ANALYZING DESIGN BASED RESEARCH
SELECTED PAPERS
Lawrence, L., Tucker, T., & Mercier, E. (2021). Examining the influence of instructor interventions on group collaboration. In Proceedings of the 16th annual International Conference of the Learning Sciences. Bochum, Germany.
Lawrence, L. (2020). The design process of a collaborative orchestration tool and its implications for instructor uptake. [Doctoral dissertation, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. [pdf]
Lawrence, L. (2020). Design discourse: Interactions of an interdisciplinary research team and what it means for design-based research. LSGS Conference 2020. Madison, WI: Learning Sciences Graduate Students Conference. [pdf]
Lawrence, L. & Mercier, E. (2019). Co-design of an orchestration tool: Supporting engineering teaching assistants as they facilitate collaborative learning. Interaction Design and Architecture(s) Journal, (42), 111- 130. [link] [pdf]
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
The goal of my dissertation was to unpack the process of conducting design-based research. I analyzed a full design-based research iteration to understand how design decisions emerged and were implemented in the classroom. I addressed two main goals, understand 1) how an interdisciplinary team designed and developed an orchestration tool and 2) how the software and designed affordances were implemented in the classroom. This work contributes to the field by examining the relationship between the design process and classroom outcomes.
PROJECT OUTCOMES
The interdisciplinary team was engaged in collaborative, interconnected discussions when designing the orchestration tool. Design decisions that were implemented in the orchestration tool emerged during integrated areas where the group had high collaboration and high synthesis. I then analyzed how those design decisions manifested in the classroom and instructors interacted with the final technology.
When the designed tool was used by instructors, it was effective at prompting interventions from instructors. However, there were differences between which instructors used the tool; the instructors' philosophies of teaching and views of collaboration influenced how or if they used the tool.
My analysis illustrates the realities of how design decisions can impact interactions in the classroom. In my dissertation I share insights for doing this research and reflect on how researchers can better facilitate design processes to improve this methodology and in turns create better artifacts for teaching and learning.
In my dissertation I applied a traditional design method that visualizes turns of talk during the design processes, capturing relationships between interactions and discussions (Goldschmidt, 1992).
