Studying Digital Learning Experiences

My research has focused on understanding how digital learning experiences can be designed and used most effective in helping students to learn. Much of this work is design-based research, so I am fortunate to be working with the ETX Center at ASU, who are continually exploring new ways to make effective use of technology in education.

One productive area of work has been the fully online Habitable Worlds course. The course exemplifies the learning design approach and use of educational technology that ETX strives to use in each of its designs. Our article, published in the journal Astrobiology, describes the course as a whole including learning analytics-based evidence demonstrating student understanding.

My research interests in this area are generally informed by the use of adaptive learning technology to promote high quality active learning. I am strongly influenced by Dr. Micki Chi's work on the ICAP Framework, which offers a granular and research-based definition of active learning, something which is extremely helpful for both developing learning materials and researching their impacts. I go into more detail on one specific application here with my research on virtual field experiences.