WIP: Epistemologies and discourse analysis for transdisciplinary capstone projects in a digital media program

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 [1]-[3], domain specificity [4], [5], and epistemological camps [6]. Further, to analyze the language used by participants, we employ the use of discourse analysis as the study of language-in-use [7]. 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 as well as compare and contrast our findings to students pursuing more traditional engineering capstone projects to understand more deeply knowledge generation and utilization in these transdisciplinary arts and engineering programs.