D. C. Phillips’s scientific contributions

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Publications (1)

Research in the Hard Sciences, and in Very Hard "Softer" Domains
  • Article

January 2014

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130 Reads

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86 Citations

Educational Researcher

D. C. Phillips

The author of this commentary argues that physical scientists are attempting to advance knowledge in the so-called hard sciences, whereas education researchers are laboring to increase knowledge and understanding in an "extremely hard" but softer domain. Drawing on the work of Popper and Dewey, this commentary highlights the relative similarities between hard sciences and education research in their rhetorical nature, while acknowledging the divergent paths of these two fields of inquiry with regard to prediction and generalizability. The author suggests that given the highly contextualized nature of educational processes, embedded in shifting complex social settings, and the relevance of all variables, very little education research is able to pursue predictive power.

Citations (1)

... For example, many educational technology researchers-and practitioners-work with (or support) learning and institutional analytics in the hope of predicting student outcomes and providing appropriate support (e.g., Viberg et al., 2018;Whitman, 2020; note, however, that both papers problematize assumptions about these applications of technique). Furthermore, higher education has long expressed concern for efficient and efficacious use of resources (e.g., Lindsay, 1982), and scientific and governmental contexts may also have priorities that can be understood in terms of Ellul's technique (Berliner, 2002;Phillips, 2014). Thus, educational technology researchers employed in higher education may be doubly concerned with technique, even when their own research is chiefly focused on primary, secondary, or informal contexts. ...

Reference:

Ellulian provocations for educational technology and higher education
Research in the Hard Sciences, and in Very Hard "Softer" Domains
  • Citing Article

  • January 2014

Educational Researcher

D. C. Phillips