personal inquiry: scripting for inquiry learning by participatory design

Cindy Kerawalla, Eileen Scanlon, Alison Twiner, Paul Mulholland, Trevor Collins, Ann Jones, Mark Gaved,

Karen Littleton, Canan Blake, Grainne Conole

Personal Inquiry: scripting for inquiry learning by participatory design

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Introduction

• What is PD?

• What is the role of children and young people in PD?

• An overview of the personal inquiry project

• Comparing the PD process across 2 studies

• Conclusions

What is participatory design?

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“Learner-centred design (LCD) is a nebulous concept. It can range from attempts to design with the needs of the learner at the forefront, to involving the learner at various stages of the design process, sometimes throughout the whole process”.

PD is not homogenous. Methods are contingent upon the context

Good, J. and Robertson, J. (2006). CARSS: A Framework for Learner-Centred Design with Children. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education 16(4), 381-413

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What is the role of children and young people in PD?

Are they:

• designers

• users

• learners

• design partners

• informants

• testers

• domain experts?

PD is not homogenous. The role/s of participants are contingent upon the context

Good, J. and Robertson, J. (2006). CARSS: A Framework for Learner-Centred Design with Children. International Journal of Artificial Intelligence in Education 16(4), 381-413

A comparison of PD across two studies

• An inquiry into urban heat islands towards a national qualification in Geography

• An inquiry into the sustainability of food production as part of an after-school club

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The Personal Inquiry project

• Have developed a toolkit (nQuire) to support personal inquiry learning across formal and informal settings

• Iterative approach– Key Stage 3 (11-14 year olds)– Geography (OU) & Science (UoN) inquiries– Seven trials, 300 students, 7 teachers

• ‘Scripts’ to guide learners

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: structuring an inquiry

• Guides students and teachers through the inquiry process

• Helps teachers to orchestrate student actions, students to monitor own progress

• Supports shifts between class, group, and individual

C las s

G r o u p

I n d iv id u al

S tag e 1 S tag e 2

W r ite m y h y p o th es is

D ec id e w h at to m eas u reD ec id e o n o u r lo c a tio n s

C o llec t d a ta

S tag e 3

View m y d ata tab leS elec t m y p h o to g r ap h s

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Urban Heat Islands

Milton Keynes (new town) Northampton (old town)

Formal, examined. Decisions made by teachers, researchers and stakeholders over 5 months

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Fieldwork can be in a group

Report must be individual

Report content was shaped by marking scheme

No automating of graphs

Tools to support thinking but not to think for the student

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Sustainability Squad: semi-formal and informal contexts

• After school club (Geography). No curriculum. No assessment. Voluntary attendance. Self- motivated.

• Focus on investigating the sustainability of the food production cycle

• Home inquiries into packaging and storage (rotting)Waste

Eaten

Packaged

Stored

Distributed

Processed

Slaughtered or harvested

Reared or grown

Born or planted

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Sustainability Squad

Personal choices: students chose and designed their own investigations

- I would like to research more into the food industry.- I would like to find out about the longest lasting food. - Bread: how long it takes to rot.- Eggs: where do they come from? - What type of food rots faster organic or not organic?- I would like to find out more about where my food comes from .- See how much carbon dioxide we are putting into the world by - having food from far away - See how car pollution affects the environment - What is the main cause of pollution in the world?- What is the faster way of stopping global warming? - I want to now how much carbon dioxide we are putting into the environment and how we can reduce it. - When the busiest time of day is on roads.

Kellett, M. (2005). How to develop children as researchers,

London; Paul Chapman Publishing

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Inquiry design was part of the learning

process

Students chose their own measures

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Findings were personally relevant

and meaningful

Graphs could be automated

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Urban Heat Islands

PD prior to study with teachers

nQuire set up in advance

Subject priorities

Assessment

Curricular constraints

Limited student choice

Practicality of topic and design

Individual reports

After-school club

PD continued into the study time: learning opportunity

Involved the young people in setting up nQuire

Relevant and interesting

No curriculum or assessment

Balancing interests within the group

Practicality of topic and design

Group reports

Summary

Conclusions

• PD needs to meet local needs

• It can involve young people in a variety of ways

• nQuire is flexible enough to support the participatory design of inquiries inside and outside of curriculum and assessment structures

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Thank you

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