My research described according to commo

My research described according to common guidelines My work with Unfold Studio spans several of the types of research described here. I initially developed Unfold Studio through several iterations of participatory design research. This research has some of the characteristics of design and development research. However, the inclusion of participants in framing the questions and interpreting the results, particularly in the initial iterations, means the studies did not begin with “a strong theoretical or empirical justification for developing the proposed intervention or strategy.” (p. 16) The tension between having an a priori theory of action and honoring the participatory design process is reflected in the structure of the paper I recently submitted. There is a conceptual framework motivating the research process, but it is transformed and elaborated through the course of the research. 

Next, I conducted a pair of early-stage/exploratory studies. The first explores how computational models can be useful for supporting critical literacy. The results of this study were qualitative: an iterative coding process yielded an analytical framework of four layers in the process of enacting critical literacy practices with interactive storytelling. Several case studies illustrate these processes. The second study, whose results I am currently analyzing, is an ethnomethodological tracing of how participants in a literary space write interactive stories. A cohort of middle school computer science students spent three months writing interactive stories; I recorded each version of their stories and their social behaviors on the site (reading stories, following other uses, liking other stories). I anticipate the results will identify several trajectories through which the students participated in the literacy space. 

I am currently planning an efficacy study in which Unfold Studio will be used in a Philadelphia school, with less involvement from me. This will attempt to replicate the results of my earlier research, in another setting. Does early computer science learning happen differently outside the bubble of silicon valley, where CS has a particular salience?