A critical outlook at augmented reality and its adoption in education

Despite a significant volume of empirical research suggesting that augmented reality has a positive impact on student learning outcomes, it has not been widely adopted within education. This review critically analyses the literature to determine why this is the case. Our review methodology was based on the PRISMA strategy. A total of 169 papers were identified for use in this study and this group of papers was evaluated using content analysis. Specifically we analysed the research goals, motivation and the extent of the application of co–design in the research papers. We found that the research in this area is primarily student–centred, and a minority of papers apply co–design as a technique. This is significant because it is well understood that student–centred outcomes have the least effect on technology adoption within education. Based on these findings we make a series of recommendations including a shift away from research focused solely on learning outcomes and towards research which also considers how augmented reality integrates into the teaching environment

Towards student-centred solutions and pedagogical innovations in science education through co-design approach within design-based research

See: https://www.lumat.fi/index.php/lumat/article/view/421/363Peer reviewe

CKBiology: An Active Learning Curriculum Design for Secondary Biology

This research paper presents the design of an active learning curriculum and corresponding software environment called CKBiology, reporting on its implementation in two sections of a Grade 12 Biology course across three design cycles. Guided by a theoretical framework called Knowledge Community and Inquiry (KCI), we employed a design-based research methodology in which we worked closely with a high school biology teacher and team of technology developers to co-design, build, test, implement, and revise this curriculum within a blended learning context. We first present the results of a needs assessment and baseline analysis in which we identify the design constraints and challenges associated with infusing a “traditional” Grade 12 Biology course with a KCI curriculum. Next, we present the design narrative for CKBiology in which we respond to these constraints and challenges, detailing the activity sequences, pedagogical aspects, and technology elements used across three design iterations. Finally, we provide a qualitative analysis of student and teacher perspectives on aspects of the design, including activity elements as well as the CKBiology interface. Findings from this analysis are synthesized into design principles which may serve the wider community of active learning researchers and practitioners

Models of scientific identity

This chapter examines a series of key science identity-based research models. Our purpose is to discuss the interplay of individual agency and social interaction through the lens of transformative learning. We critique those current identity-based models based on the importance given to either social structures and/or agency separately. We also review contemporary research on transformational learning and identity change, illustrating transformation or movement of learners towards, or away from, the study of science. The chapter is a contribution to the debates concerning the considerable impact of identity construction on learning, and the construction of ‘science-identity’ in particular. With this in mind, we examine the central issues in the light of the teaching and learning of science in schools and universities, as well as in the population at large. Our core argument is that an understanding and analysis of these models and theories leads to the design of a conjugated theoretical model of ‘science identity’ (Sci-ID) consisting of seven main interconnected and interlinked ‘slices’. These seven slices represent the (i) global forces (GF: such as gender, ethnicity, race and class) experienced by learners, (ii) social agencies and agents (SA: such as schools, other institutes, parents and teachers) personifying global forces, (iii) transformational learning (TL) experiences (accidental and/or planned events, triggers and interventions) shaping (iv) personal preferences, (v) meaning, and (vi) individual internal agency (IIA) directed by the inner most (vii) central core impacting upon individuals’ subject and career choices. Our concluding summary encompasses: (a) identities that are fluid and stable – with the journey towards stability depends on factors such as, for example, age, experiences, relationships, events, triggers, etc. (b) identities that are not entirely fluid, where there are forms of stability, a kind of internal force or agency that empowers people in accepting or declining the influences from the external forces; and (c) the ways in which one’s identity depends on the strength of certain GF, SA, TL experiences (events, triggers, interventions) and the strength of one’s IIA that goes with it or against it

Co-Designing Collaborative Smart Classroom Curriculum for Secondary School Science

This paper introduces a series of iterative designs that investigate how the aggregation and visualization of student-contributed work can support collaborative problem solving in the domain of physics. We investigate how new technologies can enable students to contribute to a shared knowledge base, working across contexts: in class, at home, and in a specialized "smart classroom" environment. We explore how student data can be provided to the teacher before class, in support of planning the next day's lesson, and during class, to help the teacher orchestrate class activities and respond to student needs. Our work builds upon the research tradition of knowledge communities and inquiry learning to inform its design of materials and activities that support productive collaborative interactions for learners. We are also guided by the recent literature on scripting and orchestration to define curricular activities that bridge home and school environments, leveraging a digital platform that includes Web 2.0 features to guide structured collaborations. This paper reports on a design-based research program in which the development of the curriculum and technology platform is informed by successive cycles of design, enactment, analysis, and re-design. The paper will review our efforts through three successive design cycles, exploring the evolution of our own "smart classroom curriculum" for high school physics. For each iteration, we present our design goals, the resulting curriculum and technology, the student learning outcomes, and our evaluation that informs the next iteration. We end with a description of our current design, and discuss the goals and directions of our future efforts

Supporting teacher orchestration of across-spaces learning situations

La tesis doctoral trata sobre la orquestación de situaciones de aprendizaje “a través de espacios” (across-spaces, AS, en inglés): situaciones de aprendizaje que integran actividades que tienen lugar en múltiples espacios físicos y virtuales, y donde se da una transición suave, o continua, entre los distintos espacios. En particular, la tesis intenta proporcionar herramientas conceptuales y tecnológicas para apoyar a los docentes en la orquestación de este tipo de situaciones de aprendizaje, que puedan incluir espacios físicos, web y mundos virtuales 3D. Siguiendo la Metodología de Investigación de Desarrollo de Sistemas, y con un paradigma de investigación interpretativo subyacente, se proponen dos constructos (modelo de POI y noción de cubo de aprendizaje o learning bucket) y dos sistemas (GLUEPS-AR y Bucket-Server), para ayudar a los docentes en la orquestación de situaciones de aprendizaje AS. Para la evaluación de las propuestas, se realizaron múltiples análisis de características, estudios pilotos y estudios de evaluación, enmarcados en un modelo de evaluación “receptivo”Departamento de Teoría de la Señal y Comunicaciones e Ingeniería TelemáticaNota: In reference to IEEE copyrighted material which is used with permission in this thesis, the IEEE does not endorse any of Universidad de Valladolid's products or services. Internal or personal use of this material is permitted. If interested in reprinting/republishing IEEE copyrighted material for advertising or promotional purposes or for creating new collective works for resale or redistribution, please go to http://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/rights/rights_link.html to learn how to obtain a License from RightsLink. If applicable, University Microfilms and/or ProQuest Library, or the Archives of Canada may supply single copies of the dissertation

Making scientists: developing a model of science identity

This thesis was submitted for the award of Doctor of Philosophy and was awarded by Brunel University LondonThis study is an analysis of a three-phase study with twelve professional scientists and non-scientists (Phase One), one-hundred and twenty-three science and non-science university students (Phase Two) and thirty secondary school girls (Phase Three), to illustrate their ‘science lives’. I have used identity theories and transformational learning theory (TLT) to illustrate transformation or movement of learners towards, or away from, science. The understanding of these models and theories have led me to design a theoretical model of science identity (Sci-ID) that represents the global forces (GF) experienced by learners, the social agencies and agents (SA) that embody those forces, the transformational learning (TL) experiences (events, triggers and interventions) that shape personal meaning, and the inclinations and individual internal agency (IIA) that impact upon individuals’ subject and career choices. I have adopted semi-structured ‘narrative’ styled interviews, a descriptive questionnaire and science ‘intervention evaluation’ approaches from the three cohorts. The data generated has been analysed in several ways, including the use of synoptic analysis to construct individual stories about the participants, in third-person voice, from their responses. These stories and the broader, aggregated, thematic, outcomes have been used to examine the Sci-ID model. These outcomes stress three main themes related to the study (or not) of science, that include (i) progressive transformational learning and smooth transformation, (ii) progressive transformational learning and wavering transformation and (iii) reconstructive transformational learning and wavering transformation. These themes indicates that people in life accept and reject certain TL experiences that either ‘go with their IIA’ or ‘go against it’. The majority find their way, choose and select TL experiences exhibiting small or medium movement towards or away from science. However, very few people exhibit large movement accompanied by regressive TL experiences. This study also reveals the existence of two very broad kinds of people (i) people who demonstrate stable pro-science or anti science and (ii) ‘fluid’ people who populate the centre-ground between pro-science and anti-science people. The fluid group caught my attention because their IIA shows greater ambivalence and the impact of GF, SA, incorporating events, triggers and interventions appear to have more impact than on those with a more stable science identity. Therefore, through six science education-based interventions I was able to work with – and influence - more ‘fluid’ kinds of secondary school girls. I used a number of mini-transformative experiences that led them to gain appreciation of science-based education and possible future science careers