Collaborative Information Seeking in the Wild: Student-Initiated Solutions and Strategies to Support Game Design

1. Collaborative
Information Seeking
in theWild:
Student-Initiated
Solutions and
Strategies to Support
Game Design
2013 CISSL Conference
Rebecca Reynolds, Assistant Professor
School of Communication & Information, Dept. of Library and
Information Science, Rutgers University

2. Globaloria is a guided discovery-based game design program and
curriculum offered by the WorldWide Workshop, a NYC non-profit.
MS, HS, CC teachers and students gain experience and expertise in
a range of agential digital practices.

3. Globaloria is currently active
in 4 U.S. states: CA,TX, NY,WV, >2000 students

4. E-Learning Environment as Information System

5. Flash software, Wiki
Environment, Curriculum, Tutorials
“Hands On” Training Sessions (virtual, local)
• Globaloria Academy – In-person, intensive trainings (3)
• Online Mini Webinars - Web-based workshops (7)
Globaloria Mentors Program
Experienced educators take on a leadership role by
supporting other educators
“24/7” Virtual Support
• Expert Support via wikis, blogs, email, WebEx
• Educator Community Development – private
educators community wiki, peer-to-peer mentoring, weekly
educators newsletter, sharing teaching & learning reports
Rewards and Recognition
•Teachers: Stipends and Graduate credits are earned
•Students: Nationally-Recognized Game Design
Competitions
Learning Supports for Students and Educators:

6. Domains of Learning and Expertise
• Game Example
• Constructionist digital literacy (skills needed in knowledge economy =>
6-CLAs)
• Computational thinking through game design in Flash and programming in
Actionscript
• Core curricular subject matter:
o When game subjects are linked to core curriculum and students deepen
knowledge about topic through online research and design
• STEM career interests: Technology & Engineering; Computer Science
• Motivation, Affect, Attitudes, Life Choices, New Possibilities and Horizons

7. Globaloria Game Design Program Learning Objectives:
Cultivate the Six Contemporary Learning Abilities (6CLAs)
Developing games in a social e-learning system cultivates participatory
practices that simulate productive engagement in today’s digital cultures
and knowledge-based economy

8. The Six Contemporary Learning Abilities (6CLAs):
Developing games in a wiki-supported social learning system cultivates
participatory practices that simulate productive engagement in today’s
digital cultures and knowledge-based economy

9. Means-focused rather than ends-oriented
• Instead of identifying a set of prescribed outcome *skills* like
most info/digital literacy models, emphasizes a set of
*practices* in which learners can gain *expertise*
• Proposes that coordinated engagement in the 6 dimensions
in parallel has particular value, is synergistic
• Digital content creation and computation (programming)
• Resource use / info-seeking with a task-driven purpose
• Social media use for productivity
• Online communication for work not leisure
• Gives educators guidance for specific activities, rather than
exhorting them to meet outcome objectives with little further
support (e.g., AASL Standards for the 21st Century Learner;
NETS Standards)
What’s Unique About the CLAs Model?

10. Curriculum & syllabus integrates learning about
game subject topic AND
Game design, programming and mechanics
Syllabus
Topics
Addressing
Game Subject
Syllabus Topics
Addressing Game
Design, Programming
and Mechanics

11. • In Constructionist / discovery-based / inquiry-based learning:
Learners
• a) engage with and learn a core content domain, AND,
• b) engage with and find resources to support their
learning
• Simulates informal, naturalistic learning
• Gives students experience with autonomous, agentive
inquiry and creation
• In Constructionist learning, in particular, creative
production, design and programming are the central
purposes that drive the inquiry.
My Research: Issues of Structure and Agency
in Socio-Technical e-Learning Systems Research

12. • History of positive results around student computational
thinking, engagement, affect, meta-cognition in
Constructionist contexts (e.g., Kafai, 1995; Bruckman &
Resnick, 1995; Kafai & Resnick, 1996; Urrea, 2001, 2002; Cavallo, 2004; Kafai
& Ching, 2004; Kafai, 2006; Peppler, Kafai & Chiu, 2007; Klopfer, 2008;
Reynolds, 2008).
• Learning Sciences: Productive failure (Kapur & Kinzer)
• Psychology: Self-determination theory, intrinsic motivation
(Deci & Ryan), goal theory literature (performance vs.
mastery goals, Dweck)
Issues of Structure and Agency
in Socio-Technical e-Learning Systems Research

13. Kirschner, Sweller & Clark (2006):
Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An
Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-
Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching
• Staunch objection to constructivist learning on basis of
cognitive load research
• Objection criticized for over-simplifying “constructivism”
(Hmelo-Silver, Duncan, Chinn, 2007)
• Cue the Debate!
• Reflective of ongoing disciplinary siloes:
• Cognitive psych, motivation / dev psych, educational
psychology, psychometrics, design-based research in the
learning sciences, etc.
Issues of Structure and Agency
in Socio-Technical e-Learning Systems Research

14. Results so far in the Globaloria context:
Reynolds & Harel Caperton (ETR&D, 2011): Student affect and
attitudes vary towards the autonomy-supportive, semi- and ill-
structured activities in Globaloria
• Some +, some -
• Why the variation?
Reynolds (ICA, 2011): intrinsic motivation positively correlated
with game quality (measured thru content analysis); extrinsic
motivation negatively correlated
Reynolds & Chiu (ICLS, 2012): Multi-level analysis model at
team level of analysis supports 2011 findings for intrinsic
motivation positive contribution to team outcome scores
Issues of Structure and Agency
in Socio-Technical e-Learning Systems Research

15. How does Globaloria structure and scaffold students?
Our current research team’s story:
• Took inventory of Globaloria curriculum & resources
• Information Science perspective:
• Task and cognitive load
• Literature review
• Primary tasks supported, secondary unsupported
• Finding:
• Collaboration & Inquiry meta-processes are
under-structured
• Discovery not scaffolded. . .
• Information scientists to the rescue . . . Guided Inquiry
anyone? 
[Task Driven Search videos]

16. Videos: Search to Support Programming

17. Videos: Search to Support Design

18. Videos: Search to Support Game Subject Narrative

19. Videos: Discussion of System Limitation
• Design-based research
• Acknowledging issues of cognitive load and lack of structure
• Kids are not getting these skills elsewhere, so we have to
build it in. . .
• Does the setting as it stands still yield positive results?
o Other research we’re conducting indicates statistically significant
increases in student self-efficacies across most CLA dimensions;
many are learning.
BUT: Can we make Globaloria work better? Reach more kids?
Shift from less intrinsic to more?
• With additional support for Inquiry and Collaborative meta-processes, we
hypothesize yes.
• Grant proposal to test new scaffolds

20. How Information ScienceTheory Contributes. . .

21. Next Steps
• Think more about generalizability of these findings:
• Information systems for e-learning
• Refine CIB model as explanatory model for project-
based e-learning contexts
• Work with WWW to refine scaffolds
• Analyze full observational dataset, publish
• Continue refining quantitative explanatory multi-level analysis
models
• Review year over year results, as structures have improved
• In the next 3 years, continue strengthening evidence base
towards understanding this type of learning context
(Design, and, Outcomes)

22. Rebecca.reynolds@gmail.com
Rutgers University website
http://comminfo.rutgers.edu/directory/rbreynol/index.html
Thanks to IMLS!
Thanks to my partners!
CISSL at Rutgers
Globaloria.org
Worldwideworkshop.org
Thank you!