College of Information Studies
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/1631
The collections in this community comprise faculty research works, as well as graduate theses and dissertations.
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Item How Can Debugging With Physical Computing Be More Playful For Children?(2024) Zeng, Danyi; Williams-Pierce, Caro; Library & Information Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)In response to the ongoing call for the education of computational thinking, I explored how debugging activities in a physical computing environment can be more playful and learnable for children. While a lot of studies have addressed the importance of debugging in generic programming learning, the benefits and challenges of physical computing implementation in classrooms, or the potential of playfulness in STEM education, few research focused on an interdisciplinary conversation that sought design solutions to bring playfulness into the learning experience and to improve the user experience cohesively. In this study, based on a synthetical understanding of the relevant studies from computer science, human-computer interaction, and education, I situated the concept of fragile knowledge into the complex, multiple-object environment of physical computing. Accordingly, I designed two debugging projects on micro:bit for 8 participants at KidsTeam at the University of Maryland to understand their intuitive approaches to debugging in the physical computing environment. I analyzed the video data of the two 90-minute sessions and applied semantic coding to examine and compare the participants’ earning experiences, including typical progress and failures. The qualitative findings revealed: 1) the differentiation in the process of debugging between the first-time and returning learners of programming, 2) the participants’ passion for customizing after success by upgrading their projects or testing the limit of the physical chip, and 3) two forms of spontaneous collaborations. Across those experiences, I further identified the failures without feedback caused by the micro:bit’s current coding environment and extended Fish Tanks and Sandboxes, two playful learning principles, to provide design insights for future physical debugging activities that support the findings above.Item UNDERSTANDING LEARNING AND SKETCHING EXPERIENCES OF CHILDREN INVOLVED IN STEM DESIGN(2023) Shokeen, Ekta; Williams-Pierce, Caro Dr.; Library & Information Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Sketching is considered a helpful activity in STEM design and education. Scholars have argued for including children in designing technology as it has been found to improve product design and leads to social and cognitive benefits for children. However, little is known about children’s learning and sketching experiences when participating in design activities. How do children sketch during design activities? How do children learn about sketching in design activities? What information do they share via their sketches? What information do they use for sketching? How do they use sketching in the overall design process? How do learning and sketching relate to STEM design? This three-paper dissertation uses empirical and theoretical approaches to address these questions. The first paper uses an ethnographic case study approach to qualitatively examine information-sharing practices and learning opportunities from children’s engagement in interest-driven sketching. Findings suggest that sketching can provide multiple learning opportunities to children. Also, it can be helpful to gather information about the broader contexts of children’s lives which can help identify their needs and improve the future design of technologies for children. The second paper presents a theoretical framework, Radical Constructivist Cooperative Inquiry (RCCI), for understanding children’s learning in design activities. Based on the theoretical synthesis of the cooperative inquiry design approach and the radical constructivist perspective of learning, RCCI establishes six pillars of learning in design. Finally, the paper discusses how these six pillars can be utilized in design activities to support children’s learning. The third paper is a secondary analysis of video data of children’s learning and sketching experiences in engineering design in their home environments. It focuses on examining the relationship between children’s sketching and learning following the RCCI framework with the thematic analysis method. Results suggest that sketching can engage children in learning about STEM skill sets. These three papers collectively contribute empirically and theoretically to building knowledge about improving and sustaining design cycles by children in STEM learning contexts.Item EXPLORING EMBODIED MATHEMATICAL COGNITION THROUGH FROM HERE TO THERE!(2023) Katirci, Nihal; Williams-Pierce, Caroline; History/Library & Information Systems; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation seeks to investigate how digital gestures connect to students’ mathematical understanding when playing From Here to There! (FH2T). This investigation explores the intersection of three fields, game-based learning, embodied cognition, and mathematics education. I used three studies which break down the different aspects of the overall research: Study 1 (The Game Interaction Study) covers the interaction between the game and the researcher; Study 2 (The Quantitative Gesture Study) is based on an analysis of the quantitative data gathered by the developers; and Study 3 (The Student Observations Study) focuses on collecting qualitative data and analyzing it through embodied mathematical cognition and failure and feedback lenses. These three studies illuminate the understanding of digital gestures and mathematical learning.Item PREDICTING AND MOTIVATING ACHIEVEMENT IN SELF-PACED LEARNING: A FORMATIVE DESIGN, STUDY AND EVALUATION(2014) Goldman, Alina; Bederson, Benjamin; Library & Information Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Student motivation and retention is a notorious problem in self-paced and mastery environments. This thesis uses a formative study conducted during a self-paced mastery course at the University of Maryland to understand how background variables affect achievement and to explore whether student success can be positively influenced by: a) receiving a course credit suggestion; b) setting goals and sticking to self-made deadlines; c) viewing aggregated and individual progress feedback; and d) receiving game-inspired incentives and rewards. After evaluating the effectiveness of the integrated design, the thesis suggests design changes to improve motivation.