Contact Information:2323 Moore HallLos Angeles, California 90095-1521 (310) 206-6271, Fax (310) 206-6239 enyedy@gseis.ucla.edu |
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Research:
My program of research is best described as basic research on cognition, learning and the development of mathematical reasoning in applied settings, primarily in technology rich classrooms. I am attempting to reconcile cognitive and sociocultural theories and simultaneously consider individual cognitive processes, external representation, and social discourse—not as separate factors, but as interdependent aspects of learning and development. Empirically this model is driven by studies that examine:
- The ways in which material, representational tools (e.g., visual and computationally enhanced displays, symbol systems, etc.) shape the mathematical activity, reasoning, and learning of students
- The ways individuals construct meaning around these tools and representations
- The ways that mathematical discourse and discourse communities shape the learning process
Current Projects:
Community Mapping: In a study of high school students using Geographic Information Systems to study the effects of segregation and institutional racism on the educational resources and attainment of their own community, I am investigating the tensions between learning statistics and using statistics within the larger context of activism and the rhetoric of political persuasion.
Completed projects:
Inventing Mapping: In a study of 7-8 year old students competence at inventing and revising representations of larger scale spaces, I have investigated the tensions between invention and conventionalization of representational forms and how the teacher orchestrates these different types of discussions. Particular attention is paid to the role of gesture in student teacher interactions that animate the representations.
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Enyedy, N. (in press). Inventing Mapping: Creating cultural forms to solve collective problems. Submitted to Cognition and Instruction. |
Negotiated Representational Mediators (NRMs) and Meta-Representational Competence (MRC): In a study of 5-7 year old students' ideas about what makes for a good science representation, we synthesized the notion of Meta-Representational Competence (MRC)--the ideas and resources which enable and constrain students as they create, modify, select, critique, learn, and understand representations--with that of representation as a form of practice. Analysis of pre and post interviews as well as video analysis of students' representational activities reveal that when creating or evaluating a representation, these students negotiate between their personal preferences, the constraints and affordances of the activity in which they are engaged, and their understanding of the content being studied. In addition, the rules that students come to follow, their understanding of the content, and the way in which they choose to represent their understanding of the content are all influenced by their ongoing participation within the classroom activities.
Probability Inquiry Environment (PIE): In two studies
focused on elementary and middle school probability I have investigated
the interplay between small group work and whole class discussion that
lead to the successful appropriation of representational forms and practices.
In a follow up study PIE was tested in an English Language Learner classroom
and we are currently studying how the discourse environment differed
in the second study.
GLOBE: In a study of two East Los Angeles classrooms collecting and using data to study the local and global environmental conditions, I analyze the ways in which different discourse communities develop and differentially effect student outcomes. Additionally, in this project we are also trying to explore the role that the teacher’s professional identities played in the formation of these different discourse environments.