About the project
The project "Co-design of educational software" is a PhD project, which is part of the EU funded project Science Created by You (SCY). It aims to investigate the processes in a co-design project of educational software where teachers and students participate and further see how these processes manifest themselves in the end product. The educational software being designed is a geometry tool meant to support learners in secondary high to recognize basic geometrical shapes and work with corresponding formulas.
Objectives
In the loop between design and redesign in a co-design project I will look into the social and material resources that the participants draws upon to come up with new ideas, negotiate ideas and when reaching an agreement related to a design decision. In addition I will look into how the the different participants' design ideas are manifested in the software being developed as well as how it plays out in a school setting.
Theory and methods
Theoretically this project is within a Schönian tradition where the idea is to investigate how design practices unfolds. It will apply socio-cultural theories with an emphasis on meaning making to illuminate how the different actors use different resources to arrive at design decisions. The method being used is mainly qualitative consisting of interaction analysis based on videotapes from design sessions and tests, and in addition there are interviews. I am currently thinking to apply quantitative studies when exploring how the geometry tool will play out in a classroom setting.
Funding and time frame
This project is a part of the EU funded project Science Created by You (SCY) but is directly funded by Departement of Education, University of Oslo.
The time frame is 01.01.2009 - 31.12.2012.
Outcomes
The expected outcomes are three journal articles that will be a part of a PhD thesis. In addition the tool being designed will be a finished product by the end of the project period.