ICON History

Let’s recount this historic event. (Overview)

Hop in the time machine for the entire experience below:

Or Download the PDF

Exploratory Research

The origin. (Background)

I assisted with reviewing some literature on the importance and status of U.S. History in social studies education

Existing literature suggested

There was a need for social cooperation & problem solving
4th grade students are at or above proficient level in U.S. History: 20%
Lowest core sub-discipline of social studies

Students need deeper understanding

Ask more profound questions of the past
Construct deeper conclusions and ideas

Design considerations for elementary and secondary school children were investigated

Hanna, Risden, Czerwinski, & Alexander, 1998 - The role of usability research in designing children’s computer products
Chiasson & Gutwin, 2005 - Design principles for childrens’ technology
Kravela, 2017 - Designing an interface for a mobile application based on children’s opinion

Then I learned more about ICON History

An idea for interactive textbook idea for elementary students to learn U.S. history
A natural language dialogue and intelligent tutoring system
Lead author’s/principal investigator’s dissertation work
User design preferences needed

Investigating the history. (User questionnaire)

Questionnaire given to students of a science technology engineering arts and math camp

Demographics

31 STEAM camp students
3rd - 8th grade
8 – 14 YO
23 males and 8 females
23 White, 6 Black, and 2 Asian

Target demographic

3rd & 4th graders
Older participants provided their experiences with US history and provided & design suggestions which was helpful due to their come complex abilities to articulate thoughts

Also asked about students experiences with interactive digital textbooks

15 (48%) of participants used an interactive textbook prior to the study

Testing

What was settled upon? (Design thinking)

The design sessions were 75min total

Participants had the following materials:

White paper
Construction paper
Pencils
Colored pencils
Crayons
Markers
Scissors
Glue

There were 3 sessions in the design period

Draw interview with Abraham Lincoln or a superhero thru a tablet/computer
Draw historic artifacts & corresponding info
Design an assessment page

I planned the analysis of participant design by using a hybrid inductive-deductive thematic analysis approach

Deductive codes reflected child interface usability suggested from Hanna et. al (1998), Chiasson & Gutwin (2005), and Kravela (2017)
I led 4 research assistants to inductively perform a thematic analysis based on these codes
We compared our results for reliability

I combined findings with literature suggestions to develop analytical constructs on best design practices.

What did the artisans invent? (Results)

Participants featured general components of interactive conversational learning technology on their designs:

Keyboard/text (13, 42%)
Microphone option (13, 42%)
Image/position of self (6, 19%)
Option to change the person (3, 10%)
Background (2, 6%)
Multimedia features (2, 6%)

Option to quiz yourself (1, 3%)

We found these themes in the designs:

Some design examples we have uncovered:

I developed analytical constructs by combining findings from the participants’ designs and suggestions from child technology design literature.

Keep pages consistent and spacious
Speech communication & audio improves children’s perception
Keep descriptions simple w/ quarter-sized hotspots for easy navigation
Keep designs challenging & interesting; include awards & prizes
Click-ons and diversions help engagement & attentiveness

Delivery

What is the impact? (Conclusion)

This is how these findings were used:

Findings to be implemented in interface
Interface will be evaluated
Improve student academic performance
Improve student attitudes
Make usable for students

This was developed for the colleague’s dissertation. She is now a university professor!

I co-wrote a conference manuscript

Mack, N.A., Cummings, R.T., Moon, D., & Gilbert, J.E. (2019). Co-Designing an Intelligent Conversational History Tutor with Children. Proceedings of IDC '19: 18th ACM International Conference on Interaction Design and Children. Boise, ID: ACM. doi: 10.1145/3311927.3325336.