Walking Through Theory: An Exploration of Theoretical Frameworks in Miniature

Dr. Sara Scott Shields recently published Walking Through Theory: An Exploration of Theoretical Frameworks in Miniature. This article details Dr. Scott Shields’ experience of teaching the graduate-level course, Research Survey, in which she used an artfully imagined assignment focused on the development of theoretical frameworks. Through practitioner and arts-informed inquiry, Dr. Scott Shields explored how students reflected and made sense of their theoretical frameworks by creating three-dimensional miniature spaces. This inquiry sought deeper understanding of the usefulness of arts- and image-based practices in student and teacher negotiation of complex knowledge formation in higher education contexts. The goal of the research was to answer the question: How might the creation of three-dimensional miniature spaces allow students to develop and understand their theoretical research frameworks? Dr. Scott Shields writes, “while not all students worked toward understanding the same theory or even toward understanding their theories in the same way, the theory-in-miniature project offered students opportunities to engage in a new kind of thinking aimed at seeing theory in new ways. This project empowered students to understand theory just as fluently as they learn methods. The theory-in-miniature assignment pushed students to think deeply about how their theory relates to themselves and thus their research.” You may read more into the process and experience HERE.