbulent and uncertain futures for educational settings that resemble chaotic systems. As a result, it is perhaps one of the periods in our recent history that simultaneously puts a great deal of stress on chaos and complexity researchers but yet also provides unique and unprecedented opportunities for these same researchers to help others make sense out of the world. This paper incorporates the research of Prigogine (1980, 1996) on phase transitions and probability analysis to readdress epistemological challenges of leading educational institutions. In particular, this research focuses on K-12 settings defined as at-risk that were already suffering prior to the COVID 19 pandemic and which are even more at-risk moving into an unclear future.
Hexagram, Handkerchief, and Butterfly: Crumpled Time in the I Ching Through the Lenses of Chaos and Complexity
Jie Yu, Rollins College
This paper will critically examine the nonlinear concept of time in the “I Ching,” the oldest book collection based on the yin-yang philosophy in ancient China, through the lenses of the new science of chaos and complexity. It will first explore how changes are recognized, celebrated and used through subjective-objective situational analyses of sixty four hexagrams in the “I Ching,” then use the metaphors and stories of handkerchief, kneaded dough (Serres, 1991, 1995 & 1997) and butterfly effect (Gleick, 1987) in chaos and complexity theories to deconstruct the topological time in the “I Ching,” and finally draw an analogy between hexagrams and currere as both can be mapped as bounded infinite possibilities through synchronicity.
An Inquiry-Guided Approach to Understanding Mathematics Teachers' Curriculum Composition Systems
Hilary Tanck, Clemson University
The study aimed to explore how teachers select, adapt, and organize curriculum resources. An inquiry-guided approach was used to allow space to generate knowledge in a different way. The design and analysis were influenced by assemblage theory. Findings suggest teachers take snippets from various resources and combine them to create cohesive lessons. Additionally, teachers described the need to adapt resources to fit their teaching style and to take ownership of the material.
Whose Story? And How? Nonlinearity and the Study of History
Serina Cinnamon, University of North Carolina at Pembroke
Professional historians of various schools of thought over the twentieth century have pushed back on these assumptions with little effect on the public’s historical memory or the teaching of history in K-12 schooling. More importantly, even within the profession of history, counter-narratives and challenges to the status quo continue to operate within the status quo of so-called disinterested research seeking some measure of objective truth (Novik, 1988). To attempt to truly experience a paradigm shift, a new framework for understanding must emerge. The purpose of this paper to argue for complexity theory as a methodological framework, or lens, through which to study and understand history.
Don Gilstrap, University of Alabama
The recent COVID 19 crisis has created turbulent and uncertain futures for educational settings that resemble chaotic systems. As a result, it is perhaps one of the periods in our recent history that simultaneously puts a great deal of stress on chaos and complexity researchers but yet also provides unique and unprecedented opportunities for these same researchers to help others make sense out of the world. This paper incorporates the research of Prigogine (1980, 1996) on phase transitions and probability analysis to readdress epistemological challenges of leading educational institutions. In particular, this research focuses on K-12 settings defined as at-risk that were already suffering prior to the COVID 19 pandemic and which are even more at-risk moving into an unclear future.
Hexagram, Handkerchief, and Butterfly: Crumpled Time in the I Ching Through the Lenses of Chaos and Complexity
Jie Yu, Rollins College
This paper will critically examine the nonlinear concept of time in the “I Ching,” the oldest book collection based on the yin-yang philosophy in ancient China, through the lenses of the new science of chaos and complexity. It will first explore how changes are recognized, celebrated and used through subjective-objective situational analyses of sixty four hexagrams in the “I Ching,” then use the metaphors and stories of handkerchief, kneaded dough (Serres, 1991, 1995 & 1997) and butterfly effect (Gleick, 1987) in chaos and complexity theories to deconstruct the topological time in the “I Ching,” and finally draw an analogy between hexagrams and currere as both can be mapped as bounded infinite possibilities through synchronicity.
An Inquiry-Guided Approach to Understanding Mathematics Teachers' Curriculum Composition Systems
Hilary Tanck, Clemson University
The study aimed to explore how teachers select, adapt, and organize curriculum resources. An inquiry-guided approach was used to allow space to generate knowledge in a different way. The design and analysis were influenced by assemblage theory. Findings suggest teachers take snippets from various resources and combine them to create cohesive lessons. Additionally, teachers described the need to adapt resources to fit their teaching style and to take ownership of the material.
Whose Story? And How? Nonlinearity and the Study of History
Serina Cinnamon, University of North Carolina at Pembroke
Professional historians of various schools of thought over the twentieth century have pushed back on these assumptions with little effect on the public’s historical memory or the teaching of history in K-12 schooling. More importantly, even within the profession of history, counter-narratives and challenges to the status quo continue to operate within the status quo of so-called disinterested research seeking some measure of objective truth (Novik, 1988). To attempt to truly experience a paradigm shift, a new framework for understanding must emerge. The purpose of this paper to argue for complexity theory as a methodological framework, or lens, through which to study and understand history.
Complexity Theories in Education SIG (17) Business Meeting
Fri, April 9, 6:15 to 8:15pm EDT
Joanna Garner, SIG Chair
We will hold an interactive business meeting in which your input will be requested on some key steps for our SIG. We will also welcome this year's SIG keynote speaker, Dr. Cheryl Poth, University of Alberta.
Adopting Complexity-informed Mixed Methods Practices in our Educational Research
Presented by Cheryl Poth with Emma Bullock serving as discussion moderator
This interactive talk offers practical examples of how complexity-informed mixed methods research practices can guide researchers in managing the uncertain nature and unknowable solutions typical of complex educational research problems. Following a brief introduction of the key challenges educational researchers encounter when studying complex and dynamic systems, I draw upon real-world examples to illustrate how educational research can be designed to generate novel insights inaccessible by either qualitative or quantitative research alone. I will conclude with a look to the future with some predictions of practice advances that might better prepare us for embracing complexity in our educational research.
Cheryl Poth, Ph.D. is a Professor and faculty member in the Centre for Research and Applied Measurement and Evaluation in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She is an associate editor of the Journal of Mixed Methods Research and fourth president of the Mixed Methods International Research Association. She is the author of Innovation in Mixed Methods Research: Guiding Practices for Integrative Thinking with Complexity (2018, Sage), Research Ethics (2021, Sage), editor of the SAGE Handbook of Mixed Methods Research Design (2023, Sage), and co-author of the 4th edition of Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design (2017, Sage) with John Creswell. Together with Dr. Emma Bullock, she recently contributed the chapter “Mixed methods research design practices to address complexity in education” to the fourth edition of the International Encyclopedia of Education (2022, Elsevier).
We will hold an interactive business meeting in which your input will be requested on some key steps for our SIG. We will also welcome this year's SIG keynote speaker, Dr. Cheryl Poth, University of Alberta.
Adopting Complexity-informed Mixed Methods Practices in our Educational Research
Presented by Cheryl Poth with Emma Bullock serving as discussion moderator
This interactive talk offers practical examples of how complexity-informed mixed methods research practices can guide researchers in managing the uncertain nature and unknowable solutions typical of complex educational research problems. Following a brief introduction of the key challenges educational researchers encounter when studying complex and dynamic systems, I draw upon real-world examples to illustrate how educational research can be designed to generate novel insights inaccessible by either qualitative or quantitative research alone. I will conclude with a look to the future with some predictions of practice advances that might better prepare us for embracing complexity in our educational research.
Cheryl Poth, Ph.D. is a Professor and faculty member in the Centre for Research and Applied Measurement and Evaluation in the Department of Educational Psychology at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. She is an associate editor of the Journal of Mixed Methods Research and fourth president of the Mixed Methods International Research Association. She is the author of Innovation in Mixed Methods Research: Guiding Practices for Integrative Thinking with Complexity (2018, Sage), Research Ethics (2021, Sage), editor of the SAGE Handbook of Mixed Methods Research Design (2023, Sage), and co-author of the 4th edition of Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design (2017, Sage) with John Creswell. Together with Dr. Emma Bullock, she recently contributed the chapter “Mixed methods research design practices to address complexity in education” to the fourth edition of the International Encyclopedia of Education (2022, Elsevier).
Social Network Analysis Workshop: A Complex Systems Approach to Examining Collaboration
Sat, April 10, 2:30 to 4:00pm EDT
Jon Hilpert, UNLV
Gwen Marchand, UNLV
*This is a free and open session! No pre-registration is required.
This workshop will provide an overview of social network analysis as a method for studying complex systems. We will provide a demonstration of the fundamentals of social network research, including data collection and analysis. We will cover typical methods of data collection (i.e. document analysis, video and transcript coding, bibliometric data, and surveys). We will also cover fundamental approaches to data analysis that are available in R with a focus on basic network statistics, information flow, brokerage, and community detection. The goal is to provide a clear demonstration of social network analysis and illustrate its use for complexity research on emergent human systems.
Gwen Marchand, UNLV
*This is a free and open session! No pre-registration is required.
This workshop will provide an overview of social network analysis as a method for studying complex systems. We will provide a demonstration of the fundamentals of social network research, including data collection and analysis. We will cover typical methods of data collection (i.e. document analysis, video and transcript coding, bibliometric data, and surveys). We will also cover fundamental approaches to data analysis that are available in R with a focus on basic network statistics, information flow, brokerage, and community detection. The goal is to provide a clear demonstration of social network analysis and illustrate its use for complexity research on emergent human systems.
Graduate Student Meetup!
Sat, April 10, 4:30 to 5:30pm EDT
Please register for an informal graduate student meetup hosted by our wonderful Graduate Student Representatives, Chessa Adsit-Morris (UC Santa Cruz) and David Waller (Purdue). The meetup will take place after the social network analysis workshop. You can register here.
