2023 - Design of Technological Tools for Thinking and Learning
Graduate / Advanced undergraduate course, Northwestern University, Learning Sciences and Computer Science, 2023
In the winter of 2023, I served as a teaching assistant of LRN_SCI 426/CS 496, an undergraduate/graduate class for learning technology design. I participated in the course and syllabus design; provided customized feedback for students each week; worked with advanced undergraduate and graduate students on individual final projects; and taught several sections of the class.
Below is a short description of it (see more in our course website):
This course is a hands-on practicum in designing and building technology-enabled curricula and learning environments. We will use many rich software toolkits designed to enable novice computer users to get their “hands dirty” doing iterative software design. In addition to the hands-on component, the course is also designed to introduce you to the Constructionist Learning design perspective - first named by Seymour Papert and greatly influenced by the work of Jean Piaget - a perspective that is very influential in the Learning Sciences today.
Notably, two of my graduate students presented their final projects in ACM IDC 2023:
Mongkhonvanit, K., Hummer, T. M., & Chen, J. (2023). Velo: Exploring Animal Behavior Modeling through Hybrid Robotics-Simulation Learning Experience. Proceedings of the ACM Interaction Design and Children (IDC) 2023.
Li, Y., & Chen, J. (2023). Creative Expression through Color and Sound: A NetLogo Model for the Sonification of Color and the Visualization of Sound. Proceedings of FabLearn/Constructionism 2023.