COLIN M. GRAY & AUSTIN L. TOOMBS
PURDUE UNIVERSITY
THROUGH REFLECTION & PEER INTERACTION
FORMING A DESIGN IDENTITY
IN COMPUTING EDUCATION

GROUNDING THIS WORK
• Reflection as a tool to externalize how a student is thinking
about design
(Gray, 2014; Gray & Siegel, 2013; Siegel & Stolterman, 2008)
• Reflection as a means of stimulating metacognition and
engaging learners’ agency (Allie et al., 2009; Turns et al., 2015)
• Making identity formation explicit as a goal of reflection
(Tracey & Hutchinson, 2013; Tracey, Hutchinson, & Grzebyk, 2014)
• Taking on multiple views of identity
(Gee, 2000; Tonso, 2006a; Pierrakos et al., 2009)
• Designerly talk as constitutive of identity
(Gray & Howard, 2014)

What topics do students discuss when commenting on
their peers’ reflections in an introductory graduate
interaction design course?
How do these comments relate to the students’
assessment of their own design ability at the conclusion
of the semester?
1
2

CONTEXT

DATA

Introductory course in interaction design

1 HCI design course
144 students
1,619 posts
2,019 posts
3YEARS

END OF SEMESTER
REFLECTION
FALL ’14: perception of design
errors students experienced or embodied
FALL ’15: reflection about students’
metamorphosis as a designer
n=55
n=31

FINDINGS

FINDINGS
AFFIRMATION
REINFORCEMENT OF DESIGN CONCEPTS
COMMISERATION
IDENTITY PROJECTION
REFLECTION VALUE

FINDINGS
AFFIRMATION
“You were a great facilitator and
probably one of the hardest workers
during project 2.”
Identity elements that were already well-developed
and explicitly acknowledged

FINDINGS
“the design and the core are
inextricably, fundamentally connected,
if not the same thing.”
Identity elements that were formative to the
students’ practice and view of design
REINFORCEMENT OF DESIGN CONCEPTS

FINDINGS
COMMISERATION
“I am all for the fire under your ass.”
Positive identity elements that were produced through
challenging, yet shared experiences

FINDINGS
“I’m thinking if should I become a visual
designer that excels in user experience?
Or should it be the other way around?”
Identity elements that are future-oriented and
linked with the practice of design
IDENTITY PROJECTION

FINDINGS
REFLECTION VALUE
“I asked a question to some of the professors and
mentors on orientation day and it was, “if there’s
something a budding designer should do more of, on a
regular basis (other than sketching or reading literature),
what is it?” and one of them said “to reflect”. I didn’t
get it then, but I do now.”
Identity formation realized through reflection & metacognition

UI
UX
ID
EDU
AFFINITIES

UI
UX
ID
EDU
AFFINITIES
ACADEMIA PRACTICE
DISCOURSE
BRANDT ET AL., 2013; GRAY, 2014

THANK YOU
COLIN M. GRAY
colingray.me | uxp2.com
gray42@purdue.edu