Fostering Learner Agentic Participation Through Design Activities

• In Event: 34.028 - From Making to Agentic Participation: Perspectives on and Approaches to Fostering Epistemic Engagement in Making

Abstract

The promise of achieving Equal Educational Opportunity becomes a challenge without human agency (Bandura, 2006) from diverse groups that are often not included in educational conversations. It is important in today’s educational structures to leverage the ways in which diversity of people, practices, languages, and epistemologies in learning environments are an asset to expanding the possibilities for human knowing and meaning (Bang & Medin, 2010).

This poster advances the idea that achieving the Promise of Equal Educational Opportunity must include a partnership with learners as designers through inclusion of their ways of knowing. Specifically, this poster presents two studies that recognize learner agency through design. Part one explored the role of learners as design partners in a primary school in Namibia. Part two focused on the role of technology and language in students’ understanding of STEM in Namibia. Using Participatory Action Research (Whyte, 1991), I engaged Namibian students in design activities intended to empower and provide them a role in designing tools that can define their future learning experiences. Students were given iPod touches and iPads and assigned activities that included redesigning devices to fit their environment and desired use. Design activities included brainstorming sessions that centered on redesigning the devices to fit their needs and uses within a school context.

Partnership with learners as designers
When designing educational tools and software to support and encourage learning, the role of learners as design partners is grossly undervalued. This partnership contributes to a better product, but also gains “valuable technological and domain-specific knowledge from their participation” (Facer & Williamson, 2004; Kafai, Carter-Ching & Marshall, 1997). At the same time, participating students develop social skills: cooperating with an interdisciplinary team (Roda, 2004) and respecting fellow students’ judgments and beliefs (Druin, 1999 as cited by Triantafyllakos, Palaigeorgiou and Tsoukalas, 2008).

Analysis indicates that students and teachers found the design partnership a useful endeavour. The findings support the design paradigm espoused by Druin (2002): children can play various roles in the design process such as users, testers, informants, and design partners. In the age of mobile learning, researchers and designers must include students (globally) in design activities as a way of learning how to design software, technologies, and curriculum that are of interest to students and contribute to the improvement of educational quality or quality education worldwide. Partnering with learners as designers recognizes that their cultural origin influence their understanding of education and worldview. Adversely, omitting student’s cultural traditions and perspectives has long lasting effects that influence their ability and interest in education, including viewing certain subjects as being for others and not for us.

Often the discourse on including multiple voices is anchored in equality, whereby measures are proposed that will enable minority voices to perform as well as those in the dominant class. A new lens is necessary that recognizes that education and learning specifically are culturally based and situated processes (Lee, Spencer, & Harpalani, 2003; Nasir & Hand, 2006; Rogoff, 2003), where the participation and experiences of those being educated is as important as those educating.

Author

• Tutaleni I. Asino, Oklahoma State University