Upcoming ICLS Pre-conference Workshops on Research-Practice Connections and Design

There are two workshops of potential interest to DBIR researchers at ICLS 2014.

Tightening Research-Practice Connections: Taking ISLS Findings to Public Debate.

Organizers: Susan McKenney (Open University & Twente University, the Netherlands), Kim Gomez (University of California at Los Angeles), Brian Reiser (Northwestern University)

Description: This session will: sensitize participants to the importance of sharing research findings with non-researchers (e.g. teachers, school leaders, policy makers, parents); inform participants about existing strategies for engaging in public debate; and support participants in forming collaborative outreach projects. During the workshop, collaboration teams will identify specific research insights to be shared with non-researchers; start shaping key messages; and select approaches for engaging in public debate (e.g. New York Times editorial, NSTA workshop). After the workshop, teams will develop and implement the planned outreach approaches. Thereafter, a paper and/or journal special issue is envisioned, documenting the processes.

Cultivating Design-Based Thinking Using Studio Pedagogy

Organizers: Leslie Herrenkohl, Iain Robertson, Tammy Tasker, Julie Johnson (University of Washington)

Description: This workshop’s participants will learn about design-based thinking from design and education faculty, explore design-based thinking learning environments across disciplines and cultures, and engage in exercises that may be adapted within their own educational settings. The workshop includes hands-on exercises developed to cultivate students' design based thinking in higher education at the University of Washington, but also in China and Norway. It will be intensively interactive and collaborative as participants do exercises and discuss research on crossing disciplinary and cultural contexts. Exercises may include documenting a journey across a rock, replying to old letters, or interpreting a culture's artifact.