Exploring social, cognitive, and representational issues in learning through playful Co-Design: A mid-career workshop proposal

I seek to understand the impacts of design innovations on learning while also building contexts within which such innovations are created, integrated, and sustained. In particular, I explore (1) How we can design and implement innovative learning environments that enhance the ways we teach, learn, and collaborate; and (2) What such efforts reveal about teaching and learning. My work investigates the cognitive, social, technological, and representational issues surrounding student learning and teacher practice within constructionist—and more recently, playful—environments. I focus on designing to support science inquiry, which encompasses work on scientific representations and computer-supported-collaborative learning; and co-designing educational innovations, including data visualizations for teachers, and game-based learning in afterschool and professional development contexts.