RESEARCH STATEMENTMy research and scholarly creative work is concerned with design for information delivery and how that can fulfill educational objectives. Creatively, I am interested in integrating methods that tread beyond traditional paths of designing, planning, and artmaking to create work and products in new, meaningful, and emotionally impactful ways. The desired goal of this research is to eventually establish methods and tools for understanding, modeling the process of designing for education, and how the design of educational tools and systems can affect understanding, literacy, and awareness.
This direction has taken me down two paths thus far. The first involves educational games, digging into the specifics of game constructs and rule systems that make them a unique vehicle for delivering information. This branch topic focuses on the ability of designed interactive media to communicate, and how this can be applied to fulfill educational objectives. I have published and presented the results of this research at conferences throughout the USA and Asia. The results of my graduate thesis work are a featured case study in the forthcoming textbook, Convivial Design Toolbox: Generative Research for the Front End of Design, by Dr. Liz Sanders and Dr. Pieter Jan Stappers. The second involves the language of comics and visual narrative, and the related implications of this language in fulfilling educational objectives. This research focuses on the specific ability of the graphic storytelling form to educate, and how this can be applied in the classroom and to the field of information design. My research has involved both quantitative and qualitative methods, including heuristics, usability studies, co-creation models, and generative tools. It also touches on topics such as dual-coding theory, user experience, narrative theory, and semiotics. It is borne from professional practices incorporating visual narrative, information design, and branding, as well as a lifetime spent sitting just outside the field of education, observing. Quality indicators of my research include acceptances to peer-reviewed journals and major conference presentations. |
RELATED ACTIVITYA Toolkit for Board Game Design (case study) : January, 2013
Convivial Toolbox: Generative Research for the Front End of Design by Liz Sanders and Pieter Jan Stappers BIS Publishers, the Netherlands [link] MMEA Midwinter Clinic : February, 2013 Minneapolis, MN World Premiere Performance of Star-Crossed Presentation: “Music Meets Art: A Look at the Creative Process” Collaborator + co-presenter: Dr. Andrew Boysen, Jr. STIR Symposium : October, 2011 Ohio State University, Columbus, OH Visualizer for “Moving” workshop session [link] [view proceedings] Presentation : April, 2011 New England Comic Arts in the Classroom (NECAC) : April, 2011 Rhode Island College, Providence, RI “Comics, Word Study, and Vocabulary Acquisition.” peer reviewed Co-author: Dr. James Bucky Carter Digital Poster : May, 2010 AIGA Design Educators Conference: Response/Ability, Toledo, OH “Making Educational Games Make Sense (Without Losing Entertainment Value).” peer-reviewed [download pdf] CBDNA W/NW Conference : March, 2010 University of Nevada, Reno, NV World Premiere Performance of Twilight of the Gods Presentation: “Creating Twilight of the Gods” Collaborator + co-presenter: Dr. Andrew Boysen, Jr. Paper + Presentation : October 2009 IASDR 2009: Rigor and Relevance in Design, COEX, Seoul, Korea “Crafting a Design Concept Prototype for an Educational Game Design: A Case Study.” peer-reviewed Co-authors: Dr. Peter Kwok Chan, Paul J. Nini, and Dr. Elizabeth B.-N. Sanders [download pdf] MFA Thesis : July, 2009 The Ohio State University / Department of Design “Making it Fun: Uncovering a Design Research Model for Educational Board Game Design.” Advisor: Dr. Peter Kwok Chan Graduate Committee: Paul J. Nini, Dr. Elizabeth B.-N. Sanders [link] [download pdf] Poster + Presentation : October 2008 Design + Emotion 2008: Dare to Desire, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China Poster: “Game Design for Personal Health Management: An Emotional and Educational Perspective.” peer-reviewed Co-authors: Dr. Peter Kwok Chan and Dr. Elizabeth B.-N. Sanders [download poster] [download paper] Panel Presentation : October 2008 AIGA Design Educators Conference: Social Studies: Educating Designers in a Connected World, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD Topic: graduate programs in design [watch presentation] CITATIONS OF WORK
Lillian Cespedes, MA thesis in Historical Studies, University of Winchester (UK) Department of History, 2013. (forthcoming)
Connecting Comics to Curriculum: Strategies for Grades 6-12, Gavigan, Karen W and Mindy Tomasevich. Libraries Unlimited, 2011. [order] Teaching Early Reader Comics and Graphic Novels, Monnin, Katie. Maupin House Publishing, 2011. [order] Ellen Brox, Luis Fernández-Luque, Torunn Tøllefsen, “Healthy Gaming: Video Game Design to Promote Health,” Applied Clinical Informatics. Vol. 2: Issue 2, 2011, pp 128-142. [read] Elise Woolley, “Fun: An Exploration in its Relevance to Interaction Design,” MFA thesis in Design: Research & Development, The Ohio State University Department of Design, 2010. [read] Nick Kremer, “This is not your Forefather's Thor: Using Comics to Make Mythology Meaningful,” SANE Journal vol.1, no. 1, 2010. [read] Rationales for Teaching Graphic Novels, Carter, James Bucky. Maupin House Publishing, 2010. [order] Building Literacy Connections with Graphic Novels: Page by Page, Panel by Panel, Carter, James Bucky. National Council of Teachers of English, 2008. [order] |
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