Abstract
This research project is the culmination of multiple years of research aimed at creating modular, interactive learning environments that establish the basis of spatial and computational thinking in young learners. Throughout each stage, multidisciplinary teams of college faculty, undergraduate, and graduate students collaborated to create each design iteration and improve upon the existing prototypes. This research paper describes year-long research and testing of the final prototype aptly named U-Design. During this timeframe, the research team created an in-depth literature review that explored education and teaching frameworks that relate to cyber-physical learning and knowledge application within STEAM fields. Team members used these principles to support the design and manufacturing process of an effective tool that can explain complex topics to children while teaching methods of creating systematic, efficient solutions to real-world problems. The paper reports on usability studies and heuristic evaluations of the prototype at key intervals throughout the process to ensure design goals were met.
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Soleimani, A. (2023). Designing an Interactive Learning Suite for Children: Results from a Usability Study with a Multidisciplinary Research Team. In: Arai, K. (eds) Intelligent Computing. SAI 2023. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 711. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-37717-4_57
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