In this design case, we report our design and playtest of a form of alternative reality, educational simulation that we call a playable case study (PCS). One of the features that make our simulations unique is how they are designed to implement a principle called This Is Not a Game, or TINAG, meaning that the affordances we design into the…

Studies of play often involve face-to-face research with children in settings such as homes, schools, and playgrounds. The COVID-19 pandemic affected children's play in many significant ways; yet, traditional in-person research methods were not possible due to restrictions such as lockdowns, school closures, and social distancing. "A National…

We present here the lessons learned by iteratively designing a tutorial for first-year university students using computer programming to work with mathematical models. Alternating between design and implementation, we used video-taped task interviews and classroom observations to ensure that the design promoted student understanding. The final…

In this study, we examined maker-centred learning from an epistemic perspective, highlighting the agentic role of material engagement and artefacts in learning and creativity. The use of physical materials plays a crucial role in maker activities where the socio-epistemic aspects of knowledge creation entangle with the designing and making of…

In this article, we call for Canadian digital literacies researchers to invest in designs and research methods that centralise in-the-moment insights, embrace complexity, and that are informed by a deep commitment to authentic, ethical reciprocity that serves the communities in which our work is placed. We present three cases that offer multiple…

This case study presents the efforts of three high school teachers to design and implement climate change lessons in alignment with the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Using three conceptual frameworks that organize the assumptions of the environment in the NGSS we examine how those assumptions influence teacher practice when teachers…

The purpose of the architectural design studio is that students learn to think and act like designers. However, communication between teachers and students seems to be problematic. Teachers barely seem to explain how designers work, which may be confusing for students. To learn professional reasoning processes and strategies, different teaching…

Digital developments that foreground the sensory body and movement interaction offer new ways of engaging with mathematical ideas. Theories of embodied cognition argue for the important role of sensorimotor interaction in underpinning cognition. For visually impaired children this is particularly promising, since it provides opportunities for…

Online instructional design and how to engage students cognitively in online asynchronous courses have been an ongoing question. This case study presents an intentional design of an asynchronous online graduate course to foster cognitive presence. The research questions investigate students' cognitive presence (CP) captured by two measures:…

Real world places are important for foreign language (FL) learning since they provide rich and authentic language and cultural contexts for learners. However, numerous FL learners are unable to travel to target-language environments for language learning purposes. This article develops the concept of telepresence-place-based FL learning and…

Specialized science courses (SSCs) integrate content knowledge (CK) with pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and prepare pre-service teachers (PSTs) for reform-oriented teaching. Studies of individual SSCs report positive short-term outcomes, including an increase in self-efficacy and CK. However, few studies explore the longer-term impact of SSCs…

Instructional design and training skills have become a key competency that is expected of public health professionals. However, the research on educating public health students as instructional designers (ID) is lacking. The purpose of this study is to better understand how novice IDs design trainings using their design judgment in an authentic…

This study outlines the development of the Design Log Instrument (DLI), which is intended for use in identifying moments of abstraction as evidence of STEM content knowledge transfer. The DLI prompts participants to be reflective during technological/engineering design challenges. During the development of this instrument, a three-phase,…

This qualitative study makes recommendations to help teachers understand how an outdoor learning environment could be designed and used to enrich perceptual development through sensory and motor stimulation for the Grade R learner. This was done by establishing design principles that create better teaching and learning environments from the…

The importance of learner autonomy has been researched for at least two decades. However, it has been critiqued that most research mainly focused on theoretical explanations and was based on anecdotal evidence (Dalgarno and Lee in "Br J Educ Technol "41(1):10-32, 2010; Hew and Brush in "Educ Technol Res Dev" 55(3):223-252,…