Interaction Design Students Research the Ups and Downs of Online Education
August 31, 2020
FSC student Kelly Espinoza
COVID-19 put the kibosh on a summer workshop sponsored by the Interaction Design program at FSC, and to include faculty and students from Edinburgh Napier University and University of Lancaster (both in the U.K.). But Dr. Brian O’Keefe and Michael Mastermaker, assistant professors in the Visual Communications Department, refused to let what has been an annual event since 2016 die.
Instead, as has been a necessity at so many colleges and universities since the pandemic erupted, the workshop went online – and the subject of the research suddenly became something drastically different.
Traditionally, IXD students and faculty research design problems, and then create Mixed Reality (Augmented and Virtual Reality) solutions, experiences, and technologies. This time, the goal of the workshop was to investigate and measure student/faculty behaviors, anxieties, and the overall impact of having to switch from in-classroom learning to an online format. The research focus and time-frame covered March/April of this year.
Faculty and students surveyed more 2,200 undergraduates from the U.S., U.K., European Union, and India. Sororities and fraternities in the U.S. and Canada helped gather undergraduate participant data. And what did the researchers learn?
“We were shocked by our findings,” says Dr. O’Keefe. “We used this data to completely redefine what online learning means during COVID-19.”
Among their findings:
- Most students feel online synchronous classroom instruction significantly reduces learning and the overall educational experience.
- A majority of students tune out after 10 minutes of synchronous online lecturing.
- Students who turn off their video camera are often embarrassed by their surroundings, feel their rooms should remain private, or want to text, sleep, or play video games.
- Re-imaged the lecture experience by putting professors “in students’ pockets.” Student teams designed a mixed-reality experience so a smaller “version” of their professor could be augmented onto any location. For example, a professor could be augmented from a student’s kitchen table or backyard. Classmates would also be augmented in an abstract way, to not distract from the professor’s material.
- Created “The Hallway,” an online social space that helped students meet and mingle after class.
- Redesigned “The Pen,” an interactive handheld device that allows students to interact with the online class in any physical place. Students often turn off their video cameras. A Pen’s interactions enable the professor and peers to know the student is engaged in the class.
Lancaster University faculty workshop mentor Miriam Sturdee believes FSC and Napier undergraduates made research contributions that rose to the level of top international programs.
“I was extremely pleased to find that the FSC and Napier undergraduate research assistants gathered research that mirrored other major international research projects looking at online learning. The students gave us an edge in planning and developing our own online and blended learning pedagogies, especially given the large number of respondents to the student survey.”
FSC student Kelly Espinoza found the research particularly rewarding, working with U.K. students who brought their own insights to the project.
“Participating in an international research workshop was a collaborative effort, as well as a learning experience. Working with new students outside the classroom, especially those from the U.K, helped me gain insight from a different perspective while conducting user research.”
Another FSC student, Erica DeSimone, echoes Espinoza’s enthusiasm about working outside national boundaries.
“Being able to work with people from different backgrounds, especially people from a different country, changes your perspective on many ideas, and personally makes me a better designer.”
