Youth Wants to be Digitally Connected

I finally ran the ECAR student survey data using SPSS. A dear friend suggested I use Excel's pivot tables and charts. I tried and felt more comfortable with SPSS (version 22 now! Wow!). I regret not doing it earlier. Even though I was discouraged against doing it by someone else, I've learned to listen to my heart and act on my intuition. There are a few other furious regrets I have about this project. I will keep them close to my heart and shake off things that don't matter to me. To say I'm driven to start and finish this project well is an understatement.

The ECAR data are "flat" and not exciting. They are single variables (questions) that elicited certain ratings from respondents, producing frequency counts. With SPSS (and also pivot tables), I could investigate bivariate relationships that WP Facet cannot do. 

At this preliminary stage, age seems to be the only demographic variable with a correlation to two other variables. My earlier hunch of a metaphor for the findings seem to be fading. Gender and ethnicity produced no statistical significance with any of the major variables I wanted to investigate. I will run more analyses but now, here are the two sets of variables with correlations. 

Age and Preferred Learning Environment - Positive Correlation

Age and Simultaneously Connected Devices - Negative Correlation

I will present these in a more exciting, creative way in a soon-to-be-constructed story, but this is my blog. I'm glad to be able to write like a boring researcher here. More analysis and inductive reasoning tomorrow. 

Speaking and Not Understanding

After 2 weeks of redoing a web presentation of VCU's ECAR findings, I'm at Round 3 (or more, I forget, after trying to push some data up quickly by redoing charts over and over) -- figuring out what is at the heart of this project, and what we want to show from these findings. I hear a number of words repeated over and over. Here's my depiction of that situation.

In the liminal zone. 

The problem is that the mental model I have about research and dissemination of research findings is sloshing around in the whirlpool of new ideas that I'm yet to reconcile with. I do not understand inductive reasoning and the coding of themes from quantitative data.

In my current understanding, all research starts with a problem question, but now, I have a mass of data and I'm supposed to induce from collected data a problem question so as to "create a story," "construct a narrative," "tell a tale" etc. Yes, I hear you, my dear good-intention friends and colleagues. That is clear to me -- the storytelling part. These words are abstract input that need to be broken down, and operationalized into action, into deeds. Actually, no offense intended, but if anyone mentions another synonym for storytelling or narrative to me, I might have to excuse myself from the conversation. I've looked at the data since November and storytelling is what I've been trying to pursue. 

As I reflect, I find that we are all speaking the same language -- English, but NOT using the language in the same way. They are communicating through their filters of how they see the world. And I'm not making my thinking visible to anyone -- what I'm truly trying to tell them is not conveyed. 

Reframing my perspective, the work as far as I understand myself entails these processes: 

• Reading the data findings repeatedly to induce themes from 2 surveys that might lead to a general research question or two.
• Then, when you have a clear question (or two), I can begin to tell a story to the intended audience. 
• What is a metaphor for the findings? (No, I will never use the phrase "digital natives.") 
• David McCandless and company are wonderful, but nothing "fancy" can begin until I unearth the questions from the data to reveal what is significant about the findings. The real work. 

I want to soar but I feel like a tortoise plodding on. And I can't afford to be one.

But learning something new and forging new knowledge or a mental model often humbles me and trains me -- to be teachable and be willing to fail forward. Onward. 

Border-Crossing Research Update in Syracuse

Open House & Research Update, Syracuse University, May 8, 2014. Short subtitles are included.

A more detailed description of the slides in the video in GoogleDoc
A more detailed description of the slides in the video in PDF
[Right-click to open document in new tab on browser] 

Sometimes, a somewhat ordinary remark dwells longer than it probably should in my mind.

"You like research, right?" Said in the context of new job duties being articulated at my workplace. 

I like doing research, just as I would likely say I like designing, painting, writing, storytelling, and several other things. My "like-ness" level for each of them, however, is slightly different and the nature of each "like-ness" is unique. The commonality among each of them is that these processes allow me to search for, express and synthesize ideas. The process is far more valuable than the outcome.

For instance, in conducting this research study among some Deaf people, I found the language to articulate some of my own struggles as a multicultural person and border-crosser. Who is the "other"? When difference is made visible, how do we handle it? Deaf people taught me to look beyond their mode of communication to see the whole person. Whether a person signs, writes notes or uses an interpreter, an individual is shaped by multiple dimensions. I may specialize in instructional design largely through my formal education and work, but I'm more than that, the sum of many things. For a long time, my Deaf friends were not aware that I was a Ph.D. student -- largely due to my inadequate signing (?) and me not wanting to talk about it when I'm away from my desk, not writing my dissertation. I simply just wanted to be me, Yin, at those intersectional spaces.

I cross intersectional spaces or borderlands (Anzaldua, 1987) everyday and my research interest centers broadly on how people learn and interact at places of change, hybridity and/or liminality (van Gennep, 1908). The above video archives an event that provided me an opportunity to give back to the community in some way by sharing what I had learned from them. The intrigue in doing research is in making connections among ideas and people and being in the intersectional space of change. Whether I write or talk about it, I find joy in sharing what I learned with people.

So yes, I like research, because I like people, ideas and learning. Most of all, to combine elements in an interesting way. The same with drawing, writing, designing, learning something new... Each activity is just another medium I've found and learned to use to express my creativity.

The pursuit of purposeful creative expression (through synthesis) that will make an impact on lives is my true love.

Research Update

Our research team is planning an update. My dissertation advisor has organized an Open House to disseminate our findings. This coincides with my Syracuse trip for graduation ceremonies. Here are the details, crafted by my advisor, Prof. Marj DeVault:

It's a mostly informal event where we'll chat/sign.  I'm looking forward to catching up with friends from both the hearing and Deaf communities in Syracuse.

I'll share more as the event unfolds.

HLM 7

HLM 7* - Hierarchical Linear Modeling statistics software is a little clunky but not too complicated. My chair had said before, qualitative researchers understand statistics too, you know? I am doing a qualitative research study for my dissertation, but I work with quantitative data everyday at work -- lots of Excel spreadsheets, Access data queries, and presenting the data using mainly descriptive statistics. Dr. Bellini had said that some journal editors think descriptive statistics are "inferior"/second-class and this sort of data presentation is not as publishable. However, every data analytic method has a place in research, depending on what we are investigating. Learning both paradigms of research methodologies rounds me out as a researcher.

I am going to try to use a type of multilevel modeling approach to explore some program evaluation questions using my work data. This should be fun.

*Available at SSI Scientific Software: http://www.ssicentral.com/hlm/index.html
Downloads available here: http://www.ssicentral.com/hlm/downloads.html

In Celebration of Last Access Class for Spring 2011

The students had a great time showing off their final products -- Ann with her brochure for Deaf patient advocacy; Tara came later but we got to see some awesome video clips starring a few Deaf individuals, and  one created by Mj herself. Hers was really funny. We plan to use these videos for Deaf Awareness Week.

In this project group, I find humor, intellect, compassion, and many other good stuff.  I feel happy to watch researchers enjoy each other's company, turn goofy sometimes, collaborate and show the way for students to serve the public good! In this climate, I find my inspiration to do research, especially when the path to dissertation writing gets tough. All three project directors are always trying their best to connect me to people who could help further my research. They lift my spirits!

As usual, we ran out of time sharing and working on details for our next effort/event. I didn't get to share my dissertation progress, but it's OK, my time will come on Tuesday.

After our meeting, lunch had been scheduled to take place at Appethaizing, but apparently, there was flood damage at Appethaizing and so we changed venues. A very nice and enjoyable lunch took place at Samrat's with 12 of us, me and De from SOE; Tara, Newhouse; Matt from Upstate, Shz, Ann and Tvh from Law.  Interdisciplinarity breeds creativity. Dr. Joel Potash from the Upstate Center for Bioethics and Humanities joined us. He writes plays about healthcare issues, but has expanded his realm of writing to include that of issues of identity. I'm looking forward to having lunch with him and R at some point in summer.

I know Mj took some pictures which will eventually be posted on our Access blog... :)

Next Steps in Arts Think Tank Part 2: Finding Penelope

The Play. I've been postponing this organization of my thoughts and my mixed (in a good way!) response to it. It is a beautifully crafted, complex and tender piece of art. I am half afraid to write about it. But "[f]inding Penelope" (FP) was one of the main reasons for my trip. So I want to document this learning experience.

I had been following The Penelope Project blog for a while after Marj told me about it when she came back from the Seattle IA Conference. It inspired us, me, to consider writing a dissertation about an instructional intervention using theater. To see it implemented in person is surreal.

To provide some background to my perceptions, I've never read Homer's Odyssey as a student in Singapore. My international background may also cause some tension in my response to FP. Asians are expected to show filial piety to their parents, and sending the elderly to "old-age" homes is stigmatized. I struggle regularly with this tension -- being a filial daughter who should be taking care of her elderly parents, one with Alzheimer's and the other one acting as her primary caretaker versus being a supportive wife living in the US. I am conflicted in my response to the cast of elderly participants; I see my mother in them. Would I like to see her in the chorus? I think so. Would I stay away from the nursing home like Mira? No, I don't have the fear of nursing homes that Mira has. But it is a place that is associated with many "de-"s: "decline", "decrepitude", "degeneration" ... except that FP challenges viewers to think differently. Life in elderly care doesn't have to be about waiting for the end to come; we can engage the residents in something meaningful and imaginative. It is certainly not easy. Not everyone is a fearless charismatic leader like Dr. Anne Basting?

I also see among them my deceased friend who was in hospice care in a Catholic nursing home. I've seen her in her final days and remember restrictions were in place for visitors so as not to disrupt her rest. Here, the elderly are participants, opening their living units to us instead of hiding. It confounds my mind in some way -- would I wish peace and rest or clamor for a loved one?

I see talent (Dr. Basting, Sojourn Theater, actors...), hard work, perseverance, collaboration, negotiation, emotional connection... This performance is staged on a scale that is way beyond me right now. Would I love to be part of a project like this? Sure. I miss theater, producing, directing, managing... When can I do it again? I don't know. My dissertation does not include the staging of performances. Perhaps we can continue working with the project somehow to get it to performance stage?

To meet so many theater experts/giants in person was an honor! Other than Dr. Anne Basting, there were Dr. Jan Cohen-Cruz, Gulgun Kayim, Prof. Robbie McCauley, Dr. Elinor Fuchs, Dr. Carrie Sandahl, Prof Lucy Winner, Dr. Susan McFadden, Prof. Raoul Deal, Prof. Robin Mello (actress in FP) not counting other professionals who work in healthcare and arts, Pam Korza, Melissa Sharp and Kirsten Jacobs. I also became acquainted with Leonard Cruz, the choreographer for the gestures.

What an experience! I learned so much from the conversations and thank my project directors for the awesome opportunity.

Next Steps in Arts Think Tank: A Milestone Part 1

I had an enriching time at Milwaukee, learning and soaking in the experience of watching something profound unfold and transform everyone present -- both the actors and the audience. Several people wept just talking about it. A-ma-zing. I'm grateful to be a part of history in the making. Yes, I do believe Dr. Basting's research will mark a turning point in the use of arts for public health issues. This experience also marks a turning point in my doctoral journey. It's a confirmation, a feeling I get that my dissertation topic is going to lead me to a future career where I can make a difference in society.

I thank my project team for giving me the privilege to be there. I don't recall mentioning how my committee has played a major role in my growth as a doctoral/research student. M has taught me much about qualitative research. R shares resources and advice on my dissertation writing. Mi is a model of talent and perseverance. All three of them, M, R and Mi have by their examples, modeled for me a sterling example of authentic collaborative research. The project team chipped in for this trip, together with the UWM Foundation. I'm also sponsored for the ASL course. I don't look back at what I don't have but what I have. What do I have? A supportive committee and another stab at a fulfilling and meaningful dissertation.

I had been reading Dr. Catherine Jordan's article on community-based research for awhile and didn't realize I was in her presence until the morning of my departure. I'm so privileged to have had the opportunity to talk to her on the way to Luther Manor. She sat next to me and chatted with me so patiently. She said she has been a speaker at AEA. The first night before dinner, she had asked if I would be interested in going to Whole Foods to get snacks. But it was too near closing time when we were done with dinner.  I'm glad we had the chance to talk on the bus.

Dr. Randolph Rowe also talked to me and shared with me his wisdom, having guided many a student in doctoral dissertations. He also sent me some articles that will be relevant for my dissertation. Thank you, Randy!

Gender gap news

Lester Holt reports on how girls are flying by boys in American colleges. And this:

"Among the fastest-growing jobs of the next decade, only two, janitorial work and computer engineering, are expected to be dominated by men."

Wow, where does he get these numbers from? Which studies are he referring to? Why doesn't he report actual numbers of women in STEM occupations? How many did he talk to for this report? Yes, I can see girls everywhere in my School of Education but in Engineering, Physics, Statistics? 

"Women dominate high school honor rolls and make up more than 70 percent of class valedictorians."

No source cited. Amazing the kind of claims that are made and reported without references to research studies. 

We Remain Ourselves

(Image source: http://bit.ly/idu9Xa)

I was definitely intrigued by the title. Art-Based Research and the Intersection between Making Art and Teaching Art.

"Her primary scholarship is in curriculum development, arts integration, the uses of contemporary art in art education and the intersection between creativity and cognition." Of course I had to make the trip to Shemin's Auditorium at 6:30PM!

Dr. Julia Marshall's presentation was fascinating. She spoke on her art practice and how much she learned from teaching art to younger people, like undergraduates and graduates. That if she had just remained an artist sans the teaching aspect, her life wouldn't have been so enriched. She also presented her own art-making ideas and her students' art pieces. I took away from her presentation several ideas on how to express creativity. And to keep collecting and documenting ideas that fascinate me. Someday, they will come in useful. Like the one above, one of the Beijing Olympic Mascots, Yingying, the Tibetan antelope.

She teaches her students to keep research or reflective sketchbooks which document their development and interpretation of different source ideas juxtaposed to create some novel concept or metaphor of their understanding about an issue.

Dr. Marshall (mentored by Graeme Sullivan, just like Dr. James Haywood Rolling Jr.) believes that art research is facilitated by curiosity, purposeful art-making, investigation and creative interpretation, just like social science or scientific research. Students construct their own knowledge or understanding by observing, collecting, drawing, mapping and reflecting.

She counts Mark Dion and Simon Evans as artists worth following for their insights on art. Some primary sources for art, mapping and metaphor-making? Brace yourself: scientific illustration, maps and diagrams (e.g. acupuncture/reflexology charts), conceptual maps, packaging, popular visual culture. These were some types of maps she used to frame stories.

One clever metaphor was the use of seeds or plants to illustrate the concept of seeds of social change. Dig-plant-seed. *light bulb on*. A seed was painted up and had a propeller stuck on one of its ends to illustrate the idea of accelerating change. Fab.u.lous idea! My mind kept racing as I thought of how her ideas could be applied to the Access project and my dissertation.

She also showed us a student's Map of Printmaking. This particular student placed a veil of tissue over a graph paper and then drew an intricate web with annotations of the history of printmaking. Wow! More student work included metaphors on the Dance of Making Art and Making Meaning (drawings of dancers with words). Dr. Marshall concluded with her own art pieces. As a cartoonist (illustrator), her drawings included maps of the Art of Research. She used snowglobes with images of fallen "empires" on a theme of Snow Globes from Iraq and Afghanistan. Another collage piece was called the Game of Juxtapositions; unexpected elements brought together to unlock creative potential.

She presented a conceptual collage of imagery she created with her sculptor husband, Pangea (Greek for the ancient supercontinent), commissioned by some Korean organization. An enormous collage with images of American and Asian icons.

I'd have loved to ask a few questions but I was famished and everyone seemed eager to get out as it was 8 on a cold night and the winds were howling. I decided then that I'd write about her presentation first and then email her if I wanted to ask her anything later.

Her presentation made me think of how we could work with art students to create a performance with an exhibition. We need to think of several things first: who is our audience, what is our theme, what metaphor can we use to illustrate our message. Think, think.

At the end, Dr. Marshall said, "There is this germ (seed, bud...) in us that doesn't go away. We remain ourselves through life's trajectory." Well said. Through the years, I have stayed close to my interest in the arts and social science, and of helping others express their creative potential.

PAGE-Imagining America

I went to the Publicly Active Graduate Education forum today with Page (pun unintended), a fellow doctoral student. The gathering was interesting; it was fascinating to hear scholars from different disciplines talk about what's on their heart: how to get beyond the ivory tower to make their research accessible; how to connect with the community through their research; the desire not to mess up the community by walking away when the research is done. Really, how does one sustain research in a community after one graduates and not make others feel like they have been 'used'?

I helped with a grant project last fall and had to discontinue my efforts this semester because I was overextended. I felt bad but one has to manage one's time wisely.

Several ideas were proposed at the meeting and I am waiting for the follow-up.