Search for: All records

Abstract Background This paper explores the epistemologies and discourse of undergraduate students at the transdisciplinary intersection of engineering and the arts. Our research questions focus on the kinds of knowledge that students value, use, and identify within an interdisciplinary digital media program, as well as how they talk about using these epistemologies while navigating this transdisciplinary intersection. Six interviews were conducted with students pursuing a semester-long senior capstone project in the digital culture undergraduate degree program in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering at Arizona State University that emphasizes the intersection between arts, media, and engineering. Results Using deductive coding followed by discourse analysis, a variety of student epistemologies including positivism, constructionism, and pragmatism were observed. “Border epistemologies” are introduced as a way to think and/or construct knowledge with differing value across disciplines. Further, discourse analysis highlighted students’ identifications with being either an artist or an engineer and revealed linguistic choice in how students use knowledge and problem-solve in these situations. Conclusions Students in a digital media program use fluid, changing epistemological viewpoints when working on their projects, partly driven by orientations with arts and/or engineering. The findings from this study can lead to implications for the design and teaching of transdisciplinary capstones in the future. 

This work in progress explores the epistemologies and discourse used by undergraduate students at the transdisciplinary intersection of engineering and the arts. Our research questions are focused on the kinds of knowledge that students value, use, and identify within the context of an interdisciplinary digital media program, and exploring how their language reflects this. Our theoretical framework for analyzing epistemology draws upon qualitative work in STEM epistemology, domain specificity, and epistemological camps. Further, to analyze the language used by participants, we employ the use of discourse analysis as the study of language-in-use. Six interviews were conducted with students pursuing a semester-long senior capstone project in the School of Arts, Media and Engineering undergraduate degree program at Arizona State University. Preliminary findings show that students showcase a variety of epistemologies including positivism, constructivism, and pragmatism while engaged in their studies. “Border epistemologies” are introduced as a way to think and/or construct knowledge that may receive different value from discipline to discipline. Future research aims to synergistically combine these two methods of epistemological and discourse analysis to understand more deeply knowledge generation and utilization in these transdisciplinary arts and engineering programs.