Various theories and models discuss how instructional designers can develop systems that allow learners to engage in problem-solving. To date, many of these theories and models that guide design often describe how learners engage in meaning-making within a situated context; however, they do not address strategies instructional designers can use to…

In organizational anarchies (i.e., public institutions) decisions are typically made by oversight or flight. Decision makers and choice opportunities exist simultaneously but on separate tracks resulting in few problems being solved. This paper presents the findings of a study surveying current literature on organizational anarchy as well as…

Research on how university faculty design courses has been limited and marked by modest detail on faculty design processes. Addressing this gap, seven faculty members supported by an educational developer at a teaching-intensive university used collaborative autoethnography (CAE) to explain how university faculty engage in reflective, iterative…

Computational Thinking (CT) is a problem-solving process applicable across all disciplines. It has been defined as a 21st-century skill (Wing, "Communications of the ACM," 49(3), 33-35, 2006). Unfortunately, little pedagogical research is available to guide teachers and designers when devising a CT course. This study addresses this issue…

One hundred years ago, Paul Weiss and Ludwig von Bertalanffy independently proposed that living organisms interact with their environment through systems. In the century that has followed, systems thinking and modeling have grown in tandem with discovery of the vast complexity of the universe at microscopic through astronomic levels. As our…

This paper reviews algorithmic or artificial intelligence (AI) bias in education technology, especially through the lenses of speculative fiction, speculative and liberatory design. It discusses the causes of the bias and reviews literature on various ways that algorithmic/AI bias manifests in education and in communities that are underrepresented…

This study investigated the computational thinking (CT) practices of eight pre-service teachers through their Scratch and Python programs. Conducted within an undergraduate-level computer science education course, students learned CT concepts via parallel instruction in block-based programming (Scratch) and text-based programming (Python). The…

Despite the call for instructional designers to employ design thinking as a means to foster creativity in problem-solving, many students struggle with enacting creative risk. While several studies have been conducted studying how instructional designers engage in problem-solving to contend with project constraints, few have addressed whether this…

This qualitative study draws on Design-Based Research and explores the impact of a Maker Day on teachers' conceptualizations of design thinking. At the Maker Day, participants experienced design thinking as a problem finding approach prior to making prototypes. Intersection of design thinking and making supports constructionist learning; it can be…

Research focusing on the complexities faced by instructional designers have called for pedagogical strategies to equip instructional designers with the ability to problem solve and make decisions. One of the most widely studied strategies for managing cognitive load is the use of worked examples, which provides an alternative to traditional…

STEM major students often enter colleges with a need to strengthen their foundational mathematics, such as trigonometry. We designed an innovative undergraduate course that aims to strengthen students' trigonometry knowledge application through programming mobile apps. We explored how students applied trigonometry concepts in developing their…

As schools endeavor to provide all students with access to computational thinking and computer science, the hackathon emerges as a competitive and high-energy event that uses authentic problems to motivate learners to engage in the domain of computing. This article presents the design case of a hackathon for teenagers as enacted over five…

As part of the design and development of an informal learning environment meant to increase urban middle school students' interest in technology-focused STEM careers, and to support their twenty-first century skill development, researchers developed and administered the ICT/Twenty-First Century Skills Questionnaire. Both STEM-ICT professionals and…

Maker-centered learning is a creative hands-on educational strategy that uses a variety of tools and materials to support the iterative design of physical or digital artifacts. It involves the "messy" process of trial and error; therefore, authentic integration of maker-centered learning requires teachers to embrace ambiguity. This…

This study presents an ethnographic account of the learning design experiences of six Namibian teachers during school closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The study explores the emotions, perspectives and actions of these teachers and also reveals the influence of personal, institutional and national culture on their learning design…