![]() Category: Professional practice |
| Teaching and Learning Forum 2010 [ Refereed papers ] |
Jo Jung and Shane Henderson
Edith Cowan University
This paper discusses a trial of teaching and learning strategy based on an interdisciplinary approach. The project title, ClimbIt, is meant to capture the spirit of the tool and the location of where the tool will be situated within the university building. The term ClimbIt stemmed from an idea of providing students with access to computer laboratory usage information on the walls in a stairwell in Building 3, Edith Cowan University, Mount Lawley campus, Perth. A user scenario, which the ClimbIt project is based on, was that a device with a visually engaging user interface design would communicate live 'weather-like' information as they walk up the stairs - hence the title - in real time.The idea of ClimbIt stemmed from the students' needs to find a lab and computer to complete their assignments between classes. As labs are booked for classes during semesters, students often have to experience awkwardness and cause nuisance to other students and lecturers in classes by knocking on the doors. The ClimbIt project was envisioned as a solution. The core objectives of the project were to: (1) provide an engaging and stimulating learning environment for students; (2) reflect the industry practice of working in collaboration with people from diverse backgrounds; and (3) provide a solution to an authentic problem (i.e. access to lab usage information). As a result, ClimbIt acted as a teaching and learning strategy and a deliverable product (a tangible outcome) that can be used by real users.
Interdisciplinarity is often regarded as an ideal approach for teachers and students to engage in teaching and learning. Nevertheless, many learning institutions and their pedagogies has been framed by disciplinarity. One of the weaknesses of teaching and learning in the isolation of framed disciplines is that it does not reflect the reality of industry practice and prevents students from being ready for industry when they leave university. The ClimbIt project is an attempt to immerse our students in an authentic problem-solving scenario that steps outside of the traditional notions of discipline and allows them to safely explore the post disciplinary worlds' new workflows while having the guidance and support of the academic framework.
The journey of interdisciplinary teaching and learning by students and academic staff is discussed according to the product development phases. Subsequently, a summary of findings and recommendations for future projects of this nature, based on the authors' observations and surveys are listed.
The commonly accepted appeal of interdisciplinary in teaching and learning is that a range of activities can be achieved (Klein, 1990, p. 11):
Despite its potential, interdisciplinary curricula has a number of barriers preventing effective collaboration between different disciplines for both teachers and students (Thew, 2007, p. 1):
The name 'ClimbIt' is meant to capture the spirit of the tool and location of where the tool will be located within the university building (see Figure 1). The term 'ClimbIt' stemmed from an idea providing students with access to computer laboratory usage information on the walls in a stairwell in Building 3, Edith Cowan University, Mount Lawley. A user scenario, which ClimbIt is based on, was that a device with a visually engaging user interface design would communicate live 'weather-like' information as they walk up the stairs-hence the title-in real time.
Figure 1: The stairwell of building 3, Mt Lawley Campus, Edith Cowan University.
Students were divided into four groups with similar distribution of IMD and Graphic Design students in each group. By using ClimbIt as a project theme, students were given two project problems/challenges delivering the online tool:
The two project problems acted as guidance aligning with two disciplines' focus (i.e. IMD and Graphic Design). Nevertheless, students were given complete freedom to manage the development process and roles played within a group.
Ubiquitous computing and using the Web to treat users as affective beings as well as productive beings provided the basis of ClimbIt project. The need of SCA students provided a starting point for this project, and the needs of computer users shaped the framework of this project to be effective and enjoyable to use. As mentioned previously, emotional engagement played an important role in the ClimbIt project.
| Phase | Weeks | Discipline | Output |
| 1. | Research: Data collection (Wk 1-4) | Public Relations | Potential user profile (e.g. user's needs, wants, and desired interactive/interaction experience) |
| 2. | Documentation (Wk 4-8) | Graphic Design | Development of website interface themes to be included in the design/project documentation |
| Interactive Media | Design/project documentation based on the information obtained from Marketing and PR students | ||
| 3. | Implementation (Wk 8-13) | Interactive Media | Development of the ClimbIt website based on the design documentation prepared by GD and IMD students |
| Graphic Design | |||
| 4. | Product promotion (Wk 8-13) | Advertising | Plan implement and promote of the product |
| Week 14 - Release of the project | |||
Each unit coordinator was contacted by the project leaders (i.e. the authors of this paper) to explain the nature of the project and the anticipated outcomes. Their involvement was required to incorporate some assessment of the project at a level they were happy with, from a small optional part to a major compulsory assessment item. That is, select an aspect of the project whose assessment met their unit's needs. Each staff member was able to choose how the project would be incorporated into their unit and the assignment score allocation. However, the hectic semester time frame and lack of a shared vision of the project prevented the involvement of large disciplines. As a result, the project primarily involved two units from IMD and one unit from Graphic Design.
| Phase | Weeks | Discipline | Output |
| 1. | Research: Data collection (Wk 1-4) | Interactive Media | Potential user profile (e.g. user's needs, wants, and desired interactive/interaction experience) |
| 2. | Documentation (Wk 4-8) | Graphic Design | Development of website interface themes to be included in the design/project documentation |
| Interactive Media | Design/project documentation based on the information obtained from Marketing and PR students | ||
| 3. | Implementation (Wk 8-13) | Interactive Media | Development of the ClimbIt website based on the design documentation prepared by GD and IMD students |
| Graphic Design | |||
| Release of product Week 14 | http://www.sca.ecu.edu.au/ | ||
Students in one of the IMD units, Interface and Information Design, worked independently to collect user information as they progressed through the first 4 weeks of the unit.
The design of the final project timetable (i.e. Table 2) was hard to finalise. For various reasons, the project timetable was not finalised until around week 3 of the semester, despite concerted efforts by the project coordinators (e.g. late notice of withdrawal from the project).
After finalising the timetable, a 'handover' meeting was planned of all students involved at each transition between phases. This required the project coordinator to identify suitable times to suit the multiple units involved. These meetings turned out to be critical opportunities for students to review their groups' efforts, and the comments - reported below - show that they found them very motivating.
The first full meeting was held in week 4 of the semester, It was well attended despite being held at a busy time in the semester. Groups were then formed and thirty-four students who attended were arranged into four teams. At this stage this was an approximation of numbers and not a final participation figure. Based on their skill sets, expertise, and the unit they were enrolled in, students' roles were decided and then they were allocated into a group accordingly (see Table 3 for units involved in the project).
Nine students from an IMD unit (IMM2125) were assigned with roles of project researcher and management. Their roles were to provide a framework and drive the direction of the project informed by an in-depth research on users and project requirements. Seventeen students from another IMD unit (IMM2123) were assigned a role of dynamic content developers. Their primary role was to; create the front-end of the project based on the visual information received by Graphic Design students; and to prepare the back-end of the project to link it to the university data system feeding live lab usage information. Eight students from Graphic Design unit were assigned a role of visual designer, creating an "identity" and the overall look-and-feel of the project.
| Unit | Unit description |
| IMM2123 Interactive Multimedia Authoring 1 | This is one of the two IMD unit involved in this project and it introduces students to the concepts and principles of IMD development through integrated authoring systems (i.e. Flash). Students are exposed to the principles and practices involved in developing digital media products. |
| IMM2125 Interface and Information Design | This is another IMD unit involved in ClimbIt project. It introduces students to the concepts of interface and information design. It includes an introduction to the fundamental principles of interface design exploring a variety of interactive media information and performance environments based on human-computer interface and information architecture theories. |
| DES2101 Design Practices | This is a Graphic Design unit which introduces students to the world of visual identity, including designed branding, visual and corporate identity, logos, and typographic devises. |
During the meeting, students were also notified of the ClimbIt Blog on WordPress (see Figure 2). The blog enabled students to gain feedback and guidance from staff, as well as enabling group communications. In total, forty-three posts were made to the blog, there were nineteen registered users, including five staff, but only eleven were actively participating students. Comments ranged from introductions and thoughts on the project itself to comments on group confusion and feedback.
After the meeting, students were instructed to work with other group members to develop a prototype containing a brand identity and the overall user interface design of the project.
After the initial presentations, groups met and many students were excited with the new ideas and thoughts of changes and improvements they could make to their prototypes. There was a general 'buzz' of excitement in the room, seeing the other student's work helped students to see there was full participation in the project and this helped to fuel fresh enthusiasm in all students. This meeting was very successful and feedback from students was very positive and constructive.
A conclusion from Group 4 reads:
To conclude, I feel the responses and constructive criticism we received from our user testing group was tremendously valuable and I personally learnt a lot from it. The benefit from this exercise on the final result of the ClimbIt project was much improved because of it. While also gaining some positive feedback on our design choices we made several essential changes to the initial design to present the project we now have completed and I feel is very successful.Group 1 used an Apple Macintosh inspired logo as a metaphor because it represents the Macintosh lab and maintain the familiarity for the users. A simple hallway diagram approach, with Apples (see Figure 2), in colour (representing the room colours) in the room with a fill level as to how many computers are being used in the room.
Figure 2: Group 1 prototype.
Group 2 used the floor plan the building with colours to show where labs are and their current usage (see Figure 3). The navigation on the site occurs along the left side and the top of the page and change colour when in use by the users. They have incorporated the same style guide colours that the ECU uses for its website. However, during the meeting it was suggested that colours which already are in use on the walls of labs should be used to coincide with colours showing on the floor plan.
Figure 3: Group 2 prototype.
Group 3 used the design concept of sliding bar with colour coded blocks to convey lab usage information. The goal of the sliding bar design is to allow users to quickly scan the lab usage information at a glance (see Figure 4).
Figure 4: Group 3 prototype.
Group 4 ( the winning group) used a concept of test tubes to represent the labs using different colours, matching the colour of SCA lab rooms (see Figure 5). The liquid content of the tubes reflects the usage of computers - the colour in the test tube, the higher the number of computers being used. Bubbling test tubes means no computers are free and stoppers indicate that rooms are in use for a scheduled workshop.
Figure 5: Group 4 prototype.
The overall presentation was considered a success. Students thoroughly enjoyed the session as it:
The winning group's ClimbIt project (Group 4) was announced and published on the ECU SCA website (http://www.sca.ecu.edu.au then click 'Live Building 3 Computer Lab Usage Information').
In the ClimbIt project, existing units were involved according to the phases relevant to production schedule. To eliminate the predicament of time-consuming process to modify existing units, a freestanding project would be ideal.
Students understood the concept of working in collaboration with students from different disciplines. However, they were not as accomplished in engaging with team members from diverse backgrounds. For example, initially, the project challenged many students' ability to consider alternative perspectives that are outside of their disciplines. Nevertheless, as the project progressed, the students learned to contribute and actively share their skills and knowledge. They removed the barrier of working in isolation and learned to recognise the importance of leveraging each other's valuable contributions.
An additional support role in the form of an IT Coordinator should also be considered for projects of a technical nature. Funding should be allocated to cover both these roles. The ClimbIt was technically oriented project, which required input and output of School's data system.
Reflective journals can be useful in recording learning experience and to vent frustration. In the ClimbIt, students were asked or required (depends on which unit they were enrolled in) to use blogs for group communication and individual journals. The use of blogs encouraged the students to engage in the process of reflective practice. The nature of the project involving a large group of students, frustration was a nature course. The blogs acted as an avenue allowing students to vent frustration professionally and constructively - in turn, the blogs provided the students with a community of practice.
The three units involved in ClimbIt project share a common learning component of importance of evaluation and potential users product refinement. Prior to the ClimbIt project, the theory was put into practice by either assessing fellow students' works, which can be biased, or discussing their work with lecturers. By providing the students with an opportunity to design their own evaluation criteria and work with potential users, the students were able to experience a situation similar to an industry practice.
The students' experience of the evaluation indicated that they felt more confident in what they are doing by obtaining information directly from the potential users. In the evaluation, the students did not only identify problems but positive aspects of their product. The potential users' positive feedback was perceived by the students as a validation of their effort in the project affecting their confidence positively.
In addition, the minimal limitations of ClimbIt project allowed the students to freely articulate their creative solutions and ideas without restrictions - there is no single solution that is 'right', but rather one can be deemed as 'most appropriate'.
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| Authors: Dr Jo Jung and Mr Shane Henderson, School of Communications and Arts, Edith Cowan University. Email: j.jung@ecu.edu.au, s.henderson@ecu.edu.au Please cite as: Jung, J. & Henderson, S. (2010). ClimbIt as an interdisciplinary learning and teaching tool. In Educating for sustainability. Proceedings of the 19th Annual Teaching Learning Forum, 28-29 January 2010. Perth: Edith Cowan University. http://otl.curtin.edu.au/tlf/tlf2010/refereed/jung.html |
Copyright 2010 Jo Jung and Shane Henderson. The authors assign to the TL Forum and not for profit educational institutions a non-exclusive licence to reproduce this article for personal use or for institutional teaching and learning purposes, in any format, provided that the article is used and cited in accordance with the usual academic conventions.