Design Of Learning Experiences Research Articles

Design Judgments in the Creation of eLearning Modules.

As eLearning becomes an increasingly common strategy to minimize instructional disruptions caused by illness, weather, professional development, and other planned and unplanned events, teachers need to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to design and facilitate these non-traditional learning experiences. Informed by survey and interview data, we developed three learning modules designed to assist PK-12 teachers in preparing, planning, and facilitating eLearning experiences. In describing this design process, we focus this case on design judgments, described here as the deliberate and unconscious thinking processes experienced by designers in the design and development of learning experiences. Through this experience, we found that design judgments occur constantly throughout the design process and manifest themselves in non-linear and sometimes unpredictable ways. With this focus on design judgments, we aim to provide a view of instructional design that can sensitize designers to the complexities of authentic design experience.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s41686-022-00063-3.

Learning experience design of an mHealth intervention for parents of children with epilepsy

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the iterative design, development, and evaluation of a novel mHealth learning environment for parents of children with epilepsy. The mHealth learning environment is a component of a broader behavioral intervention called eACT (Epilepsy Adherence in Children and Technology), which seeks to improve antiepileptic drug adherence in children with epilepsy. The eACT mHealth learning environment integrates theoretical principles from the learning sciences with user-centered design methods and advanced learning technologies to provide an efficient and appealing learning experience that is specifically tailored to adult learners. MethodsThe eACT mHealth learning environment was developed by a multidisciplinary team of experts across three major phases including: 1) preparation, 2) iterative design, and 3) iterative development. The preparation phase included developing user personas and conducting focus groups, which identified user needs and use cases for the product. The iterative learning experience design process made use of rapid prototypes in which the product design was improved between versions, resulting in a final design proof. Usability and user experience methods were deployed to evaluate the system during the iterative development phase. ResultsResults from three phases of iterative design and development are presented through user personas, usability data, and qualitative analysis. Findings suggest the eACT mHealth learning environment is highly usable and relevant to the unique needs of adult caregivers of children with epilepsy. Findings also suggest that user experience was largely positive. ConclusionsThis paper reveals key insights about how formative learning experience design processes can lead to highly relevant and usable interventions for adult learners.

Activity Theory as a Lens for Developing and Applying Personas and Scenarios in Learning Experience Design

Theoretically-informed design is a hallmark of the field of learning and instructional design and technology (LIDT). Designing digital environments for learning on the basis of theory can lead to theoretically pure and potentially effective learning interventions, yet theory alone is insufficient to consider the myriad of issues that emerge while a learner is engaged in digitally mediated learning. As the field of LIDT shifts towards more human-centered design practice, the phenomenon of learning experience design (LXD) has emerged as a novel, multidisciplinary focus area. LXD equips designers with a range of useful methods for explicitly considering the learner within the learning context. Two methods that we argue are particularly well-suited for this are personas and scenarios. The development of personas and scenarios can be informed by activity theory, which provides a lens for holistically considering the technology usage context and the learner’s role therein. The current article discusses the interplay of activity theory, personas, and scenarios, and illustrates how this can be potentially useful in learning experience design practice in two separate case examples. Implications are discussed.

«Մուդլ» հեռավար ուսուցման հարթակում էլեկտրո­նա­յին դասընթացի նախագծումը LX-դիզայնի սկզբունք­ների հիման վրա (ՀՊՏՀ ուսանողների համար մշակված ռու­սաց լեզվի դասընթացի օրինակով)/Designing An E-Course in MOODLE LMS Following the Principles of Lx-Design (Based on the Example of the Course of Russian for the Students of ASUE)

The paper discusses designing a course in MOODLE LMS based on the principles of LX-design. LX-design (LXD, Learning Experience Design) is the latest approach towards developing an educational content (including the digital one) and learning. In the framework of this paper some basic principles of LX-design have been discussed and their application while designing and implementing ecourses (based on the example of the Russian language course created in MOODLE LMS for the students of the university of economics) has been demonstrated. The following principles of LX-design have been discussed: demonstrating the benefits of the course from the very beginning, taking into account HickHyman’s law and microlearning technology (splitting the educational content into bites), applying Miller’s law (Miller’s magic number 7 plus-minus 2) to reduce students’ cognitive overload, applying the isolation effect (Restorff effect), i.e. various means to draw learners’ attention. While taking into consideration the aforementioned principles we increase students’ productivity due to quality didactic materials which are developed based on the learning experience.

Challenges in a mobile English telecollaborative project: Towards a conceptual model

This paper, drawing upon a mobile telecollaborative project, resonates with the rapid development of technology in language learning. We employed the instant messaging app WeChat to create an English telecollaborative environment for two groups of Chinese students to communicate within. Interview data were triangulated with students’ chat transcripts and comments from a teacher’s reflective journal. A mixed-methods approach, including quantitative descriptive analysis, thematic analysis and content analysis, was used to investigate the challenges and the linguistic performance by applying the community of inquiry framework to the students’ chats. The analysis illustrates some of the complexities and challenges of using online apps as a way of communicating in a second language: students expected more teacher support, they struggled to use the app due to their physical environments and they felt that they were not sufficiently well prepared for chatting in an English medium environment. Based on the findings, a conceptual model is proposed for consideration when encouraging students to engage in telecollaborative learning.
 Implications for practice or policy:
 
 Teachers should enhance their visibility in mobile telecollaborative projects by promoting participants’ contribution through different facilitation techniques.
 Teachers and educators can capitalise on the proposed conceptual model to guide their own design of such online learning experiences for their learners.
 Telecollaborative learning can be improved by taking into account various factors such as physical environment, the medium of communication and the potential incentives.

Designing Online Professional Learning to Support Educators to Teach for Equity During COVID and Black Lives Matter

The massive racial inequities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and the nationwide protests in response to the killings of unarmed Black people forced a reckoning among many educators about racial injustice in the educational system. In March 2020, we launched a massive open online course designed to support teachers in adopting antiracist equity mind-sets and practices. We used a mixed-methods approach to describe how the participants experienced the online course between March and July 2020. Participants in immediate post- and follow-up surveys reported statistically significant shifts in their mind-sets and practices toward equitable teaching practices (effect size = 0.18–58 SD). In interviews, participants described how the course helped them change their practice through acquiring new language, reflecting collaboratively on practice, and engaging in calls to action. The findings provide insight to designers of online professional learning experiences focused on equity and open up new research areas on online professional learning for equity teaching mind-sets and practices.

“I Do Better, Feel Less Stress and Am Happier” – A Humanist and Affective Perspective on Student Engagement in an Online Class

Aim/Purpose; Fostering student engagement is one of the great challenges of teaching, especially in online learning environments. An educators’ assumptions and beliefs about what student engagement is and how it manifests will shape the strategies they design to engage students in learning. However, there is no agreement on the definition of concept of student engagement and it re-mains a vague construct. Background: Adopting the principles of user-centered design, the author maintains that to design learning experiences which better support student engagement it is important to gain insights into how students perceive and operationalize the concept of engagement in learning. The recent challenges of teaching effectively online prompted the author to reflect more deeply on the concept of engagement and how it might be achieved. Methodology: In the tradition of reflective teaching, the author undertook an informal, qualitative inquiry in her classroom, administering a brief questionnaire to students in her online class. When the themes which emerged were integrated with other literature and findings from the author’s earlier classroom inquiry, some insights were gained into how students ‘operationalize’ the concept of engagement, and weight was added to the authors’ premise of the value of humanistic approaches to university teaching, the need for greater emphasis on student-teacher connection and the necessity of considering the affective domain alongside the cognitive domain in learning in higher education. The insights were brought together and visualized in a conceptual model of student engagement. Contribution: The conceptual model presented in the present paper reflects the author’s present ‘mental model’ of student engagement in classes online and, when the opportunity arrives, in face-to-face classes as well. This mental model shapes the authors’ course design, learning activities and the delivery of the course. Although the elements of the model are not ‘new’, the model synthesizes several related concepts necessary to a humanist approach to under-standing student engagement. It is hoped that the model and discussion presented will be stimulus for further rich discussion around the nature of student engagement. Findings: Interestingly, the affective rather than the cognitive domain framed students’ perspectives on what engagement ‘looks like to them’ and on what teachers should do to engage them. Recommendations for Practitioners: By sharing the process through which the author arrived at this understanding of student engagement, the author has also sought to highlight three key points: the importance of including the ‘student perspectives and expectations’ against which educators can examine their own assumptions as part of the process reflective teaching practices; the usefulness of integrating theoretical and philosophical frameworks in our understandings of student engagement and how it might be nurtured, and finally the necessity of affording greater influence to humanism and the affective domain in higher education. The findings emphasize the necessity of considering the affective dimension of engagement as an essential condition for cognitive engagement and as inextricable from the cognitive dimension of engagement. Recommendations for Researchers: The emphasis in research engagement learning and teaching is on how we (the educators) can do this better, how we can better engage students. While the student perspective is often formulated from data obtained through surveys and focus groups, researchers in learning engagement are working with their own understandings (albeit supported by empirical research). It is crucial for deeper insight to also understand the students’ conceptualization of the phenomena being researched. Bringing the principles of design thinking to bear on educational research will likely provide greater depth of insight. Impact on Society: Empirical, formal, and structured research is undeniably essential to advancing human endeavor in any field, including learning and teaching. It is however important to recognize informal research in the form of classroom inquiry as part of teachers’ reflexive practice is also legitimate and useful to advancing understanding of complex phenomenon such as student engagement in learning through multiple perspectives and experiences. Future Research: Further research on the nature of student engagement in different contexts and against different theoretical frameworks is warranted as is empirical investigation of the premise of the value of humanism and the affective do-main in defining and measuring student engagement in higher education.

Use of the Subject-centered Integrated Learning Model and the Occupational Experience Profile to Promote Students' Connections Among Occupation, Self, and the Profession

Recent research related to occupational therapy education identified the need for a conceptual model to help guide the design and implementation of occupation-centered education. Spurred by this research, the Subject-centered Integrative Learning Model-Occupational Therapy (SCIL-OT) emerged as a model to enable educators and learners to keep the concept of occupation at the center of all occupational therapy education and learning. That work, largely focused on teaching students to connect non-occupation content to occupation (Hooper et al., 2020). However, teaching students about occupation directly can also benefit from using the SCIL-OT model to design learning experiences. The purpose of this paper is two-fold: 1) to demonstrate how the SCIL-OT model guided the development of a semester-long occupational balance assignment, and 2) to introduce the Occupational Experience Profile (OEP) used in the assignment. Content analysis of students’ written components of the semester-long occupation-based learning assignment revealed two themes: 1) completion of the occupational balance assignment contributed to an increased awareness of occupation and the dynamics of occupation and 2) students’ learning revealed interconnections between self, occupation, health, clients, and OT practice. Use of the SCIL-OT enhances students’ abilities to make connections; however, educators need to continually create and communicate explicit connections with and to occupation.

Learning with augmented reality: Impact of dimensionality and spatial abilities

Three-dimensional (3D) representations are often more effective for learning about spatial objects than two-dimensional (2D) representations. In augmented reality (AR), which can include 2D and 3D visualizations, learners’ perceptions might differ from other visual media. To examine the specific influence of the dimensionality of AR visualizations on learning the spatial structure of components, 3D and 2D AR representations of the human heart were compared in an experimental laboratory study, otherwise keeping the conditions as comparable as possible. The participants (N = 150) received the respective AR representation and were instructed to look for the hearts’ components mentioned in an informational text. As expected, learning with the 3D compared to the 2D representation resulted in higher germane cognitive load and knowledge about spatial relations of components. Proposed effects on extraneous cognitive load, knowledge about spatial positions of components and mediation effects were not found. Higher mental rotation abilities were found to be more beneficial for learning with the 3D visualization, suggesting that these learners were better equipped for this task and supporting an ability-as-enhancer hypothesis. Overall, the study revealed that even in AR scenarios, 3D visualizations may be better to convey knowledge about spatial structures than 2D visualizations. Moreover, the results emphasize the specific moderating role of spatial abilities when learning with 3D AR material. In future research with various spatial learning material and spatial abilities, the generalizability of these results needs to be examined, so that ultimately more insights can be gained for the design of optimal AR learning experiences.

Differential return on investment: Academic growth in mathematics and reading based on initial performance.

Students vary in their initial achievement when they enter school and their rate of academic growth as they move through school. These differences have implications for classroom instruction and educational policy. Although previous research has examined initial achievement and growth differences, a gap remains in understanding how initial level of achievement interacts with subsequent growth as children move through school. Using Vygotsky's zone of proximal development (ZPD) and return on investment as theoretical grounding, this registered report examined how students' initial academic performance relative to their school predicts their subsequent academic achievement. The stage 1 accepted registered report is available at https://osf.io/9zmak/. Specifically, we tracked the achievement of a cohort of students who started at or above their school's mean at the beginning of third grade and tested a range of hypotheses regarding their achievement and growth as well as which students showed the greatest gains from their time in school. Using a large database of student academic achievement in the United States, this registered report included de-identified data from all students from fall 2014 to spring 2017 in grades three through five from the ten US states with the highest participation for the Northwest Evaluation Association's Measures of Academic Progress (MAP®) - a computer adaptive test of academic achievement in mathematics and reading. Because the MAP is taken at least twice per school year, up to six scores were included on mathematics and reading achievement for effective samples of approximately 220,000 students. We built separate reading and mathematics three-level piecewise longitudinal hierarchical linear models (student repeated measures, nested within students, nested within schools) to model student growth from the beginning of third grade to the end of fifth grade (i.e., three academic years and two summers). For both mathematics and reading, average student achievement growth slowed as they progressed from third through fifth grade. From there, the findings diverged. In mathematics, student growth was mostly similar across achievement levels and grades from third through fifth. However, in reading, above-average students demonstrated slower growth than average students during the school year but faster growth during the summer. Also of note, at the beginning of third grade, the highest achieving students outscored average students in their school by more than 2 years in mathematics and 3 years in reading. Our results may be able to be explained via a ZPD model, which posits development only occurs when students are placed in appropriately challenging environments. In mathematics, the observed pattern of relatively consistent growth across achievement levels suggests average students were just as likely to be in their ZPD as higher achieving students. In reading, as initial achievement increased, student reading growth slowed, which suggests the higher the initial achievement, the less likely students were to be in their ZPD. If a goal of education is for students to learn new things, our results suggest existing school offerings in reading are not meeting that goal equitably for students across the performance spectrum. Differential growth patterns should be considered when designing learning experiences for students who enter with a wide range of prior mastery.

Using technologies to design personalized learning pathways as a part of scientific practice of students

Problem and goal. The article deals with the process of designing the high school internship program of the ITMO Universitys Information Chemistry Center by using information and communications technology (ICT). The program development process involved following stages: client briefing, exploratory study, hypotheses-formation processes and its testing, custom development, learning experience design and project defense. Methodology. The high school students views about the Infochemistry Internship Program were analyzed. Authors conduc- ted in-depth interviews with respondents and retrieved information about students scientific achievements, challenges and recommendations for improving the internship program. During the exploratory research stage the high school internship programs of Russian and foreign universities in the field of biology, chemistry, physics and IT were studied. The initial sample was composed of Stanford University Mathematics Camp (SUMaC), Stanford University Science Circle, Harvard University Summer School (Pre-College Program), Chemistry Research Academy of University of Pennsylvania. Three types of scientific practices - summer camp or summer school, university science circle and a research academy - were identified. Results. The authors emphasized that there is not a single high school internship program in the field of chemistry in Russia like at IMTO University. This immerse education program is based on laboratory learning that allows students experience chemistry principles under the guidance of leading scientists. The concept of the program based on the science education model. It involves the personalized learning pathway, scaffolding activities, and participation in the research project. Flexible learning pathway is the core of the program that includes various levels of personalization: project, scaffolding means, pace of learning, educational content, educational result. To prove the importance of using ICT and social media in educational process authors found the results of the research conducted by University College Dublin and University of Melbourne. Conclusion. The paper has highlighted the significance of revamping internship programs, identified the most common types of scientific practices and proved the importance of selected program principles.

An Evaluation of Safety Training for a Diverse Disaster Response Workforce: The Case of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

(1) Background: In this case study, we examined the safety-training-related experiences of individuals from six racial-ethnic groups (Asians (Vietnamese), Blacks, Hispanics, Isleños, Native Americans, and Whites) involved in the cleanup of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. (2) Methods: We assessed, via a survey, 495 disaster response trainees’ reactions to the design and delivery of training, learning, safety performance, and injury and illness experience. (3) Results: Our results showed statistically significant racial-ethnic group differences with respect to reactions to training, components of learning (i.e., cognitive, skill, and affective), and safety performance (i.e., use of personal protective equipment, engaging in safe work practices, communicating of safety information, and exercising employee rights and responsibilities). In general, Asians and Isleños group members had lower reactions to training, self-reported learning, and safety performance. Additionally, we found that the safety climate interacted with learning to positively affect safety performance. (4) Conclusions: We discuss the implications of our findings for improving the quality of safety training in relation to addressing language and literacy concerns, developing training that is useful and engaging for volunteer and other cleanup workers from the contaminated region, and promoting a positive safety climate to enhance training transfer.

Learning experience design through Minecraft, Imagineering, and Storytelling

The present research consists of implementing, through the learning experience design framework, a model that allows design students to connect the past with the present and the future of the profession. The process includes understanding the dimensions of the design of a historical character related to the discipline, implementing the hero's journey to tell his story but also contextualizing it in a three-dimensional environment in Minecraft. The video game allows them to express abstract elements in concrete through a three-dimensional representation that provides a user experience where you can also learn about these outstanding characters of the discipline.

Andrology in the context of Higher Education: historical trend analysis


 
 
 Introduction. Faced with the demands of the knowledge and information society to oppose traditional education, Andragogy is resumed as the concept that encompasses various ideas for adult-only learning. Objective To systematically identify and evaluate scientific evidence on the origin and evolution of Andragogy and its emergence in the context of technological education. Method: The databases Scielo, Redalyc, Google Academic, Scopus were consulted. DOAJ. There was no language restriction. Articles that aimed to analyse the origin and evolution of Andragogy in technological education were included. Studies at other levels were excluded. After filtering, the total revised sources were 50. Results Andragogy is raised as a need to incorporate into higher education programs. Conclusion. Higher education centres when designing learning experiences for their students should take into account affective and cognitive aspects.
 
 

Learning experience design with immersive virtual reality in physics education

Learning experience design with immersive virtual reality in physics education

Design-based research with mARC ID model: designing experiential learning environments

The relationship between experience (through practice) and knowledge (by theory) is becoming increasingly important in contemporary educational research and development. Where educational curricula aim to support students in linking practical experience to their academic knowledge development, experiential learning appears complex to design with high instructional prerequisites that make it difficult to achieve. This article reports the process of redesigning an experiential learning environment throughout iterative design-based research. For reasons of methodological consistency, we first introduce and discuss the mARC instructional design model that identifies three pillars of experiential learning (more Authenticity, Reflection, and Collaboration). We then present three empirical studies of how the implementation of the mARC model affected the quality of learning process and outcomes. The results of our design-based research show that the model offers powerful practical guidelines for experiential learning design. Application of the model: (a) improved students’ academic achievement, (b) helped students to engage with both re- and de-contextualisation of knowledge, and (c) improved reflection processes during learning. The study suggests that experiential learning, aligned with the pillars of mARC model, can successfully support learners in their effort to create knowledge through practical experience.

Multifaceted Chemical Thinking: A Core Competence

Chemical thinking is a powerful tool for making sense of the material world and acting on it. But developing competence in chemical thinking may be challenging for students as it varies in several dimensions. This contribution seeks to guide and help chemistry educators in the design of learning experiences that support the development of “multifaceted chemical thinking” by identifying and describing different dimensions along which chemical reasoning may vary, and by discussing how to foster such a competence. In particular, the article elaborates on how chemical reasoning varies along six dimensions named Granularity, Dimension, Frame, Basis, Mode, and Focus.

Collaboration around Multi-touch Spherical Displays: A Field Study at a Science Museum

Multi-touch spherical displays that enable groups of people to collaboratively interact are increasingly being used in informal learning settings such as museums. Prior research on large flatscreen displays has examined group collaboration patterns in museum settings to inform the design of group learning experiences around these displays. However, previous research has shown differences in how users conceptualize interacting with spherical and flatscreen displays, thereby making it important to separately investigate how groups naturally collaborate around spherical displays in a museum setting. The spherical form factor of the display affords new forms of collaboration: unlike flatscreen displays, spherical displays do not have a definite front or center, thus intrinsically creating both shared and private touch interaction areas on the display based on users' viewing angles or physical arrangements. We conducted a 5-day long field study at a local science museum during which 571 visitors (370 adults and 201 children) in 211 groups interacted with a walk-up-and-use collaborative learning application showing global science data visualizations, on a multi-touch spherical display. We qualitatively analyzed groups' natural collaboration patterns including their physical arrangements (F-formations), their collaboration profiles (e.g., turn-taker or independent), and the nature of group discussion around the display. Our results show that groups often engaged in both independent as well as closely collaborative group explorations when interacting around the sphere: physical spacing between group members around the sphere was strongly linked to the way groups collaborated. It was less common for group members to make and accept suggestions or coordinate touch interactions when they did not share the same fields-of-view or touch interaction space with each other around the sphere. We discuss implications for supporting group collaboration in this context which will inform the design of future walk-up-and-use multi-touch spherical display applications for use in public settings.

Using the Reflective Judgment Model to Understand and Appraise Effective Reasoning by Social Work Students

ABSTRACT Research suggests that most college and beginning graduate students lack the cognitive complexity required to engage in effective practical and ethical reasoning. Studies on cognitive development support the view that how people approach complex problems varies significantly depending on the underlying epistemic assumptions they use to guide their problem-solving strategies and justify their decisions. We recommend King and Kitchener’s Reflective Judgment Model (RJM), a cognitive-developmental framework based on epistemology, as a model for assessing students’ current approaches to resolving real-world problems and fostering the skills and dispositions necessary to engage in effective decision making. We discuss strategies for using the RJM to assess students’ current epistemic assumptions and to design learning experiences that encourage increased sophistication in ethical problem solving.

Informal Learning Experiences on Social Media: The Case of #MarketingTwitter

Informal learning in online social communities encourages a sense of belonging and support in a casual environment while enhancing members' knowledge and expertise. Several studies have explored the use and benefit of online social communities, particularly in the education field. Yet, little research examines how informal learning occurs in other professional hashtag communities on Twitter. This research explores the #MarketingTwitter professional's community to identify how users promote an instructional design of informal learning experiences and strategies to engage and impact members in the community including possible new users.