Cooperative Inquiry in Designing Technology in Life-Relevant Learning for Science

• In Event: Social and Personal Connections to Informal Learning

Abstract

In this paper, we offer an approach to designing supporting technologies for science learning in everyday informal contexts. We advocate for participatory-design as a means of engaging learners in the development and design of their learning activities and supporting tools. Our participatory-design approach focuses on actively engaging researchers and children in setting design goals, planning prototypes, and making decisions, ensuring the final design meets the needs of the end users. We outline the results from a case study of one initial design session. From this, we present the methodological steps we adopted to co-designing early prototypes, what features learners find important in the technology for their personal interests and what implications can be made for designing technology for everyday learning.

Authors

• Jason C. Yip, University of Maryland - College Park

• Tamara Lynnette Clegg, University of Maryland - College Park

• Allison J. Druin, University of Maryland

• Mona Leigh Guha, University of Maryland - College Park

• Evan Golub, University of Maryland - College Park

• Elizabeth Bonsignore, University of Maryland - College Park

• Elizabeth Foss, University of Maryland - College Park

• Greg Walsh, University of Maryland - College Park