Family Learning with Mobile Devices in the Outdoors: Designing an e-trailguide to Facilitate Families' Joint Engagement with the Natural World
Open Access
- Author:
- Mc Clain, Lucy Richardson
- Graduate Program:
- Learning, Design, and Technology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- February 26, 2016
- Committee Members:
- Heather A Zimmerman, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Heather A Zimmerman, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Susan Mary Land, Committee Member
Simon Richard Hooper, Committee Member
Scott Mc Donald, Special Member - Keywords:
- family learning
engagement
mobile-based learning
outdoor learning
environmental education
informal science learning - Abstract:
- This study describes the implementation of a self-guiding mobile learning tool designed to support families’ engagements with the natural world as they explored the flora and fauna along one nature trail at an environmental center. Thirty-one family groups (n = 105 individuals) participated in this study during the summer season and used an iPad-based e-Trailguide during their nature walk. Design-based research methods guided this study’s design, which focused on the third iteration of the e-Trailguide. Data included evaluation of families’ content knowledge gains related to the local biodiversity as revealed through post-hike interviews, while video-records of each family’s nature walk experience were also collected. Qualitative analyses focused on the design features within the e-Trailguide that supported the families’ technology-mediated engagements with nature and their interactions with each other at one Discovery Spot along the nature trail. Findings include: (a) open-ended interviews after the e-Trailguide experience provided a descriptive understanding of the families’ conceptual knowledge gains; (b) four place-based design features within the e-Trailguide enabled and supported families’ observational, pointing, and tactile investigation engagements with the natural world; (c) parents took on teacher-like roles for their children by connecting information from the e-Trailguide to the natural objects nearby as evidenced through their frequency of pointing gestures; and (d) the development of an analytical framework related to joint observation strategies used between family members to support science-related sense making. Design recommendations for the future implementation of e-Trailguides in outdoor settings include the incorporation of place-based observational questions, place-based textual prompts for focusing observations, drawing activities to record observations, and place-based images to support identification of wildlife.