ABSTRACT
Motivation -- We aim to make visible, and understand, students' appropriation of digital course material.
Research approach -- Artefact use was traced and ethnographic interviews conducted throughout one lecture period. Activity Theory guided the analysis.
Findings/Design -- The study shows the diverse use of digital artefacts as part of a multiple mediation of students' activities at different levels. Possible uses are described that reveal how students develop agency.
Research limitations/Implications -- Details of artefact use within lectures were not observed directly. The number of participants is small and limited to one specific university. A descriptive analysis is provided.
Originality/Value -- Few studies have included a broader picture of students' activities in their analysis of digital artefact use in higher education.
Take away message -- There is no perfect course (material) for everyone. Students' material use has to be understood in the context of their network of activities.
- Bartsch, R. A., and Cobern, K. M. (2003). Effectiveness of PowerPoint presentations in lectures. In Computers & Education, 41: 77--86. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Bereiter, C. (1997). Situated cognition and how to overcome it. In D. Kirshner & J. A. Whitson (Eds.), Situated cognition: Social, semiotic, and psychological perspectives, pp. 281--300, Erlbaum.Google Scholar
- Bærentsen, K. B., and Trettvik, J. (2002). An Activity Theory Approach to Affordance. Proc. of NordiCHI. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Bødker, S., and Andersen, P. B. (2005). Complex Mediation. Human-Computer Interaction, Vol. 20: 353--402. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Case, J. M. (2008). Alienation and engagement: Development of an alternative theoretical framework for understanding learning. Higher Education, 55(3): 321--332.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Crabtree, A., Rodden, T., Tolmie, P., and Button, G. (2009). Ethnography Considered Harmful. Proc. of CHI'2009, ACM Press. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Crook, C. (2002) Deferring to resources: collaborations around traditional vs computer-based notes. J. Comp. Assisted Learning 18: p. 64--76.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Crook, C., and Barrowcliff, D. (2001). Ubiquitous Computing on Campus: Patterns of Engagement by University Students. International Journal of Human-- Computer Interaction, 13(2), 245--256.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Dumke, R., and Dittmar, A. (2011). An Exploratory Study about the Everyday Use of Digital Material in University Education. Proc. of ECCE2011, ACM Press. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Engeström, Y. (2000). Activity theory as a framework for analyzing and redesigning work. Ergonomics 43(7): 960--974.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Engeström, Y. (2008). The Future of Activity Theory: A Rough Draft. Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
- Gay, G., and Hembrooke, H. (2004). Activity-Centered Design: An Ecological Approach to Designing Smart Tools and Usable Systems. MIT Press. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Heyl, B. (2001). Ethnographic Interviewing. In Atkinson, P., Coffey, A., Delamont, S., Lofland, J., Lofland, L. (Eds.) Handbook of Ethnography.Google Scholar
- Hollan, J., Hutchins, E., and Kirsh, D. (2000). Distributed cognition: toward a new foundation for human-computer interaction research. ACM Trans. Comput.-Hum. Interaction 7(2): 174--196. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Jones, P. H. (2005). Information practices and cognitive artifacts in scientific research. Cognition, Technology and Work, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp: 88--100.Google ScholarDigital Library
- Kaptelinin, V., and Nardi B. A. (2006). Acting with Technology: Activity Theory and Interaction design. MIT Press. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Kettle, M. A. (2011) Academic practice as explanatory framework: reconceptualising international student academic engagement and university teaching. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 32(1), pp. 1--14.Google ScholarCross Ref
- Piper, A. M., Hollan, J. D. (2009). Tabletop Displays for Small Group Study: Affordances of Paper and Digital Materials. Proc. of CHI'2009, ACM Press. Google ScholarDigital Library
- Ramduny-Ellis, D., Dix, A., Rayson, P. Onditi, V., Sommerville, I., and Ransom, J. (2005). Artefacts as designed, Artefacts as used: resources for uncovering activity dynamics. Cognition, Technology and Work, Vol. 7, No. 2, pp: 76--87.Google ScholarDigital Library
- Sellen, A. J., and Harper, R. H. R. (1997). Paper as an Analytic Resource for the Design of New Technologies. Proc. of CHI'1997, ACM Press. Google ScholarDigital Library
Recommendations
Designing mediation
ECCE '15: Proceedings of the European Conference on Cognitive Ergonomics 2015The aim of this paper is to analyze the concept of mediation in the context of current HCI research, with a special focus on the use of the concept to inform and guide the design of interactive artifacts and environments. The paper discusses the ...
An exploratory study about the everyday use of digital material in university education
ECCE '11: Proceedings of the 29th Annual European Conference on Cognitive ErgonomicsMotivation -- We were interested in exploring everyday usage practices of digital material that developed within traditional university education.
Research approach -- Different methods were applied simultaneously: interview, diary keeping and ...
Simulating activities: Relating motives, deliberation, and attentive coordination
Activities are located behaviors, taking time, conceived as socially meaningful, and usually involving interaction with tools and the environment. In modeling human cognition as a form of problem solving (goal-directed search and operator sequencing), ...
Comments