Research Interests   Keywords that apply to my work:  
 

My main area of research interest is in the design of collaborative, computer-based museum exhibits. I have also done a great deal of work with mobile devices, both in informal learning contexts (where the mobile devices act as Opportunistic User Interfaces to computer-based exhibits) and in formal contexts (where the mobile devices are used in the context of small-group collaborative classroom activities). I am interested in the ways in which user interface design can be used to scaffold collaborative learning processes. I am also interested in making complex systems simulations more accessible to learners: via the selection of appropriate technologies, the design of the user interface, and the activity design. For example, Opportunistic User Interfaces can be employed to support authentic role-playing (e.g., asking learners to take on the role of a physician) to help learners engage with simulated phenomena and to encourage them to grapple with and discuss the gestalt problem spaces faced by various professions.

 

Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL)
Opportunistic User Interfaces (O-UIs)
Human-Data Interaction (HDI)
informal learning
museology
ubiquitous computing
mobile devices
educational simulations
role-playing games
embodied interaction
complex systems simulations
Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM) education
synchronous collaboration
co-located collaboration