Physical Computing

Research

DiSalvo, Betsy and Kayla DesPortes (2017). “Participatory Design for Value-Driven Learning” In Participatory Design for Learning: Perspectives from Practice and Research edited by Betsy DiSalvo, Jason Yip, Elizabeth Bonsignore, and Carl DiSalvo, New York: Routledge.
Oguamanam, Vanessa, Taneisha Lee, Tom McKlin, Zane Cochran, Gregory Abowd, and Betsy DiSalvo. "Cultural Clash: Exploring How Studio-Based Pedagogy Impacts Learning for Students in HCI Classrooms." In Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference, pp. 1131-1142. 2020.
Solomon, Amber, Vanessa Oguamanam, Mark Guzdial, and Betsy DiSalvo. Making CS Learning Visible: Case Studies on How Visibility of Student Work Supports a Community of Learners in CS Classrooms. In Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Innovation and Technology in Computer Science Education (pp. 161-167).
DesPortes, Kayla and Betsu DiSalvo (2019, July). Trials and tribulations of novices working with the arduino. In Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research (pp. 219-227).
Wilcox, Lauren, Betsy DiSalvo, Dick Henneman, and Qiaosi Wang. "Design in the HCI Classroom: Setting a Research Agenda." In Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems, pp. 871-883. ACM, 2019. (Best Paper Award)
DesPortes, Kayla and Betsy DiSalvo, (2017). Where are the Glass-Boxes? Examining the Spectrum of Modularity in Physical Computing Hardware Tools. Proceedings of the ACM International Conference on Interaction Design and Children 2017, Stanford, June 2017.
Cochran, Zane and DiSalvo, Betsy, 2016. Exploring Traditional and Workbench-Style Kits to Support Project- and Problem-Based Learning. Presented at the IEEE conference on Frontiers in Education 2016, Erie, 2016
DesPortes, Kayla, Anupam, Aditya, Pathak, Neeti, and DiSalvo, Betsy (2016). Circuit Diagrams Vs. Physical Circuits: The Effect of Representational Forms During Assessment. Presented at the IEEE conference on Frontiers in Education 2016, Erie, 2016.
DesPortes, Kayla, Anupam, Aditya, Pathak, Neeti, and DiSalvo, Betsy (2016). BitBlox: A Redesign of the Breadboard. Presented at the 16th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children, Manchester, 2016.
DesPortes, Kayla, Spells, Monet, and DiSalvo, Betsy (2016), Interdisciplinary computing and the emergence of boundary objects: A case-study of dance and technology. Presented at the International Conference of the Learning Sciences, Singapore, June 2016.
DesPortes, Kayla, Spells, Monet, and Betsy DiSalvo (2016) The MoveLab: Developing Congruence between the Self-Concept and Computing. Presented at the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, Memphis, March 2016.

Physical Computing

Students in the Culture and Technology Lab have been leading projects on a wide range of learning opportunities with physical computing. Leveraging my background in the arts with student expertise in computer engineering, wearables, and teaching creative technologies we have developed a set of undergraduate maker-oriented curricula, dance and physical computing after-school programs, and new types of breadboards and modular circuits that scaffold learning. Much of this work was led by my former student Dr. Kayla DesPortes.

Currently, we are investigating how physical computing and screen-based computing provide different insights for learners. Our hypothesis is that physical computing will encourage embodiment and abstract model building of computational concepts and that screen-based computing may provide better transfer to other computing tasks. But as we learn more we can discover how the use of physical computing can best be used in CS education.

Research

DiSalvo, Betsy and Kayla DesPortes (2017). “Participatory Design for Value-Driven Learning” In Participatory Design for Learning: Perspectives from Practice and Research edited by Betsy DiSalvo, Jason Yip, Elizabeth Bonsignore, and Carl DiSalvo, New York: Routledge.

Oguamanam, Vanessa, Taneisha Lee, Tom McKlin, Zane Cochran, Gregory Abowd, and Betsy DiSalvo. "Cultural Clash: Exploring How Studio-Based Pedagogy Impacts Learning for Students in HCI Classrooms." In Proceedings of the 2020 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference, pp. 1131-1142. 2020.

DesPortes, Kayla and Betsu DiSalvo (2019, July). Trials and tribulations of novices working with the arduino. In Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on International Computing Education Research (pp. 219-227).

Wilcox, Lauren, Betsy DiSalvo, Dick Henneman, and Qiaosi Wang. "Design in the HCI Classroom: Setting a Research Agenda." In Proceedings of the 2019 ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems, pp. 871-883. ACM, 2019. (Best Paper Award)

DesPortes, Kayla and Betsy DiSalvo, (2017). Where are the Glass-Boxes? Examining the Spectrum of Modularity in Physical Computing Hardware Tools. Proceedings of the ACM International Conference on Interaction Design and Children 2017, Stanford, June 2017.

Cochran, Zane and DiSalvo, Betsy, 2016. Exploring Traditional and Workbench-Style Kits to Support Project- and Problem-Based Learning. Presented at the IEEE conference on Frontiers in Education 2016, Erie, 2016

DesPortes, Kayla, Anupam, Aditya, Pathak, Neeti, and DiSalvo, Betsy (2016). Circuit Diagrams Vs. Physical Circuits: The Effect of Representational Forms During Assessment. Presented at the IEEE conference on Frontiers in Education 2016, Erie, 2016.

DesPortes, Kayla, Anupam, Aditya, Pathak, Neeti, and DiSalvo, Betsy (2016). BitBlox: A Redesign of the Breadboard. Presented at the 16th International Conference on Interaction Design and Children, Manchester, 2016.

DesPortes, Kayla, Spells, Monet, and DiSalvo, Betsy (2016), Interdisciplinary computing and the emergence of boundary objects: A case-study of dance and technology. Presented at the International Conference of the Learning Sciences, Singapore, June 2016.

DesPortes, Kayla, Spells, Monet, and Betsy DiSalvo (2016) The MoveLab: Developing Congruence between the Self-Concept and Computing. Presented at the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education, Memphis, March 2016.

Physical Computing