Researcher’s Positioning in a Digital Educational Experiment: Conceptual PlayWorlds in the Home Setting

Abstract

AbstractIn an overarching capacity, our research sought to investigate how families create conditions for children’s STEM learning in home settings. However, a methodological crisis formed when COVID-19 social distancing protocols contradicted our use of an educational experiment. Traditionally, an intervention into everyday practice such as this requires the researcher to enter the family home and participate in the child’s experience before interpreting how the child is developing through their relational interactions with others. This chapter reports on how the researcher positioned themselves in response to these methodological demands and created a new kind of activity setting fruitful for conceptual development through the use of digital tools. Our methodological approach can be adapted by future researchers to guide interactions and collaborations with families in the digital space.