Kurt Squire

Design-Based Research: Putting a Stake in the Ground

The emerging field of the learning sciences is one that is interdisciplinary, drawing on multiple theoretical perspectives and research paradigms so as to build understandings of the nature and conditions of learning, cognition, and development. Learning sciences researchers investigate cognition in context, at times emphasizing one more than the other but with the broad goal of developing evidence-based claims derived from both laboratory-based and naturalistic investigations that result in knowledge about how people learn. This work can involve the development of technological tools, curriculum, and especially theory that can be used to understand and support learning. A fundamental assumption of many learning scientists is that cognition is not a thing located within the individual thinker but is a process that is distributed across the knower, the environment in which knowing occurs, and the activity in which the learner participates. In other words, learning, cognition, knowing, and context are irreducibly co-constituted and cannot be treated as isolated entities or processes. If one believes that context matters in terms of learning and cognition, research paradigms that simply examine these processes as isolated variables within laboratory or other impoverished contexts of participation will necessarily lead to an incomplete understanding of their relevance in more naturalistic settings (Brown, 1992).1 Alternatively, simply observing learning and cognition as they naturally Correspondence and requests for reprints should be sent to Sasha A. Barab, School of Education,

From Content to Context: Videogames as Designed Experience:

Interactive immersive entertainment, or videogame playing, has emerged as a major entertainment and educational medium. As research and development initiatives proliferate, educational researchers might benefit by developing more grounded theories about them. This article argues for framing game play as a designed experience. Players’ understandings are developed through cycles of performance within the gameworlds, which instantiate particular theories of the world (ideological worlds). Players develop new identities both through game play and through the gaming communities in which these identities are enacted. Thus research that examines game-based learning needs to account for both kinds of interactions within the game-world and in broader social contexts. Examples from curriculum developed for Civilization III and Supercharged! show how games can communicate powerful ideas and open new identity trajectories for learners.

Environmental Detectives: PDAs as a window into a virtual simulated world

The use of computer simulations is changing the nature of scientific investigation and providing us unique insights into the way that the world works. As simulation moves from the desktop to more ubiquitous portable devices (such as PDAs), we can draw upon the unique affordances of these devices-portability, social interactivity, context sensitivity, connectivity, and individuality. The purpose of this research project is to develop and examine a new simulation platform that is designed from the ground up for handhelds to create augmented reality simulations (i.e. simulations that bridge virtual and real worlds). This paper describes environmental detectives, one such augmented reality simulation that is currently being developed at MIT. In the upcoming months, we develop and test this concept as well as produce a suite of authoring tools that students and teachers can use to design their own augmented reality simulations.

Constructing virtual worlds: Tracing the historical development of learner practices.

This study explores learning and instruction within a technology-rich, collaborative, participatory learning environment by tracking the emergence of shared understanding and products through student and teacher practices. The focus is not only on the interactions among students or between students and teachers, but on student-resource interactions, especially student-technology interactions. In a 1-week camp, students worked in activity groups with 3-dimensional modeling software to develop virtual worlds. Holistic accounts of 2 activity groups in the camp are presented, emphasizing the focus of the activity, group dynamics including the role of the teacher, and the historical development of learner practices. Then, a network methodology is used to trace the history of interactions accounting for the emergence, evolution, and diffusion of learner practices. The findings suggest that becoming knowledgeably skillful with respect to a particular practice or concept is a multigenerational process, evolving in terms of contextual demands and available resources. The tracings further reveal the reciprocal nature of learning and doing, with building conceptual understanding occurring in relation to local conditions and practices, and doing practices being a part of student learning.

Using Activity Theory to Understand the Systemic Tensions Characterizing a Technology-Rich Introductory Astronomy Course

In this report of our research on a computer-based three-dimensional (3-D) modeling course for learning astronomy, we use the central tenets of activity theory to analyze participation by undergraduate students and instructors, illuminating the instances of activity that characterized course dynamics. Specifically, we focus on the relations of participant (student) and object (3-D models and astronomy understandings) and how, in our course, object transformations leading to scientific understandings are mediated by tools (both technological and human), the overall classroom microculture (emergent norms), division of labor (group dynamics and student-instructor roles), and rules (informal, formal, and technical). Through analysis of the data, we interpreted and then focused on two systemic tensions as illuminative of classroom activity. With respect to the first systemic tension, we examined the interplay between learning astronomy and building 3-D models. Results suggested that instead of detracting from the emergence of an activity system that supported learning astronomy, model-building actions frequently coevolved with (were the same as) astronomy-learning actions. With respect to the second tension, we examined the interplay between prespecified, teacher-directed instruction versus emergent, student-directed learning. Our results indicated that it was rarely teacher-imposed nor student-initiated constraints that directed learning; rather, rules, norms, and divisions of labor arose from the requirements of building and sharing 3-D models.

Entering the education arcade

Responding to social, economic, and technological trends which make games the most powerful medium for reaching young learners, The Education Arcade project, based in the MIT Comparative Media Studies Program, seeks to prototype games that teach, develop curricular materials which support existing commercial titles, and help prepare teachers to use games in the classroom. This article reports on the first three prototypes that are producing -- Supercharged! (electromagnetism), Environmental Detectives (environmental science) and Revolution (American History).

Supporting Distributed Communities of Practice with Interactive Television.

In this study, we examined three distance-learning programs conducted over Vision Athena, an interactive television distance-learning system. Emphasis in each project was on using interactive television to engage learners in communities of practice in designed, or intentional, learning environments. Specific findings of what kinds of communities emerged are reported for each case. Cutting across the three cases, we found that interactive television was a useful tool for providing learners access to authentic resources, and affording learners opportunities to participate in authentic communities of practice. How the instructors facilitated student and expert interactions also played a key role in how each environment emerged. In these cases designing communities of practice as learning environments in secondary school settings necessitates changing the role of the instructor, student, and the expert from traditional models, allowing more access to community resources, and creating opportunities for trajectory through communities of practice.

Mystery at the museum: a collaborative game for museum education

Through an iterative design process involving museum educators, learning scientists and technologists, and drawing upon our previous experiences in handheld game design and a growing body of knowledge on learning through gaming, we designed an interactive mystery game called Mystery at the Museum (the High Tech Whodunnit), which was designed for synchronous play of groups of parents and children over a two to three hour period. The primary design goals were to engage visitors more deeply in the museum, engage visitors more broadly across museum exhibits, and encourage collaboration between visitors. The feedback from the participants suggested that the combination of depth and breadth was engaging and effective in encouraging them to think about the museums exhibits. The roles that were an integral part of the game turned out to be extremely effective in engaging pairs of participants with one another. Feedback from parents was quite positive in terms of how they felt it engaged them and their children. These results suggest that further explorations of technology-based museum experiences of this type are wholly appropriate.

Virtual Solar System Project: Learning through a Technology-Rich, Inquiry-Based, Participatory Learning Environment

In this manuscript we describe an introductory astronomy course for undergraduate students in which we moved from the large-lecture format to one in which students were immersed in a technologically-rich, inquiry-based, participatory learning environment. Specifically, undergraduate students used 3-D modeling tools to construct virtual reality models of the solar system, and in the process, build rich understandings of various astronomical phenomena. For this study, primarily naturalistic inquiry was used to gain a holistic view of this semester-long course. These data are presented as two case studies focusing on: (1) the role of the teacher in this participatory learning environment; (2) the particular dynamics that formed in each group; (3) the modeling process; (4) the resources used, specifically student-developed inscriptions; and (5) the role of technology and whether learning the technology interfered with learning astronomy. Results indicated that VR can be used effectively in regular undergraduate university courses as a tool through which students can develop rich understandings of various astronomical phenomena.

Collaborative learning through augmented reality role playing

This research investigates the potential of Augmented Reality (AR) technologies, specifically handheld computers, to create an emotionally compelling, rich context for collaborative learning. Building on work in collaborative learning, we sought to design games requiring positive interdependence, promotive interaction, individual accountability, interpersonal and small group skills, and group processing. While the collaboration within groups was strong and successful in the first generation AR games, the collaboration between groups was limited or non-existent. Several new game play elements added to a new engine created a more dynamic game play experience. These features included time dependence, cascading events and distinct player roles. In subsequent iterations of AR games, we have found these new features to be effective at fostering collaboration, which in turn scaffolds a more authentic investigation process