11 research outputs found

    Discovery learning with tangible technologies: the case of children with intellectual disabilities

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    Intellectual disabilities cause significant sub--‐average achievement in learning, with difficulties in perception, attention, communication of ideas, language acquisition, abstraction and generalisation. From a socio--‐constructionist perspective, digital technologies can provide resources to help addressing these difficulties. Tangible technologies are considered particularly promising tools for children with intellectual disabilities, by enabling interaction through physical action and manipulation and facilitating representational concrete--‐ abstract links by integrating physical and digital worlds. However, hands--‐on learning activities remain a recommended but problematic approach for intellectually disabled students. This thesis investigates how and which characteristics of tangible interaction may support children with intellectual disabilities to productively engage in discovery learning. \ud Empirical studies were performed where children with intellectual disabilities used four tangible systems with distinct design characteristics. Four broad themes emerged from qualitative analysis which are central for identifying how to best support exploratory interaction: types of digital representations; physical affordances; representational mappings; and conceptual metaphors. Guidelines for the development of tangible artefacts and facilitation of discovery learning activities with tangibles were derived from these themes. A complementary quantitative analysis investigated the effects of external guidance in promoting episodes of discovery in tangible interaction. \ud This thesis argues that providing tangible interaction alone is not sufficient to bring significant benefits to the experience of intellectually disabled students in discovery learning. Visual digital representations, meaningful spatial configurations of physical representations, temporal and spatial contiguity between action and representations, simple causality and familiar conceptual metaphors are critical in providing informational intrinsic feedback to exploratory actions, which allied with external guidance that creates a minimal underlying structure for interaction, should establish an ideal environment for discovery. \u

    Tools for Integrating Computational Thinking and Mathematics in the Middle Grades

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    Integrating computational thinking (CT) in teaching specific K-12 school curricular is a more recent development than teaching CT in university and college courses. In this article, we share some insights on teaching practices that support integrating introductory computational thinking activities with school curricular activities for middle grades students. We specifically reflect on the tools and materials to use when integrating computational thinking concepts and mathematics curricular concepts in grade 4-8 classrooms. In this paper, we refer to integration of computational thinking concepts and mathematics curricular concepts as CT and mathematics

    Visual Perspective Taking in Autism Spectrum Disorders

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    Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have difficulty in recognizing environmental perspectives other than their own. Perspective-taking deficits impact language use and understanding in discourse and more general social and cognitive function. Despite extensive research on perspective taking abilities in individuals with ASD, many factors have not been fully examined. This study further examined the contribution of angular disparity, anthropomorphism of an observer, and language use on visual perspective-taking. Individuals with (ASD) demonstrate a strength in visual spatial cognition and a weakness in visual social cognition. This study examined the factors that may cause people with ASD to have difficulties in taking another’s visual perspective including the impact of angular disparity between the participant’s and observer’s perspectives and the impact of anthropomorphic features on observers. Participants included 15 children with autism spectrum disorders and 15 neurotypical children. This study included three experimental tasks. The first was a visual perspective taking task (VPT2), which examined the participants’ ability to judge how a depicted observer perceived an object. In the visual perspective taking task, the observer viewed the object from different angles, including some trials with angular disparity between the participant’s and the observer’s viewpoints causing opposing views of the same item. The anthropomorphic features of the observer were manipulated by including a block figure, a cartoonish line drawing of a female, and more a naturalistic line drawing of a person (female). The second task included a mental rotation task that required the participant to make judgments about whether two three-dimensional figures were rotations of one another or mirror-images. The third task included the visual perspective taking language task. Participants were required to direct the examiner on how to complete an image based on varying degrees of angular disparity between the participant and examiner’s viewpoints. The VPT2 and mental rotation tasks were computerized and used eye tracking to gather information about participants’ fixations to images and eye gaze patterns. Data analysis examined eye tracking, reaction time, and accuracy data. Visual perspective taking reaction time results were compared to standardized language scores and a standardized non-verbal intelligence standard scores. For the third task, accuracy and language use type were coded. Participants with ASD were less accurate on the visual perspective taking eye tracking task but performed with a similar degree of accuracy on the mental rotation and language tasks. In addition, participants with ASD fixated on the observer more than the object when compare to neurotypical peers. All of the participants used similar language when directing another person on the language visual perspective taking task that did not require looking at the other person. Based on the results of this study, it appears that individuals with ASD are less accurate and use different strategies when completing VPT2 tasks but they use similar language with a similar degree of accuracy when directing another person on a VPT2 task. This may be due to a variety of factors such as the social qualities of the depicted observers, the need to take into account the depicted observers’ location in space, and difficulties suppressing their own egocentric viewpoints. Overall, participants with ASD demonstrated difficulties understanding the visual perspectives of depicted observers which was no the result of mental rotation abilities. Although, they demonstrated this difficulty, they were able to verbally direct another person on a VPT2 task as accurately as their neurotypical counterparts

    Hybrid Playful Experiences : Playing between Material and Digital - Hybridex Project, Final Report

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    Some of the future’s most important product innovations will be made at the borderline of physical and immaterial realities. New technologies enable development where immaterial products become materialized in novel ways, while material products and environment will be augmented with digital services. In this evolution immaterial, digital services will form multifaceted value networks with material products. The creative and playful design solutions and user cultures will form the basis for the utilization of these novel potentials in design of innovative and engaging experiences

    BugBits: Making tangibles with children

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    The thesis presents and discusses the processes that lead to the development of a tangible toolkit for supporting design workshops aimed at building tangible interfaces with children. The toolkit, called BugBits, was used to explore and instantiate participatory design workshops with children enabling them to be creative and develop new prototypes. BugBits was tested in three case studies with children of different ages. The first study was conducted in a modern art museum, where children aged between 13 and 15 years old (N=185) built personalised artefacts with the toolkit. The artefacts were then used to perform an augmented visit to some of the exhibition rooms of the museum. The second study (N=31) was conducted in a kindergarten with children between 3 and 6 years old. The toolkit was adopted to perform two educational exercises about colours characteristics. The third study (N=24) explored how the toolkit can be used to instantiate creative processes during participatory design workshops with children between 7 and 11 years old. During the studies, qualitative and quantitative data were collected and analysed. The outcomes of the analysis show that the toolkit can be used with success to keep the children engaged (study 1, 2, 3) and obtain an active and effective participation (study 3) and allow them to build new and evolving TUI prototypes (study 3). By retrospectively reflecting on the process, the thesis presents the KPW process to guide and instantiate the design of generative tools for TUI design with children. The KPW process poses particular attention to the children roles, and how the technological choices affect the design

    Investigation and development of a tangible technology framework for highly complex and abstract concepts

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    The ubiquitous integration of computer-supported learning tools within the educational domain has led educators to continuously seek effective technological platforms for teaching and learning. Overcoming the inherent limitations of traditional educational approaches, interactive and tangible computing platforms have consequently garnered increased interest in the pursuit of embedding active learning pedagogies within curricula. However, whilst Tangible User Interface (TUI) systems have been successfully developed to edutain children in various research contexts, TUI architectures have seen limited deployment towards more advanced educational pursuits. Thus, in contrast to current domain research, this study investigates the effectiveness and suitability of adopting TUI systems for enhancing the learning experience of abstract and complex computational science and technology-based concepts within higher educational institutions (HEI)s. Based on the proposal of a contextually apt TUI architecture, the research describes the design and development of eight distinct TUI frameworks embodying innovate interactive paradigms through tabletop peripherals, graphical design factors, and active tangible manipulatives. These computationally coupled design elements are evaluated through summative and formative experimental methodologies for their ability to aid in the effective teaching and learning of diverse threshold concepts experienced in computational science. In addition, through the design and adoption of a technology acceptance model for educational technology (TAM4Edu), the suitability of TUI frameworks in HEI education is empirically evaluated across a myriad of determinants for modelling students’ behavioural intention. In light of the statistically significant results obtained in both academic knowledge gain (μ = 25.8%) and student satisfaction (μ = 12.7%), the study outlines the affordances provided through TUI design for various constituents of active learning theories and modalities. Thus, based on an empirical and pedagogical analyses, a set of design guidelines is defined within this research to direct the effective development of TUI design elements for teaching and learning abstract threshold concepts in HEI adaptations

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