Making Young Children’s Design Cognition Visible
- Mi Song Kim, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada
AbstractThere are emerging innovative educational interventions through automated computational analytics so-called learning analytics (LA) to utilize a large amount of student participation. However, LA is a relatively unexplored area in Early Childhood Education (ECE). To respond to this gap, LA is defined as a tool for co-designing pedagogical documentation practices with ECE teachers to visualize student design cognition. Drawing upon a Multiliteracies pedagogy framework, this qualitative study investigates how two kindergarten teachers co-designed pedagogical documentation practices using a digital portfolio app (“Seesaw”) to leverage 25 young children’s design cognition in multiple modes and technologies. Using the constant comparison method, two themes were emerged from multiple data sources (e.g., digital portfolios on Seesaw, teacher assessment, fieldnotes, interviews): teachers-as-(Co)Designers of LA Interventions; and Portfolio of Student Learning Progression, not Portfolio of Student Work. Our findings suggest the need for effective pedagogical supports for young children’s design cognition and their teachers’ LA interventions.