The squad Play & Learn designs and researches societal challenges and investigates how the power of play could play a key role in tackling those problems. We play to learn, we can learn through play. Through the process of imagining, trying out, performing, expressing, competing, collaborating, decision making and reflecting we become physically active, construct mental models and appropriate other modes of thinking. In humans, these qualities transcend the proces of aging, which makes the possibilities for learning through play endless.
For this project, focus was set on primary school teachers, who experience three main pains when assessing the children in group 1-2 on their social-emotional-development (SED): (1) Currently, this assessment is purely based upon the subjective judgement of the teacher. (2) The official assessment on SED of children only takes place twice a year, following the Dutch primary school system, resulting in basing the assessment on a snapshot in time and (3) when social- emotional behavior is particularly prominent - during the outside break at the schoolyard - the teacher is not able to be as observant as in the classroom, since the teacher is having a break him or herself.
A low-fidelity prototype was developed which was aimed at evoking behavior in children in which SED could be objectively measured throughout the year. A user test on this prototype revealed that SED behavior does not have to be evoked, because it appears to be already continuously present.
The focus of the project was revised towards designing a product or system that is able to measure the social-emotional behavior using the playing attributes already present at the school yard. A simple check-in/check-out system is placed near every playing attribute and a bracelet with an NFC is handed out to the children to check themselves in- and out. This prototype and design seemed sufficient for collecting data that would be relevant for the teacher to assess a domain within SED. This project is a first exploration on using objective data to support subjective assessment and the findings could be considered a solid base for further research.
AFFILIATION
Master Industrial Design (TU/e)
ACTIVITY
M11 Design Project
SQUAD NAME
Play & Learn
PROJECT COACH
dr. M.V. Birk
PERIOD
S2 Q1&2 (2018/2019)
TEAM
Lisa Stavenuiter, Rylana van der Marel
KEYWORDS
User & Society, Creativity & Aesthetics, Technology & Realization, Social-Emotional-Development, User Testing
GRADE
Promotion (P)
Expertise Areas
The AE of User & Society has been integrated in this project through designing, executing and analyzing two user tests at a Dutch primary school and designing, executing and analyzing two expert reviews with a team of experts on the field. I have participated in creating carefully written consent forms that needed to be correct on all aspects, since the user tests were focussed on participants within the age of 4 to 7 years old. This semester has been a very informative period concerning the AE of User & Society, in which I have developed the skill of writing a consent form, performing an academic user test, and enlarging my knowledge on UX Design.
The AE of Technology & Realization has unfortunately not been integrated in this project. It seems to be a returning issue in projects that I am too easily drawn towards the tasks that I am already capable of performing. I am very well aware that this is an issue that needs to change. I need to push myself to claim the tasks that match with this AE during projects in order to develop my skills in this AE further. A consolation could be that my Q4 elective - Complex and Adaptive Systems - is an elective within this AE, which means that I am working on these skills parallel to the project. However, an elective ‘obliges’ me to work on these skills, whilst my goal is to be as comfortable with this AE that I am no longer ‘afraid’ to use my developed skills on a daily basis, without being obliged to do so.
Collaboration process
This project was the first project ever in which I was placed in a team that was fully compiled of female team members. This appeared to be quite an experience for me, to say the least. Aside from the fact that all three team members were female, which - even though I always try to avoid stereotyping and I want to respect my gender to the fullest - resulted in more drama, more personal issues and more gossiping in the first place, all three team members have a strong personality as well. No one was afraid to speak up, to state her opinion and to go against the opinion of one’s team member(s). The combination of these factors have resulted in a project that I have experienced as quite intense and mentally demanding. However, it is also noticeable that this is also the very first project in which I feel like I have teamed up with two team members who are just as invested in this project as I am: the motivation levels were high and we all shared an even amount of responsibility for this project. Eventually, despite of the mental intensity and the personal tensions, we have managed to create and present a project that is of high quality and that the three of us are proud of.
Unfortunately, halfway through the design process, my fellow team members attached personal feelings to my role in this project, which arose a conflict. Without going into detail about this conflict, it has made me realise that I am capable of separating personal feelings from a situation like this and keeping a professional attitude. Even though I did not agree with the way in which my fellow group members handled the situation, I was surprised on how well I was able to stay calm, to clearly state my side of the story when it was my time to speak and to apologize for my behavior. I appeared to be capable of keeping my personal emotions inside my head and keeping my attitude professional throughout this project, in order to invest in a collaboration that is efficient and qualitative.
Professional vision and identity
If you would have read my previous PDPs, you would know that I am struggling with defining my professional vision and identity as a designer ever since I was asked to do so. I set the first goal of my PDP to start recognizing my professional vision/identity as a designer by means of keeping a notebook in which I would write down every little thing that would come across this project that could define me as a designer. Unfortunately, this method did not seem to work out. It appeared to be very hard for me to recognize these aspects as part of my identity, since I see myself more as a ‘shapeshifter’ that is willing and capable to take on almost any design challenge. I arranged a meeting with my Teacher Coach, dr. M.V. Birk, in which I have discussed this issue. This was a very enlightening and comforting conversation to me, since Mr. Birk did not only express to have dealt with the same issue in the past but he also provided me with a very simple and straightforward solution. He suggested to just simply pick one of the many aspects of design or fields of research that I am interested in and identify it as ‘my identity as a designer’ from that point on. If it doesn’t appear to work out, then just go on to the next one.
I can still be a shapeshifter in essence, which could work very much in my favor eventually, but for people to be able to recognize me as a designer and link me to something concrete, I need to stand behind something that is recognizable and notable. People need to be able to think of me when they encounter a certain problem. That’s why I am determined to follow up on Mr. Birk's advice by having ‘picked’ an identity and vision before the kick-off of my M12 Research Project in the Health squad and to see how it will work out for me.
