Building Support Tools to Connect Novice Designers with Professional Coaches

Abstract

Creativity support tools help learners undertake creative work, such as facilitating coaching by creative professionals. How might we design creativity support tools that increase learners' access to coaching by creative professionals? This study took place in an extracurricular projectbased learning program where students were co-located, and met professional coaches face-to-face once a week but otherwise communicated online. To test an online creativity support tool called the Loft and investigate coach-student communication we collected data from 47 interviews, online log data and field observations. We found that (a) explicit help-seeking was rare outside of meetings, (b) help from professionals was highly-valued but not sought out, and (c) online systems could surface learner struggles and trigger help-giving. Our findings suggested that online creativity platforms can support professional coaching through: (1) structured virtual updates (2) coach thanking, (3) Computer-Supported Group Critique, (4) disclosure of expertise, and (5) help-seeking training.

Overcoming barriers between volunteer professionals advising project‐based learning teams with regulation tools

“…Unfortunately, there are barriers to volunteer professionals coaching in PBL. In a previous study in the same program (previous year) as the current study, in we identified barriers for volunteer professional design coaches maintaining engagement outside of face‐to‐face meetings (Rees Lewis et al ., ). As a result, although coaches agreed to support teams with both weekly face‐to‐face meetings and online between meetings, no significant coaching occurred online.…”

“…Volunteer professionals might play a range of design coaching roles in PBL as they work with teams, such as modeling more challenging tasks, diagnosing student struggles and prompting students to reflect. However, volunteer professionals, who predominantly work in industry, can only periodically meet face‐to‐face and so experience significant barriers to staying involved in design coaching students (Rees Lewis, Harburg, Gerber, & Easterday, ): students both do not spontaneously update coaches about their project as it takes time to communicate, diminishes self‐esteem and they may not view time spent communicating as valuable. Furthermore, volunteer professional coaches may not proactively prompt students for information (as a teacher might).…”

“…Scripts and awareness tools can work together; scripts prompt students to regulate and externalize regulation and awareness tools compile these written or graphical externalizations. Outside of our previous study (Rees Lewis et al ., ), no empirical studies investigate how regulation tools support educators (Panadero & Järvelä, ).…”

“…Rees Lewis et al . () found barriers to volunteer professionals coaching online in a PBL program (Figure ). First, there was a barrier of student communication .…”

“… Previous study identified coaching barriers for volunteer professionals coaching PBL (Rees Lewis et al ., ) [Colour figure can be viewed at http://wileyonlinelibrary.com]…”