16,913 research outputs found

    Exploring Inclusive Design and Digital Humanities: Enabling Bilingual Digital Narratives for Deaf Children

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    The collaboration between designers and digital humanists has indeed gained increasing significance in crafting effective projects, with design serving as a centralizing force in the realm of digital humanities by establishing interfaces for individuals to engage with technological resources. Therefore, design's methodological practices, encompassing various research and experiential facets, play a pivotal role in enhancing the usability and accessibility of digital resources within the social sphere. This study aims to expand the discourse on the characteristics and potential of the interplay between inclusive design and digital humanities practices, with a specific focus on the development of bilingual digital narratives (utilizing Brazilian Sign Language and Portuguese). The research adopts a collaborative, qualitative approach, encompassing processes of evaluation, validation, and enhancement. Digital visual narratives are presented as a facilitating tool for integrating LIBRAS and Portuguese, thereby aiding in language acquisition for deaf children. The article contributes to the discussion of the humanistic approach to design, emphasizing the values of empathy, ethics, and social responsibility in the creation of inclusive and accessible projects

    Life crafting as a way to find purpose and meaning in life

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    Having a purpose in life is one of the most fundamental human needs. However, for most people, finding their purpose in life is not obvious. Modern life has a way of distracting people from their true goals and many people find it hard to define their purpose in life. Especially at younger ages, people are searching for meaning in life, but this has been found to be unrelated to actually finding meaning. Oftentimes, people experience pressure to have a “perfect” life and show the world how well they are doing, instead of following up on their deep-felt values and passions. Consequently, people may need a more structured way of finding meaning, e.g., via an intervention. In this paper, we discuss evidence-based ways of finding purpose, via a process that we call “life crafting.” This process fits within positive psychology and the salutogenesis framework – an approach focusing on factors that support human health and well-being, instead of factors that cause disease. This process ideally starts with an intervention that entails a combination of reflecting on one’s values, passions and goals, best possible self, goal attainment plans, and other positive psychology intervention techniques. Important elements of such an intervention are: (1) discovering values and passion, (2) reflecting on current and desired competencies and habits, (3) reflecting on present and future social life, (4) reflecting on a possible future career, (5) writing about the ideal future, (6) writing down specific goal attainment and “if-then” plans, and (7) making public commitments to the goals set. Prior research has shown that personal goal setting and goal attainment plans help people gain a direction or a sense of purpose in life. Research findings from the field of positive psychology, such as salutogenesis, implementation intentions, value congruence, broaden-and-build, and goal-setting literature, can help in building a comprehensive evidence-based life-crafting intervention. This intervention can aid individuals to find a purpose in life, while at the same time ensuring that they make concrete plans to work toward this purpose. The idea is that life crafting enables individuals to take control of their life in order to optimize performance and happiness

    Speculative tinkering on circular design materials through 3D printing

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    Despite the spread of new circular materials and digital technologies, designers’ awareness of how to practically implement them is not fully achieved yet. Therefore, new ways to foster digital craftsmanship skills and experiential knowledge should be implemented. This contribution aims to reflect on digital technologies, especially 3D printing, in speculative design approaches with circular materials through the development of the materials library from the FiberEUse research project. This “materials and product library system” is an adaptive experiential tool that goes beyond merely collecting physical materials samples. It also includes possible products, speculative applications, and non-textual content, merging physical and virtual learning experiences. Its physical section comprises a materials library with flat samples of the materials and a product library with applications or cut-offs of some meaningful details of products. By analyzing the library’s development path, three incremental phases emerge in terms of interaction with circular materials and 3D printing for speculative approaches: experiencing materials, technology, and products. The first phase aims to preliminary explore the potential and qualities of materials through traditional craftsmanship skills. The second phase deals with the first experimentations with the technology, understanding the limits and influence on the expressive-sensorial qualities. The third phase is oriented toward new applications, investigating the possible outcomes from a formal point of view. As a synthesis, the tinkering process emphasizes the active role of experiential tools in spreading the use of circular materials and digital technologies, helping acquire new skills through an experiential approach. It also adds a further level to the exploitation of materials libraries, paving the way for new possible uses, i.e., distributed replication, participation, and implementation. As a result, materials libraries assume a more active role in the experiential knowledge transfer even during their development, representing a practical path to building new skills. Hence, a new model of materials libraries may emerge as a replicative learning and speculative design tool

    Enhancing STEM Learning with ChatGPT and Bing Chat as Objects to Think With: A Case Study

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    This study investigates the potential of ChatGPT and Bing Chat, advanced conversational AIs, as "objects-to-think-with," resources that foster reflective and critical thinking, and concept comprehension in enhancing STEM education, using a constructionist theoretical framework. A single-case study methodology was used to analyse extensive interaction logs between students and both AI systems in simulated STEM learning experiences. The results highlight the ability of ChatGPT and Bing Chat to help learners develop reflective and critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving skills, and concept comprehension. However, integrating AIs with collaborative learning and other educational activities is crucial, as is addressing potential limitations like concerns about AI information accuracy and reliability of the AIs' information and diminished human interaction. The study concludes that ChatGPT and Bing Chat as objects-to-think-with offer promising avenues to revolutionise STEM education through a constructionist lens, fostering engagement in inclusive and accessible learning environments

    Designing Hybrid Gifts

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    Hybrid gifting combines physical artefacts and experiences with digital interactivity to generate new kinds of gifts. Our review details how gifting is a complex social phenomenon and how digital gifting is less engaging than physical gifting for both givers and receivers. Employing a Research Through Design approach, we developed a portfolio of four hybrid gifting experiences: an augmented advent calendar; edible music tracks; personalised museum tours; and a narrated city walk. Our reflection addresses three concepts: hybrid wrapping where physical gifts become wrapped in digital media and vice versa; the importance of effortful interactions that are visible and pleasurable; and the need to consider social obligation, including opportunities for acknowledgement and reciprocation, dealing with embarrassment, and recognising the distinction between giving and sharing. Our concepts provide guidance to practitioners who wish to design future gifting experiences while helping HCI researchers engage with the concept of gifting in a nuanced way

    Building Resilience in MBA Students: Bouncing Back and Forward through Challenges

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    The raison d\u27être for MBA programs is to prepare students to lead and manage effectively in the real world. An overview of the unique challenges awaiting MBAs, however, reveals a blind spot in business education: It doesn’t necessarily prepare MBA students to operate effectively in the VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous) world of today. This paper suggests that resilience training can help fill the void by enhancing the capacity of MBAs to bounce back and forward through and despite adversity. The objective of the paper is to propose a conceptual design of an evidence-based, relevant, and applicable Resilience Training Program for MBA students, building on research and practice in positive psychology and positive organizational scholarship. The proposed program seeks to enhance MBAs’ individual resilience from a 3-dimensional perspective of protecting, promoting, and sustaining mental health and well-being. Topics covered in the program include emotion regulation, cognitive flexibility, optimism, hope, positive emotions, character strengths, positive relationships, meaning-making, high-quality connections, and job crafting. Each of these topics is examined through a review of relevant research, practical implications, and specific interventions for building and strengthening related skills. This paper will hopefully serve MBA students and their business schools in shaping resilient leaders of the future

    Getting It Right: Strategies for After-School Success

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    This report synthesizes the last 10 years of findings from P/PV's and other researchers' work to address one of the most demanding challenges facing today's after-school programs -- how to create and manage programs that stand the best chance of producing specific, policy-relevant outcomes. It examines recruitment strategies that attract young people to activities, the qualities that make activities engaging and motivate participants to attend regularly, and the infrastructure -- staffing, management and monitoring -- needed to support such activities. The report's final chapter explores the fiscal realities of after-school programming, considering how administrators might stretch existing dollars to enhance services
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