Researchers

• drs.ing. Amer Jaganjac - PhD candidate
• prof. dr. Roeland van der Rijst - superviso
• dr. Dineke Tigelaar - co-promotor and supervisor

This project investigates how teaching approaches can impactfully cultivate inclusive design skills among Computer Science students in the Netherlands. Our goal is to generate evidence-based insights that inform curriculum development and foster inclusivity in design and technology education.

Project description

Of the 4,416 registered government digital applications in the Netherlands, only 8.6% have been found to be sufficiently accessible (van der Laan, 2023), and no hospital website has met accessibility requirements (van Beest, 2023). Inclusive Design has been recognized as essential in engineering practice (Waller et al., 2015), aiming to create products usable by the widest range of users (Petrie & Edwards, 2006). In ICT, such design is especially critical to enable diverse user needs (Røssvoll & Fuglerud, 2013), requiring skills beyond traditional design (Garcia et al., 2023). However, these skills are often not embedded in student work, as has been observed in ICT education. Though literature offers insights into required skills (Liappas et al., 2020) and diverse teaching approaches (Dong, 2010; El-Glaly, 2020; Garcia et al., 2023), a comprehensive overview is lacking. Educational principles like Authentic Tasks, Just-in-Time Instruction, and Collaboration are suggested (Rieger & Rolfe, 2021a; Davis, 2009; Silva et al., 2020), but their relevance to inclusive design remains unclear. This study aims to investigate which skills are needed for inclusive digital design, how these are currently taught in ICT/CS programs, and how teaching can be adapted to better support inclusive design skill development?

Three studies

A lack of consensus in the literature regarding the definition of 'inclusive design' has been identified, with terms such as 'universal design' used interchangeably. This highlights the need to clarify the specific design skills required from students. In Study 1, these skills will be identified through an exploratory systematic literature review, with a narrative synthesis conducted. A pilot search and screening procedure will be followed, employing PRISMA guidelines to ensure quality, ultimately leading to a theoretical framework.

In Study 2, teaching approaches and underlying goals for inclusive design in undergraduate ICT programs will be examined. Semi-structured interviews and Goal System Representation (GSR) methodology will be applied to explore teachers’ reasoning. Additionally, student experiences with inclusive design learning will be investigated through focus groups involving students from five ICT programs. This study will generate insight into both teacher intentions and student perceptions.

In Study 3, insights from the previous studies will be used to support teachers in adapting their pedagogical practices through a bridging methodology. Changes made by teachers will be documented using surveys and semi-structured interviews. A multiple case study will describe the characteristics of promising teaching approaches for inclusive design. The development of teaching guidelines will be conducted through a sprint-based process involving teachers, students, and educational experts.

Scientific relevance

This research contributes to science in several ways. It enhances our understanding of the specific design skills students need for inclusive design, explores how students acquire necessary skills for inclusive design, identifies educational principles for developing effective teaching methods to foster these skills, and validates the efficacy of a standardized teaching approach for teaching CS/ICT students in inclusive design at the university bachelor level. This research project also contributes to several existing discussions in the field of educational sciences. Following recommendations provided in education science literature (Dong, 2010b; El-Glaly, 2020b; Putnam et al., 2016el), this research will provide empirical insights from teaching inclusive design in CS/ICT education. This research will provide information about teaching inclusive design based on teaching approaches in the Dutch setting of higher education as was recommended by Nishchyk & Chen (2018b). Furthermore, this research will provide suggestions for studying and supporting pedagogical innovations in practice (Altay et al., 2016; Altay & Demirkan, 2014; Dong, 2010b; Letaw et al., 2022; Oleson et al., 2018; Rieger & Rolfe, 2021; Satterfield & Fabri, 2017; Wilson et al., 2019) and this research will help us understand teachers’ goal-directed practical reasoning in teaching inclusive design and effects on student’s inclusive design skills.

This study is innovative in several ways:

1. Majority of Inclusive Design education research has been provided from the context of teaching in architectural programs. There is a lack of studies focusing on teachers and students in ICT programs.
2. There is a lack of studies focusing on teaching approaches for teaching Inclusive Design.
3. This study will produce a digital repository in Git, an environment where most IT professionals feel comfortable with, to reach teachers and other educators in IT education in the future.

By undertaking these three interconnected studies, this research aims to collectively illuminate the characteristics of promising teaching approaches for inclusive design. This study's unique contribution lies not only in providing empirical data on teaching inclusive design in the Netherlands but also in being the first to specifically focus on the goals, adaptations, and alterations employed by educators when integrating inclusive design into IT education. In doing so, this study has the potential to pave the way for a novel research trajectory within the field of inclusive design education, one that places the spotlight on educators as key agents of inclusion.

• higher education

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