George Triantafyllakos

Computer based testing using digital ink: Participatory design of a Tablet PC based assessment application for secondary education

Abstract In this paper, we identify key challenges faced by computer-based assessment (CBA) in secondary education and we put forward a framework of design considerations: design with the students and teachers, select the most appropriate media platform and plan an evolution rather than a revolution of prior practices. We present the CBA application ‘MyTest’ which was developed using the participatory methodology We!Design, with the collaboration of 31 students and teachers. The application is targeted for the Tablet PC platform, provides “digital ink” capabilities and supports both closed-type and open questions, facilitating the transfer of traditional assessment practices to CBA. Both students and teachers were excited about the design sessions, and they asserted that they would rely more on educational software designed using this approach. The comparison of the ‘MyTest’ application with an assessment application developed with the same participatory methodology and the involvement of 40 undergraduate students revealed dissimilar expectations and needs of high school and undergraduate students that are often disguised or misinterpreted. A pilot evaluation of the application in real learning conditions was conducted with 31 students using Tablet PCs and with 37 students using traditional PCs. Interestingly, the Tablet PC platform rendered the ‘MyTest’ application more useful and usable to the students, validating our claims.

Designing educational software with students through collaborative design games: The We!Design&Play framework

In this paper, we present a framework for the development of collaborative design games that can be employed in participatory design sessions with students for the design of educational applications. The framework is inspired by idea generation theory and the design games literature, and guides the development of board games which, through the use of adequate stimuli, rules and props, facilitate students in extracting and expressing their needs, desires and prospects regarding future educational software. To evaluate the proposed framework three studies were conducted. The first study aimed at the design of a web learning platform with the participation of 62 undergraduate higher education students in 13 design sessions; in the second study, a structured design approach was employed (12 sessions, 54 students) with the same design objective for comparison reasons; in the third study, the framework was deployed for the design of an electronic assessment application so as to examine its applicability in different learning domains (8 design sessions, 28 students). Students were very positive regarding both their participation and experience with the design games, and the needs elicited. The games favored a quick, broad exploration of the design space and facilitated the elicitation of numerous diverse needs and ideas, almost twice as many as produced by the structured approach. They also facilitated the creation of an informal atmosphere and limited the effects of common social influences on idea generation, such as social loafing, evaluation apprehension and production blocking. The three studies indicated that the proposed framework may simplify the development and employment of effective and efficient participatory design sessions in educational settings.

Participatory Design of the Participatory Culture: Students’ Projections of e-Learning 2.0

The participatory culture of Web 2.0 and the implicit empowerment of the learners have not been yet associated with participatory design projects that involve learners in the design and development of the new mediating tools. In this paper, we examine students’ projections of Web 2.0 in higher education. Ninety seven undergraduate students participated in 20 design sessions exploiting two needs’ elicitation techniques with the aim of envisioning of a course website that meets their learning particularities, that incorporates and exploits their new technological habits and which can be harmoniously situated in the daily routine of a modern, active student. 583 needs were produced and their abstract categorization is presented. Students proved that they had refined views about the elements that can render successful the next wave of e-learning applications and provided directions that can help designers and researchers in developing more informed designs. Students are the main agents of educational change and, hence, they deserve a more active and contributive role in the knowledge society.

The We!Design Methodology: Designing Educational Applications with Students

Recently, many participatory design (PD) methodologies have been successfully applied to the design of educational applications with students as participants. However, most of the proposed methodologies have exacting requirements that make their deployment quite difficult. In this paper, we propose a student-centered methodology, named We!Design, which aims at designing applications that support content-independent learning processes and that can be easily applied in real educational contexts. The methodology consists of two phases. During the first phase, a number of design sessions take place with the participation of small groups of students. Students cooperatively formulate needs and design suggestions for the educational application. In the second phase, the designers analyze the products of the first phase and synthesize them in a single application. The We!Design methodology was applied for the design of a course Web site. Twelve design sessions were conducted with the participation of 46 undergraduate students. No significant impediments were identified during the methodologys application, and it was characterized as pleasant and interesting by the students. Furthermore, the students evaluated positively the usefulness and ease of use of the designed Web site