understanding the design research process reflections on pictopal
TRANSCRIPT
Understanding the Design Research ProcessReflections on PictoPal
About design research
Why do we need it?
Increase the relevance of research
Developing empirically-grounded theories
Increasing the robustness of design practice
What is it?
Design research is “a series of approaches, with the intent of producing new
theories, artifacts, and practices that account for and potentially impact
learning and teaching in naturalistic settings.” (Barab and Squire, 2004)
Understanding design research
Visual models
Reeves (2000)
McKenney, van den Akker & Nieveen (2006)
Bannan & Baek (2008)
Ejersbo, et al (2008)
Frameworks
Reinking & Bradley (2004)
Gravemeijer & Cobb (2006)
Reeves, 2000
McKenney, van den Akker & Nieveen, 2006
Bannan & Baek, 2008
Ejersbo, et al, 2008
Reinking & Bradley (2008)
Intervention-centered
Theoretical
Goal-oriented
Adaptive and iterative
Transformative
Methodologically inclusive and flexible
Pragmatic
Gravemeijer & Cobb (2006)
Important steps within
Three main phases of their work:
preparing for a design experiment;
conducting a design experiment; and
retrospective analysis
Model used to describe PictoPal
(McKenney, Reeves & Herrington, in press)
PictoPal as design research
Final Intervention
On-computer activities
Off-computer activities
Teacher guide
PictoPal as design research
Analysis
Literature review
Site visits
Interviews
School visit
Questionnaire
Document analysis
Language curriculum
National interim targets for
early literacy
Exploration
Literature review
Product search
Visit NECC for ideas and
potential ‘critical friends’
PictoPal as design research
Design
Core convictions (e.g.)
Children want to express themselves
in print, even before they are able to
read
Product guidelines (e.g.)
On-computer activities should elicit
dialogue and collaboration
Process guidelines (e.g.)
Cooperation with teachers and
language experts
Construction
Initial rapid prototyping
Global outlines
Paper prototypes
Working prototypes (5)
Shift to commercial software
90% of desired functions available
Much more stable
Our time focused on content, not media
PictoPal as design research
Reflection PictoPal evolution
On-pc (focus in early Ps) Closed activities
dropped Semi-open continued
# activities doubled Off-pc (focus in latter Ps)
Teacher involvement To increase integration
Informed by observations and learning gain data (gains shown with Ps 2-5, yet not consistently) Learning gains appear to
increase with teacher involvement as designers
Possibly because they are then better able to integrate
But also due to their perceptions of ICT and education
Evaluation
Product guidelines (e.g.)
Activities should elicit dialogue and collaboration Children discuss PictoPal
with each other and with adults, although their conversations are more on-task with adults.
However, adult guidance is very impractical for most schools. Student teachers and parent volunteers have been successful, but are difficult to rely on; tutor systems involving 6th graders have also been successful.
Process guidelines (e.g.)
PictoPal should be designed together with teachers and language experts Measures should be taken
to mitigate a sense of feeling overwhelmed. Even highly motivated teachers can have become more focused on ‘getting the job done’ and not see when they are making poor design decisions.
Providing sample materials and completed examples to teachers early on is crucial to teacher understanding
Design principlesElaboration and refinement of initial design ideas, based on R&D
PictoPal as design research
PictoPal as design research
Implementation
Small scale
Moving from intensive support to
guidebook and one workshop when
teachers enact only; more workshops
when teachers also create the materials
Experimenting with approaches to pupil
guidance
Teachers say they learn by participating
in PictoPal; we would like to understand
this better
Diffusion
Intervention not fully mature, but ideas
shared through:
Researcher conferences
Practitioner workshops
Journal articles
As we look to up-scaling
Whose job is it to go to scale?
Should we consider approaching a
publisher?
Reflections on the PictoPal approach
Shifting emphasis (as intervention matures)
From characteristics of the learning environment
Content
Interface
Task design
To implementation factors
Teacher technology integration
Alignment of on-off computer activities
Influence of data in shaping subsequent sub-studies
Teacher role in design of the materials
Teacher beliefs
Reflections on this as a case of DBR
Meets Reinking and Bradley’s 7 characteristics
Sustaining design and development Project funding for first year (P1 dvpt only) 7 ‘backpocket’ studies (esp. graduate assignments) (P1-P4) Recently: 2 PhD studies funded (4yr each)
Tensions and trade-offs Optimum format for pupil guidance during on-computer activities still not found Practicality vs. legitimacy tension
Methodological challenges Multiple roles of designer, facilitator, researcher Met with explicit frameworks; triangulation; and inductive and deductive analyses Still learning to understand salient contextual factors to predict potential
generalisability