Emerging STEM education researchers' positioning and perception of discipline-based education research

TL;DR

This study explores how emerging STEM education researchers perceive and position themselves within discipline-based education research (DBER), revealing diverse identities and perceptions that influence their engagement and professional development needs.

Contribution

It provides a phenomenographic analysis of emerging researchers' perceptions of DBER, highlighting their self-positioning and negotiation processes within the field.

Findings

Researchers see themselves as improving teaching, establishing a new primary research focus, or integrating with their discipline.

Perceptions are influenced by the close ties between DBER and disciplinary science.

Insights suggest tailored professional development opportunities are needed for emerging researchers.

Abstract

Various motivations bring researchers to discipline-based education research (DBER), but there is little research on their conceptualization of and navigation into this new-to-them area of research. We use phenomenography to analyze interview data collected from twenty-eight emerging STEM education researchers to gain a better understanding of how they perceive themselves within DBER and what they perceive it to be. Grounded in the figured worlds theoretical framework, we identify the spectrum of ways emerging STEM education researchers identify or project themselves into this new space: to improve their teaching, to make it their new primary research field, and/or to negotiate how it will fit with their primary one. We also highlight salient negotiations that emerge because of the close ties between DBER and disciplinary science, which provides us with a better understanding of emerging researchers' perceptions. This work generates insight into the kinds of professional development opportunities that would support emerging education researchers within STEM departments and the broader DBER community.