This slide deck was presented at the Society for Applied Anthropology Meeting on Thursday, March 30th. I discussed my thesis research. More can be found at exploringeducatorneeds.wordpress.com

1. Virtual Research in Indian Country:
Understanding Educators of American
Indian Students in Higher Education

2. PROJECT CONTEXT

3. Terms of Reference
American Indian Native American
First Nations First Peoples
Native Non-Native
Aboriginal Peoples Indigenous Peoples

4. Client: Fire & Associates

5. Research Questions
What are the needs of educators serving American Indian
students in institutions of higher education?
How do educators of American Indian students use the Internet
to inform, prepare, and teach educational materials?
What are the networking and interaction needs among
educators, and between educators and students?

6. Theoretical Framework I
Tribal Critical Race
Theory
(Brayboy 2005)
Liminality
(Turner 1969)
Intersectionality
(Crenshaw 1991)
Native Ways of
Knowing
(Fire 2009, Kincheloe and
Steinberg 2008)
Culturally Responsive
Teaching Practices
(Gay 2000, Brayboy and
Castagno 2009)
Research in American Indian
Communities
(Brayboy 2004, Battiste 2008, Deloria
1969, Denzin and Lincoln 2008, Smith
1999, Willow 2010)

7. Theoretical Framework II
Community of
Practice
(Lave and Wenger 1991)
Culturally Inclusive
Instructional Design
(McLoughlin and Oliver 2000)
User Experience & Usability
(Rubin and Chisnell 2008)
Design Anthropology
(Wasson 2000)
User-Centered Design
(Baxter et al. 2015, Wasson et al.
2016)

8. Master’s
College or
University:
Larger Program
3
Participant Demographics
17Participants
11
Non-Native
11
6 Between 2 and 25 years of teaching experience in higher education
Doctoral University:
Higher Research
Activity
6
1
1
Canadian
University
2
Tribal College
or University
4
Master’s College or
University: Medium
Program
Associate’s College:
High Transfer-High
Traditional
Institution Type
Based on the Carnegie
Classification of Institutions of
Higher Education
Oklahoma 4
Alaska 2
Montana 2
Ohio 2
Wisconsin 2
Oregon 1
New Mexico 1
Kansas 1
Canada 2
6
American Indian

9. Additional Demographics

10. METHODOLOGY

11. Virtual Methodology
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
$ ?

12. Virtual Research
14 Virtual
Semi-Structured
Interviews
Skype
Xsplit
GoToMeeting
All Think-Aloud
Sessions
3 Face-to-Face
Semi-Structured
Interviews

13. Anthropology & UX

14. Think-Aloud Session
? Usability Testing
+
Exploratory Ethnographic
Interviewing

15. FINDINGS

16. Educators of American Indian Students in Higher
Education are a Community of Practice (CoP)

17. Common Pedagogical Practices
• Acknowledge issues affecting American Indian (or Indigenous) populations
• Understand that education is not an individual endeavor
• Incorporate Native Ways of Knowing (NWOK) pedagogies
• Recognize diversity and multi-faceted identities
• It’s okay to be uncomfortable
• De-quantify the higher education experience
# of American
Indian
Students
Taught
Type of
Course
Educator
Identity

18. Media & Technology
Finding Need
Including new technologies is a trial and
error process
Familiarity with new technologies
9/17 participants used a LMS Assistance developing successful LMSs
Course preparation is highly
technological
Resources to find the right material
online
9/17 participants used slide decks Ways to create engaging slide decks
3/17 participants used social media Feedback on social media use

19. 19
Websites

20. Stronger
conceptualization of
business mission
and purpose
Content
recommendations
for website
Design
recommendations
for website
Implications

21. Design Considerations
Follow real-world conventions
Incorporate the 10 principles for culturally inclusive instructional design
(McLoughlin and Oliver 2000)
Engage in social media and make it visible on the home page
Learn from current successes

22. exploringeducatorneeds.wordpress.com

23. Thank You
heathersroth@gmail.com |@anthrolobo