Doing Learning Sciences Research In and Through Performing Arts

Abstract

Despite the growing interest in exploring processes of learning within the context of the arts, the learning sciences as a field has yet to fully engage with arts-based research. We therefore use this symposium to explore the following question: how can the incorporation of the arts into the methodological practices of learning scientists illuminate previously unexplored manifestations or aspects of learning? To do so, the group of artist-researchers that comprise this symposium present findings from six separate research projects that employ the arts at different moments in the research process: design, data collection, data analysis, communication, and dissemination. Structured as a collection of informal, hybrid conversations, our findings present an opportunity for the learning sciences community to consider under theorized forms of learning that arts-based research brings to light while also exploring the emergent tensions that come from embodying this new approach to the field.