Reflections Of A Returning Scholar

Last year, the EPSRI wasn't yet a "thing." Rachel and Sam had invited a couple researchers from around the country to help with the data collection for the Energy Project and learn something about video-based research. I was the only scholar who was there for the entire three weeks of Energy 2 (which started a week early) and Energy 1 (which ran a week late). We were figuring out how to do things on the fly, the technical stuff with cameras and microphones, the field note taking in a google docs spreadsheet, how to write field notes, and so on. Things weren't made easier by scholars arriving and leaving every couple days. On the other hand, a nice apprenticeship model was established, everybody just helped out with the training of new people. We had fun hanging out in the "lounge" while not observing, talking on the chat across rooms, and having a beer at night, talking about work and other things.

One year later, things have changed quite a bit. The EPSRI is an institution now. There was an application process involved, many people were interested in participating in the summer research institute, Sam and Rachel had to turn people down because the institute was full. We have our own "classroom," not just a room where no courses happened to be scheduled. We have a tech person! No more copying files from SD cards onto our own computers and being responsible for converting the data according to the guidelines and uploading them to the server over night. No more stray or lost video files. Exciting! We are integrating ourselves with the participants in the teacher professional development courses, instead of pretending we weren't there. Just before lunch, we even switched roles with the teachers in E1, doing energy theater while having teachers be responsible for the video cameras. Everything seems strangely familiar, and yet, it's different. Bigger. Better.

I'm looking forward to working together with awesome colleagues at this year's EPSRI, observing exciting conversations about energy, and honing my skills as a "video-researcher." I can't wait to start looking at video, find interesting stuff, and share it with you all! It's good to be back!