EAGER: The Professional Development and Instruction of Design Comparing both Distance Learning and Face-to-Face Delivery Methods

University Of Maryland, College Park, College Park MD

Investigators

Abstract

Design is a practice (the activity) and a product (the design). The challenge facing educators is the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) requirement to transform the sit in your chair learning environment into working spaces that use technology to support the instructional practices and products of design. Success will be strongly tied to the teachers own self-confidence and self-efficacy in aligning design to their classrooms. Teachers must align content ranging from biology to mathematics to physics. This collaborative project with the University of Maryland College Park and Morgan State University will immerse teachers from three demographically diverse Maryland school districts in the design process through the use of MyDesign, a mobile application developed through an NSF I-Corps Learning award, which utilizes a growing library of web-based applications to teach and practice design. The teachers will be guided to develop instructional content specific to their classrooms. Developing and testing two PD models across these school districts has the potential to impact the teaching and practice of design. The data and experiences derived from this exploratory and high-risk research could provide timely insights into the comparative strengths and weaknesses between face-to-face and on-line PD for design. Teaching design online utilizing MyDesign has the potential to expand the instruction of design using Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCS) and to personalize the learning of design. The online teaching and practice of design has the potential to engage more women, underserved minorities, those requiring special accommodation, and returning military by providing an anytime, anyplace tool-box to solve relevant problems.