Susan McKenney

Educational Design Research

McKenney, S. (2012, 4-5 September). What is educational design research? Invited lecture for the Crossfield Graduate School at the University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland.

Systematic Review of Design-Based Research Progress Is a Little Knowledge a Dangerous Thing?

Sufficient attention and resources have been allocated to design-based research (DBR) to warrant review concerning if and how its potential has been realized. Because the DBR literature clearly indicates that this type of research strives toward both the development of an intervention to address a problem in practice and empirical investigation yielding theoretical understanding that can inform the work of others, thoughtful assessment of DBR progress must devote substantial attention to each of these aspects. This requires an in-depth analysis of full-text reports of DBR, framed by a refined conceptualization of the intended outputs of DBR, and ideally, complemented by empirical investigation involving design-based research participants directly.

Designing technology for emergent literacy: The PictoPal initiative

PictoPal is the name of a technology-supported intervention designed to foster the development of emergent reading and writing skills in four and five year old children. Following the theoretical underpinnings and a brief description of PictoPal, this article describes how children worked with the technology; how the intervention elicited their engagement with literacy concepts both on the computer and off; and effects on early literacy learning. Observation results indicate that children are able to work independently with the program after a few instruction sessions. Observation data yield insight in the nature of adult guidance and the way the results of computer activities were implemented in off-computer classroom activities, as well as areas where this could be improved. Comparison of the four pre-post test experiments used to assess learning effects, suggest that the on-computer activities in PictoPal can yield a statistically significant learning effect, but only when integration with off-computer activities is present.

Computer-Based Support for Curriculum Designers: A Case of Developmental Research

In this article, we explore the potential of the computer to support curriculum materials development within the context of secondary level science and mathematics education in southern Africa. During the four-year course of the study, a computer program was developed named CASCADE-SEA, which stands for Computer Assisted Curriculum Analysis, Design and Evaluation for Science (and mathematics) Education in Africa. By carefully documenting the iterative process of analysis, prototype design, evaluation, and revision, we sought insight into the characteristics of a valid and practical computer-based tool that possesses the potential to affect the performance of its users. The results of this study include the CASCADE-SEA program itself, which assists users in producing better quality materials than they otherwise might, while they also learn from the development process. Further, this research has contributed to the articulation of design principles and related developmental research methods. This article highlights the research and development that took place, and only briefly addresses the tool itself.

Using ICT to Foster (Pre) Reading and Writing Skills in Young Children.

ABSTRACT This study examines how technology can support the development of emergent reading and writing skills in four- to five-year-old children. The research was conducted with PictoPal, an intervention which features a software package that uses images and text in three main activity areas: reading, writing, and authentic applications. This article reports on the effects of the PictoPal intervention on pupil literacy and communication skills. Two small-scale studies were conducted. Observation results from the first study showed that children are able to work independently with the program after a few instruction sessions. The second study showed a statistically significant learning effect of experimental versus control group scores after two months of using PictoPal in the classroom under the guidance of a parent volunteer. Further research is needed to arrive at a better understanding of these learning gains with a larger group of pupils.

Teacher roles in designing technology-rich learning activities for early literacy: A cross-case analysis

The present study aims to provide insight into the value of different teacher roles in designing and implementing technology-rich learning activities for early literacy. Three cases, each with a different teacher role (executor-only, re-designer, co-designer) were examined. In the executor-only role, teachers implemented ready-made activities. In the re-designer role teachers collaboratively re-designed existing activities, and in the co-designer role, teachers collaboratively designed new activities. In each role, teachers implemented the learning activities. Ten teachers and ten classes participated in the three cases. Teacher perspectives about their assigned role, the practicality of the technology-rich learning activities, and co-ownership were measured using interviews. Technology integration was observed during curriculum implementation. Pupil early literacy learning outcomes were measured using a pre-test post-test quasi experimental design. Positive perspectives about the assigned role, curriculum practicality and a sense of co-ownership were found in the co-designer case. Concerns about practicality of technology activities were raised in the executor-only and re-designer cases. Teachers in the re-designer case were reserved about the role assigned to them. The extent of integration of technology-rich activities was highest in the co-designer case and lowest in the executor-only case. Significant learning gains were found for each teacher role. This study concludes that involving teachers in design of technology-rich activities positively affected teachers perceptions and implementation, and that each teacher role (executor-only, re-designer, co-designer) contributed to the effectiveness of technology-rich activities. Co-designer role contributes most to co-ownership, practicality and implementation.Involvement in re(co)-design improves implementation of technology-rich activities.Different teacher roles contribute to the effectiveness of technology-rich activities.

Computer support for curriculum developers: CASCADE

This paper examines research on a family of computer-based tools, CASCADE (Computer ASsisted Curriculum Analysis, Design and Evaluation), designed to assist in the complex task of curriculum development. It begins with discussion of curriculum developers and their activities, followed by examination of how the computer can offer support for their tasks. The main elements of four related systems for computer supported curriculum development are discussed and approaches to designing tools of this nature are considered. Following an overview of main findings, this article concludes with thoughts on fruiful directions for research on computer supported curriculum development, emphasizing the need for increased attention to implementation and impact studies.

Linking research and practice through teacher communities: a place where formal and practical knowledge meet?

This study characterises the links between research and practice across 12 projects concerned with the collaborative design of lesson plans by teacher communities (TCs). Analyses focused on sources of knowledge used to inform lesson design, participants’ roles and knowledge generated by the teacher community. Three patterns emerged pertaining to the sources of knowledge informing lesson plans: design guided by formal and practical knowledge, by classroom-data and practical knowledge or by a combination of all three. Findings further suggest that the emphasis given to the use of formal knowledge over classroom-data or vice versa restrains the full accomplishment of research and practice links. Across the projects studied, university researchers contributed to linking research and practice by directly or indirectly supporting community activities. Surprisingly, the role of teachers in the generation and dissemination of formal knowledge was limited. Further research should explore the effects of collaboration within TCs on researchers and policy-makers.

TPACK in teacher education: are we preparing teachers to use technology for early literacy?

This study examines if and how five teacher education institutes are helping students to develop the technological pedagogical content knowledge needed to effectively use technology for early literacy. Focus group discussions were held with teacher educators in which their responses to expert recommendations were probed. Findings indicate that, currently, very little attention is specifically given to the knowledge that teachers need to foster early literacy through the use of technology. This is due to multiple factors, including the conviction that many new technologies (e.g. tablets) are not used much in schools. Additionally, teacher educators themselves struggle with effective use of technology in their own courses. And although technological and early literacy specialists are available in teacher training colleges, pre-service educators note a distinct lack of integrated expertise in their institutions. Based on these findings, recommendations are given for research, policy and practice.

The teacher as re-designer of technology integrated activities for an early literacy curriculum

Though popular among children outside of school, Dutch teachers often struggle to offer technology integrated activities in the kindergarten classroom. Because involving teachers in development of technology integrated activities can support their implementation, this study examines teachers in the role of re-designing such activities. Two case studies (Year 1 and Year 2) were undertaken in 2 consecutive years involving six teachers in re-design. Interviews were held to examine teacher team perceptions about their role as re-designers. Implementation of the re-designed activities was observed in five classes. A non-equivalent control quasi experimental design was used to investigate pupil learning outcomes (Year 1: N = 102; Year 2: N = 119). Pupils in experimental groups outperformed pupils in control groups on early literacy. While the extent of integration increased as implementation continued, this could not explain the differences found in learning gains.