The Social and Cognitive
Experiences of Child
Technology Design Partners
Mona Leigh Guha
May 26, 2011
HCIL Symposium and Open House
University of Maryland
Cooperative Inquiry (“Kidsteam”)
(Druin 1999; 2002)
 Video from Edutopia
 Method of design partnering with children to
create technology for children
 High ratio of adults to children
 Collaborative work; multiple techniques
The Study
What are children’s
cognitive and
social experiences
during Cooperative
Inquiry?
Method
 Case Study/Participant Observation
 Observational Notes
 Photos
 Videos
 Artifact Analysis
 Photos of artifacts
 Interviews
 Eight children
 Seven parent(s)
 Analysis Method
 Qualitative
 Emergent coding using Nvivo
 Member checks
* Participants
Name
M/
F
Age
Grade
New
School
Abby
F
8-9
3rd
Barrett
M
9-10
4th
New
Public
Cameron
F
7-8
2nd
New
Private
Dakota
F
9-10
3rd
Nikita
F
8-9
3rd
New
Public
Sebastian
M
10-11
5th
New
Private
Shawn
M
10-11
5th
Private
Tabitha
F
8-9
4th
Private
Public
Private
* Names of participants have been changed to ensure confidentiality
Framework
Cognitive
Social
Relationships
Skills
Communication
Enjoyment
Content
Collaboration
Confidence
Examining the Framework:
Social - Relationships
 With adults
“…the strength of it is about having the kids be able to create and
think and share their ideas with academia….people who are you
know, experts in their fields – if it’s computers; if it’s psychology; if
it’s education if it’s park and plant – whatever their expertise is…”
– Carole (Tabitha’s mother)
 With peers
“I like being able to work with my friends” – Shawn
“Don’t like not being paired with friends all the time”
- Barrett
Social
Social
&
Cognitive
Cognitive
Cogni
tive
Examining the Framework:
Social – Confidence
 Technology confidence
 Outgoing behavior
 Empowerment
Social
Social
&
Cognitive
Cognitive
Cogni
tive
Examining the Framework:
Social - Enjoyment
 Humor
 Engagement
 Gifts
“It’s fun to know that you’re
designing things that will
help other people.”
-Barrett
“Sometimes it can make me feel frustrated...maybe
you will have an idea and your partner doesn’t
agree.” - Shawn
Social
Social
&
Cognitive
Cognitive
Cogni
tive
Examining the Framework:
Cognitive - Skills
 Reading
 Problem solving






Inquiring
Brainstorming
Creativity
Critiquing
Being challenged
Being focused
 Application
Social
Social
&
Cognitive
Cognitive
tive
Cogni
Examining the Framework:
Cognitive - Content
 Technology
 Disciplinary


Subject
Process as
content
Social
Social
&
Cognitive
Cognitive
tive
Cogni
Examining the Framework:
Social and Cognitive - Communication
 Visual
 Textual
 Verbal
Social
Social
&
Cognitive
Cognitive
Cogni
tive
Examining the Framework:
Social and Cognitive - Collaboration
 Elaboration
 Configurations
 With adults
 Differing ages
 Gender
Social
Social
&
Cognitive
Cognitive
Cogni
tive
So What?
 Educators
 Curriculum: magnet, charter, and public schools
 Extra curricular
 Special education
 Designers
 Choosing design partnering
 Researchers
 Formal study on experiences of design partners
 Provides basis for future studies
Thank You!
Adult and child design partners
Questions?
Extra Slide One
 Textual Communication
 Inquiry
Framework (Extra Two)
Extra three
Extra Four
Extra Five
Extra Six
Extra Six
Social
Relationships
Enjoyment
Confidence
Communication
Collaboration
Cognitive
Skills
Content
Extra Seven
Research Questions
 What are children’s experiences in the
context of an intergenerational Cooperative
Inquiry technology design process?


What are children’s cognitive experiences in
the context of an intergenerational
Cooperative Inquiry technology design
process?
What are children’s social experiences in the
context of an intergenerational Cooperative
Inquiry technology design process?
Related Literature: Technology Design
Processes with Children
 Many researchers study technology design
processes which include children
 Many researchers conjecture on effects of design
process participation on children
 No targeted study has been undertaken to determine
these effects
Distribution of types of articles
Number of articles
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Technology
only
Mostly
technology
Both tech and
process
Mostly
process
Process only
Related Literature: Technology Design
Processes with Children
Distribution of types of articles
Number of articles
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Technology
only
Mostly
technology
Both tech and
process
Mostly
process
Process only
Although many researchers have studied technology
design processes with children, no targeted study has
been undertaken to determine the experiences of the
children who participate in the design processes
Role of the Researcher
Former classroom teacher with a background in
child development and special education
PLUS
Participant in and researcher of Cooperative
Inquiry technology design process
EQUALS
Desire to understand the experiences of
children involved in technology design
processes
About the Research
 Video of a technology design team session
(produced by Edutopia, a project of the
George Lucas Educational Foundation
collecting stories about what works in
education)
 What are children’s experiences in the
context of an intergenerational Cooperative
Inquiry technology design process?


Cognitive
Social
Vygotskian Lens of Analysis
 Vygotsky’s theory employed to analyze the
social and cognitive domains





Cognition as a collaborative process
Studying process in context
Cultural tool use
Zone of proximal development
Speech, signs, and concepts
(John-Steiner and Souberman, 1978; Kozulin 1986; Rogoff 1998,
Vygotsky, 1978 & 1986)
Data Analysis
Type of
data
Set 1
Set 2
Set 3
 NVivo
 Coding
Continual
 Inductive
 Emergent
Participant
2nd
5th
8th
 Iterative
Observation
 Units of analysis
rd
th
th
Artifact
3
6
9
 Individual
Analysis
 Dyad
 Small group (3 -6
members)
(LeCompte and Preissle, 1993;
 Large group (whole
Marshall and Rossman, 1999; Stake,
team)
1995)
 Member checks
Interviews
1st
4th
7th

Limitations – Nature of Approach
 Generalizability

Descriptive
 Participant self-selection

Participant retention
 Participant observation

Researcher lens
Future Work
 Same research questions in different context,
such as other methods of technology design
with children
 Units of analysis and their makeup
 Specific constructs
 Demographics: gender, ethnicity, etc.
 Past design partners
 Adults involved in technology design
processes