An aesthetics of touch: investigating the language of design relating to form

How well can designers communicate qualities of touch? This paper presents evidence that they have some capability to do so, much of which appears to have been learned, but at present make limited use of such language. Interviews with graduate designer-makers suggest that they are aware of and value the importance of touch and materiality in their work, but lack a vocabulary to fully relate to their detailed explanations of other aspects such as their intent or selection of materials. We believe that more attention should be paid to the verbal dialogue that happens in the design process, particularly as other researchers show that even making-based learning also has a strong verbal element to it. However, verbal language alone does not appear to be adequate for a comprehensive language of touch. Graduate designers-makers’ descriptive practices combined non-verbal manipulation within verbal accounts. We thus argue that haptic vocabularies do not simply describe material qualities, but rather are situated competences that physically demonstrate the presence of haptic qualities. Such competencies are more important than groups of verbal vocabularies in isolation. Design support for developing and extending haptic competences must take this wide range of considerations into account to comprehensively improve designers’ capabilities

Wing Chun: Introducing Basic Wing Chun Kung Fu Using Instructional Multimedia

Wing Chun Kung Fu 3D is a conceptual website that offers people a new experience to learn and play Wing Chun Kung Fu via instructional multimedia. In the website, instead of showing the video or static images in a conventional way, users can learn basic Wing Chun with elements such as three dimensional visuals, animations, and interactivity. By having a TV-game interactive style to create a pleasant learning environment, I will demonstrate how to use instructional multimedia to teach martial arts through non-traditional methods. Website link: wk3d.co

Using Graphic Novels to Teach English and American Culture in Japanese Middle Schools

English proficiency in Japan has historically been lower than other Asian countries despite students learning English as a core subject beginning in elementary school. To help address this, Japan has brought thousands of assistant language teachers (ALTs) from native English-speaking countries through both government and private companies to help teach English and promote foreign cultural exchange. These teachers often experience cultural misunderstandings and microaggressions from both colleagues and students yet must continue to respectfully teach culture as cultural ambassadors. The purpose of this project is to design a handbook that guides ALTs working with middle school students in how to incorporate graphic novels, or comic books, in the classroom to practice speaking, listening, reading and writing, as well as to touch on aspects of American culture. The project is intended to provide interesting, fun, and authentic materials for Japanese English learners by using activities and graphic novels of various genres. The project provides example lessons plans that can be immediately implemented or adapted, including the necessary materials, and resources such as a rubric for evaluating the usefulness of graphic novels and a list of recommended graphic novels to use in order to help teachers navigate the potentially overwhelming world of comics and graphic novels. Each lesson integrates the skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing in ways that support the lessons found in Japanese English textbooks used in Japan. The lessons also address grammar patterns from the textbook and introduce new vocabulary. Overall, graphic novels are authentic, engaging materials that can help Japanese students improve their English abilities and potentially improve motivation by giving them comprehensible input and a connection to their own popular culture

Making Sense of the Gutters: How Advanced-level English Teachers Use Graphic Novels

The English Language Arts (ELA) canon has been continuously replicated in K12 education due to the tendency that teachers frequently teach what was taught to them. Current national and state curricula as well as the Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate guidelines and suggestions do not dictate specific texts to be taught, yet many of the suggestions given to high school English teachers perpetuate the use of the Western canon. Outside of the classroom, the world in which our students live is becoming increasingly multimodal which is a contrast to “verbcentric” classrooms. Graphic novels are one answer to integrating the increasingly multimodal world into the classroom; however, they have not been systematically embraced, especially in advanced-level, high school English classrooms. The purpose of this study is to use a qualitative case study to explore perceptions and practices relating to the use of graphic novels in advanced-level high school English classrooms. When teachers persist in using curricular choices such as graphic novels that may not be widely accepted, they are also reshaping how the ELA canon is used in classrooms. By challenging the ELA canon, teachers become change agents by providing students with more diverse literature and creating new pathways of cultural capital

THE INFLUENCE INCLUSIVE LITERATURE CIRCLES WITH MULTICULTURAL LITERATURE HAS ON THE SELF-EFFICACIES OF 4TH GRADE STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES

This study seeks to determine what happens to fourth grade students with disabilities reading self-efficacies when they participate in inclusive literature circles with multicultural literature. The purpose of this teacher research was to investigate strategies to improve reading self-efficacies of students with disabilities, investigating what would happen if students with disabilities were placed heterogeneously with their peers while reading books with characters with disabilities and how that influenced their reading self-efficacies. Four students with a disability were integrated with their general education peers in their inclusive classroom to participate in literature circles for four weeks. The multicultural books were books that contained characters with disabilities. Baseline data from the Reader Self-Perception Scale (RSPS) was used to assess students\u27 self-perceptions in reading. When analyzing the data, the three major themes within the study are: (1) Students\u27 perceptions of disabilities and how they changed throughout the literature meetings; (2) Students made connections to the text through representation of their experiences; and (3) Students had an increased engagement and belief in their ability. The results suggest that over time, inclusive literature circles with multicultural texts can slightly improve the reading self-efficacies of students with disabilities

Teaching: An Exploration of Best Practices

The purpose of this Action Research Project as part of the fulfillment of my Master of Arts in Teaching degree is to become aware of my teaching practices and to explore options and avenues to better improve my teaching practices. To build a foundation of understanding of teaching practices I first began researching three major themes: effective teaching, evidence-based practices, and developing stronger readers in an ELA classroom; I also sought examples of how I could implement them into my practice . The research begins with an examination of what differentiation is and how it can be modeled. Three sub-themes emerged: designing differentiation, supporting English Language Learners, and how to create inclusive classrooms. Second, my research focuses on identifying the major theme of evidence-based practices by focusing on three sub-themes: high leverage practices, effective instruction in the ELA classroom, and how to create student-centered classrooms. Lastly, because I know that reading is usually a strong indicator for student ability in an ELA classroom, I sought out ways to help develop students into stronger readers. The three sub-themes that arose from this research were using literature circles, technology, and reading identity. I gathered data from my year of student teaching including my teaching journals, lesson plans, lesson materials such as slides or assignments and directions, and teaching observation summaries. Using this data, I analyzed my teaching practices, noting where I had room for growth or had met some of my goals

Re-building context-oriented graphic design portfolio in the social media age

For contemporary designers, using a singular or even multiple online portfolio platforms in the social media age has been an inevitable duty for self-promotion and visibility. By keeping designers themselves as always-online, it is possible to share and to show their creative activities – posting design projects and ‘WIP(work in progress)' – to a worldwide audience. Even among designers, creatives do not hesitate to follow, appreciate each other to expand their connections. Joint structure and its influence from representative portfolio platforms like Behance, Dribbble, and Instagram have been comparatively under-mentioned. This study delves into the structure and system of portfolio platforms, which are the most representative services. This study identifies systematic factors which lead to passive participation in showcasing a portfolio and build the alternative portfolio as an experiment with the self-directed formation, and context of design. The newly suggested website portfolio is investigated with in-depth interviews of seven graphic design professionals and check its validity as an alternative or additional portfolio besides current portfolio platform services

Legibility in typeface design for screen interfaces

This thesis explores the considerations related to the design of a typeface specifically for the use in interface typography. The genre of interface typefaces is outlined and essential attributes and requirements of this category of typefaces are inspected from the viewpoints of legibility, readability and type design practices. The research is based on the analysis of interface typeface samples, interviews with type designers as well as empirical findings documented by designers. These trade practices and design artefacts are contrasted with findings from cognitive psychology and legibility research. Furthermore the author’s design of the «Silta» typeface and its creation process are used to scrutinize and validate these observations. Amongst the crucial factors in the design of interface typefaces the legibility of confusable characters is extensively analysed. Furthermore, the rasterized on-screen rendering of outline based fonts is identified as a major contributing factor requiring special attention in the design, technical production and testing phases of modern fonts. Additionally, the context and use of interface typography and how users interact with interfaces are identified as the cornerstones influencing the design decisions of a typeface for this use. Finally, the aesthetics of interface typography and the motivations for developing specific interface typefaces are touched upon. As evident from the reviewed material, branding and visual identity often appear to be a driving force in the creation of new interface typefaces. However, the necessity for technological innovation and its demonstration equally inspire new design solutions. While technological limitations stemming from digital display media are increasingly becoming of less importance, the changes in reading behaviour and adaptive typography drive current development

Teaching Trauma-Informed Pedagogy and Critical Literacy in a Middle School Language Arts Classroom

Trauma is an innate human experience. People from every walk of life can experience trauma at any time, in a variety of ways. The awareness of trauma is seeping into the forefront of our society. In particular, education has seen trauma in varying ways. Many educators are tasked with navigating trauma’s tricky waters. This capstone explores the possibility of how trauma-informed pedagogy and critical literacy impact student engagement in a middle school language arts classroom? Much of the literature reviewed in this capstone examines trauma’s complexities, trauma’s manifestation in schools and suggests several strategies that can be implemented to impact student engagement. Examples of these strategies are content selection, journaling, digital storytelling, critical witnessing, and mindfulness