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- Creators: Barrett, The Honors College
Description
The development of literacy abilities in young children has been a major concern for authorities and teachers in the USA for the last two decades. Significant effort has been devoted to ensure that preschool settings allow and motivate children to engage in literacy activities before entering kindergarten. Research has found that a rich classroom environment in preschool settings enables teachers to encourage literacy interest in children at a young age. While a large amount of research has concentrated in testing the effect of prescriptive modifications in the classroom environment, few have focused on studying the design process and tools that teachers follow to design their classrooms. Public policy and research studies in the United States, mention the design of the classroom environment among teacher's responsibilities, but they do not include practical or methodological guides for them to use. The purpose of this research was to study the design process and tools that teachers use to design literacy rich classrooms in preschool settings. A case study was conducted at the ASU Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College Preschool at Arizona State University. This setting provides a unique opportunity for an exploratory study of this nature because it is a private child development laboratory with a flexible curriculum. Participant observation sessions and in depth semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the design process used and experienced by the teachers. Findings revealed an iterative and cyclic design process that is repeated over time adjusting to the influence of numerous factors. Results also suggest that teacher's knowledge and beliefs highly influence the organization of their classrooms. Considering these factors as a standpoint allows for further exploration to determine a design process suitable for teachers when designing their learning environments. The use of a structured yet flexible design process, can be a potential tool for educators to design their classrooms, collaborate, document and transmit their knowledge. Although the findings correspond to a specific site studied, the implications are wide reaching as problems and opportunities expressed by the staff are common to other educational settings with similar characteristics.
ContributorsCortes, Catalina (Author) / Patel, Mookesh (Thesis advisor) / Heywood, William (Committee member) / Christie, James (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Adaptive expertise is a model of learning that posits two dimensions of development: efficiency and innovation. The mindset of an adaptive expert will serve any engineer by drawing upon diverse experiences to develop novel solutions to problems. Their mindset is based in lifelong learning, characterized by applying past experience to current design challenges. Solution design requires a process, and a breadth of experience is among the adaptive expert's greatest tools in identifying the approach to take in an unfamiliar situation. The fluidity and agility of their mind allows them to work effectively throughout their career in technical design, as the situation of an engineer's design work can vary drastically over the course of time. This paper describes a study on an innovative junior-level electrical and robotic systems project course taught at a large southwestern university that encourages students to develop adaptive expertise in the context of real-world design projects. By fabricating prototypes, students learn strategies for troubleshooting and technical design, and iterations of the part demand reflection on previous design thinking. This study seeks to answer the following research questions: (1) How does user-centered design stimulate abstractive design thinking? (2) How does fabrication of prototypes stimulate active design thinking? And (3) How is the classroom culture enabling engineering design in the optimal adaptability corridor? Critical incident interviews were conducted with stakeholders in the course, and a thematic analysis of the transcripts conducted. Results show that this project-based curriculum fosters adaptive expertise by stimulating both abstractive and active design thinking. This provides a framework for practicing adaptive design thinking in classrooms. Disseminating these findings to curriculum designers will encourage more engaging, effective classes that graduate adaptive experts.
ContributorsLarson, James Robert (Author) / Jordan, Shawn (Thesis director) / Lande, Micah (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Design Thinking is a popular topic and problem-solving method that is gaining attention and being used more and more often across disciplines in recent years such as “IT, Business, Education and Medicine” (Dorst, 2011). Its ability to address wicked problems, problems that are inherently complex and socially layered, has branded it an attractive and useful problem-solving method for a wide range of industries and consequently a wide range of problems. Its human centered and empathetic approach to addressing problems also paints design thinking to be an action-based method that works well with interdisciplinary teams in which all members have the same desired end. More recently, its use has expanded to the field of education and is being cited as a way to develop 21st century learners and redefine the field of education as a whole. This paper intends to examine design thinking in the context of the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College of Arizona State University specifically. The goals of this paper are to define design thinking for the educational field, examine and analyze the methods of it use, as well as determine the purpose for exposing undergraduate education students to the process. Through expert interviews of faculty and staff members that were analyzed for common themes and other consistencies, an understanding of how the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College defines design thinking is obtained, as well as the various uses and applications of design thinking skills and process for the field of education. The paper describes multiple areas in which design thinking is being implemented internally, externally, and within teacher preparation curriculum through the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College and details the four main reasons for exposing future teachers to design thinking practices and principles.
ContributorsScully, Hannah Marie (Author) / Morris, Katherine (Thesis director) / Silva, Alexandria (Committee member) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / School for the Future of Innovation in Society (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05