Landscapes of Affective Interaction: Young Children's Enactive Engagement with Body Metaphors

Empirical research into embodied meaning making suggests specific sensorimotor experiences can support children’s understanding of abstract science ideas. This view is aligned with enactive and grounded cognition perspectives, both centred in the view that our ability to conceptualise emerges from our experiences of interaction with our environment. While much of this research has focused on understanding action and action processes in individual children or children in pairs, less attention has been paid to affective dimensions of young children’s group interaction, and how this relates to meaning making with body metaphors. Indeed, Gallagher describes how no action exists in a vacuum, but rather revolves around a complex web of affective-pragmatic features comprising a ‘Landscape of Interaction’ (2020, p.42). This research project addresses gaps in research in understanding young children’s affective engagement from an enactivist cognition perspective. It takes a Design-Based Research approach with an iterative design orientation to examine young children’s interaction with multisensory body-based metaphors through an embodied participation framework. A series of empirical studies with young children, aged 2-7 years, comprising of experiential workshops, build iteratively upon each other. A novel theoretically informed method, Affective Imagination in Motion, is developed involving several purpose-built multisensory body metaphors prompts to enable access to dimensions of young children’s affective engagement. This research makes theoretical and methodological contributions. It extends the theoretical notion of ‘affect’ from enactive and grounded cognition perspectives through identifying key interactive processes in young children’s engagement with multisensory action metaphors. In addition, the novel method offers a contribution as a way of ‘looking’ at affect within a group situation from affective-pragmatic and social embodiment perspectives. Finally, the research contributes to embodied learning design frameworks offering a guideline for designers wishing to inform their work from enactive cognition perspective

A teaching experiment to foster the conceptual understanding of multiplication based on children's literature to facilitate dialogic learning

The importance of conceptual understanding as opposed to low-level procedural knowledge in mathematics has been well documented (Hiebert & Carpenter, 1992). Development of conceptual understanding of multiplication is fostered when students recognise the equal group structure that is common in all multiplicative problems (Mulligan & Mitchelmore, 1996). This paper reports on the theoretical development of a transformative teaching experiment based on conjecture-driven research design (Confrey & Lachance, 1999) that aims to enhance Year 3 students’ conceptual understanding of multiplication. The teaching experiment employs children’s literature as a motivational catalyst and mediational tool for students to explore and engage in multiplication activities and dialogue. The SOLO taxonomy (Biggs & Collis, 1989) is used to both frame the novel teaching and learning activities, as well as assess the level of students’ conceptual understanding of multiplication as displayed in the products derived from the experiment. Further, student’s group interactions will be analysed in order to investigate the social processes that may contribute positively to learning

Embodying science: the role of the body in supporting young children's meaning making

Primary school science emphasises hands-on interactions, but little is known about how the sensorimotor experiences these interactions provide shape children’s science ideas. Early interactions with science need to be engaging as these shape children’s developing attitudes towards science and themselves as science learners; however, these activities need to go beyond engagement to set children up with the resources they need to develop and deepen their learning. Findings demonstrate that designing science activities and the discourse they are situated within through an embodied lens can support children’s meaning making by providing them with sensorimotor experiences to draw upon, valuing their lived experiences and being open to their multiple modes of communication. Such body-based activities offer alternative routes into learning which are playful, engaging, and dynamic, whilst making concrete connections between children’s interactions and the development of complex science ideas

From research to design: Perspectives on early years and digital technologies

The three papers explore how we can use existing research traditions to create challenging new directions for design and development of technologies for the early years. The papers focus on literacy, numeracy and reflections on the design process

Design e desenvolvimento de uma mesa tangível e objetos com tecnologia embarcada para uma experiência socioenativa

Orientador: Maria Cecília Calani BaranauskasDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de ComputaçãoResumo: Os ambientes construídos a partir da tecnologia contemporânea (interativa, tangível e ubíqua) ainda desafiam os métodos de IHC tradicionais para projetar sistemas computacionais, exigindo novas maneiras de considerar o design de interação e sua avaliação. Ideias emergentes das ciências cognitivas enativas podem fornecer novas perspectivas para se criar novas maneiras de interagir com a tecnologia, considerando tanto o ambiente quanto a experiência humana como aspectos de embodiment. Tecnologias como tabletops tangíveis oferecem oportunidades para se explorar formas incorporadas de interação, colocando em primeiro plano o papel do corpo na interação e na aprendizagem. Além disso, o baixo custo, a quantidade e a capacidade de conexão à internet dos dispositivos oferecem oportunidades para tornar o sensoriamento físico acessível para incorporação no design de tabletops tangíveis e poder transformar ações físicas em efeitos físicos no ambiente. Nesta dissertação, investigamos a experiência (sócio)enativa de interação no contexto de sistemas computacionais ubíquos, projetando e desenvolvendo o TangiTime, uma instalação educacional desenhada como uma tabletop tangível e objetos com tecno- logia embarcada, para experimentar o conceito de "tempo profundo". Nesta dissertação apresentamos o processo de design e a implementação dos artefatos. Depois, apresentamos três diferentes contextos em que a instalação foi colocada em uso: a) um uso piloto para obter as primeiras impressões da experiência dos participantes com ela, b) uma exibição pública para obter um sentimento `real¿ das pessoas interagindo com a instalação e analisar os aspectos (sócio)enativos envolvidos, e c) um workshop em um museu exploratório científico para explorar o papel dos objetos com tecnologia embarcada para apoiar o engajamento e a aprendizagem dentro da exposição. Nossos resultados sugerem que a composição de tecnologia ubíqua potencializa a criação de uma experiência (sócio)enativa por meio do fomento de percepções multimodais e do engajamento dos participantes. Além disso, a interação com objetos com tecnologia embarcada cria novas maneiras de experimentar tabletops tangíveis em direção a uma experiência (sócio)enativaAbstract: The environments constructed from contemporary technology (interactive, tangible and ubiquitous) are still challenging the mainstream HCI methods for designing computational systems, demanding new ways of considering the interaction design and its evaluation. Emerging ideas of enactive cognitive sciences can provide new perspectives to create new ways of interacting with technology, considering both the environment and the human experience as aspects of embodiment. Technologies such as tangible tabletops offer opportunities to exploit embodied forms of interaction foregrounding the role of the body in interaction and learning. Furthermore, the low cost, quantity and internet capabilities of devices offer opportunities to make physical sensing accessible for incorporation into the design of tangible tabletops, transforming physical actions into physical effects in the environment. In this dissertation, we investigate the (socio)enactive experience of interaction in the context of the ubiquity of computational systems by designing and developing TangiTime, a tangible tabletop educational exhibit enhanced with embedded-technology objects for experiencing the `deep time¿ concept. In this dissertation work, we present the design process and the artifacts implementation. Moreover, we present three different contexts in which the exhibit was put into usage: a) a pilot use to get the first impressions of the user experience with it, b) a public exhibition to get a `real¿ feeling of people interacting with the installation and to analyze the (socio)enactive aspects involved, and c) a workshop within a science exploratory museum to explore the role of the embedded-technology objects to support engagement and learning in the exhibit. Our results suggest that the composition of ubiquitous technologies potentializes the creation of a (socio)enactive experience by fostering multimodal perceptions and the engagement of the participants. Moreover, interaction with embedded-technology objects creates new ways of experiencing tangible tabletops toward a (socio)enactive experienceMestradoCiência da ComputaçãoMestra em Ciência da ComputaçãoCAPE

Towards a framework for investigating tangible environments for learning

External representations have been shown to play a key role in mediating cognition. Tangible environments offer the opportunity for novel representational formats and combinations, potentially increasing representational power for supporting learning. However, we currently know little about the specific learning benefits of tangible environments, and have no established framework within which to analyse the ways that external representations work in tangible environments to support learning. Taking external representation as the central focus, this paper proposes a framework for investigating the effect of tangible technologies on interaction and cognition. Key artefact-action-representation relationships are identified, and classified to form a structure for investigating the differential cognitive effects of these features. An example scenario from our current research is presented to illustrate how the framework can be used as a method for investigating the effectiveness of differential designs for supporting science learning

Amplifying Actions - Towards Enactive Sound Design

Recently, artists and designers have begun to use digital technologies in order to stimulate bodily interaction, while scientists keep revealing new findings about sensorimotor contingencies, changing the way in which we understand human knowledge. However, implicit knowledge generated in artistic projects can become difficult to transfer and scientific research frequently remains isolated due to specific disciplinary languages and methodologies. By mutually enriching holistic creative approaches and highly specific scientific ways of working, this doctoral dissertation aims to set the foundation for Enactive Sound Design. It is focused on sound that engages sensorimotor experience that has been neglected within the existing design practices. The premise is that such a foundation can be best developed if grounded in transdisciplinary methods that bring together scientific and design approaches. The methodology adopted to achieve this goal is practice-based and supported by theoretical research and project analysis. Three different methodologies were formulated and evaluated during this doctoral study, based on a convergence of existing methods from design, psychology and human-computer interaction. First, a basic design approach was used to engage in a reflective creation process and to extend the existing work on interaction gestalt through hands-on activities. Second, psychophysical experiments were carried out and adapted to suit the needed shift from reception-based tests to a performance-based quantitative evaluation. Last, a set of participatory workshops were developed and conducted, within which the enactive sound exercises were iteratively tested through direct and participatory observation, questionnaires and interviews. A foundation for Enactive Sound Design developed in this dissertation includes novel methods that have been generated by extensive explorations into the fertile ground between basic design education, psychophysical experiments and participatory design. Combining creative practices with traditional task analysis further developed this basic design approach. The results were a number of abstract sonic artefacts conceptualised as the experimental apparatuses that can allow psychologists to study enactive sound experience. Furthermore, a collaboration between designers and scientists on a psychophysical study produced a new methodology for the evaluation of sensorimotor performance with tangible sound interfaces.These performance experiments have revealed that sonic feedback can support enactive learning. Finally, participatory workshops resulted in a number of novel methods focused on a holistic perspective fostered through a subjective experience of self-producing sound. They indicated the influence that such an approach may have on both artists and scientists in the future. The role of designer, as a scientific collaborator within psychological research and as a facilitator of participatory workshops, has been evaluated. Thus, this dissertation recommends a number of collaborative methods and strategies that can help designers to understand and reflectively create enactive sound objects. It is hoped that the examples of successful collaborations between designers and scientists presented in this thesis will encourage further projects and connections between different disciplines, with the final goal of creating a more engaging and a more aware sonic future.European Commission 6th Framework and European Science Foundation (COST Action

Embodied Cognition and the Magical Future of Interaction Design

The theory of embodied cognition can provide HCI practitioners and theorists with new ideas about interac-tion and new principles for better designs. I support this claim with four ideas about cognition: (1) interacting with tools changes the way we think and perceive – tools, when manipulated, are soon absorbed into the body schema, and this absorption leads to fundamental changes in the way we perceive and conceive of our environments; (2) we think with our bodies not just with our brains; (3) we know more by doing than by seeing – there are times when physically performing an activity is better than watching someone else perform the activity, even though our motor resonance system fires strongly during other person observa-tion; (4) there are times when we literally think with things. These four ideas have major implications for interaction design, especially the design of tangible, physical, context aware, and telepresence systems

Designing Virtuous Sex Robots

We propose that virtue ethics can be used to address ethical issues central to discussions about sex robots. In particular, we argue virtue ethics is well equipped to focus on the implications of sex robots for human moral character. Our evaluation develops in four steps. First, we present virtue ethics as a suitable framework for the evaluation of human–robot relationships. Second, we show the advantages of our virtue ethical account of sex robots by comparing it to current instrumentalist approaches, showing how the former better captures the reciprocal interaction between robots and their users. Third, we examine how a virtue ethical analysis of intimate human–robot relationships could inspire the design of robots that support the cultivation of virtues. We suggest that a sex robot which is equipped with a consent-module could support the cultivation of compassion when used in supervised, therapeutic scenarios. Fourth, we discuss the ethical implications of our analysis for user autonomy and responsibility