Research
We conducted literature review, online survey and interview with STEAM teachers and school principals to better understand user needs.
Literature Review
I read books, scholarly articles, and any other sources that provided an overview of the problem.
Surveys
I sent online surveys, collected results and analyzed data.
User Interviews
I performed 8 formal scripted 1:1 user interviews.
Research Insights
Based on the research, I created an empathy map to help my team members gain a deeper insight into our users. This map represent a group of users so we can understand the context, psychological and emotional needs of them.
Our users' problem is further analyzed as teacher’s ineffective attitude towards STEAM education, lack of professional development to support STEAM teaching, inequity resources for STEAM learning, and difficulty with time management.
Ineffective Attitude
The way STEAM education is taught is completely different compared to traditional subjects, which is a big challenge for teachers. Many teachers come across anxiety and struggle.
Lack of Professional Development
Most licensed STEAM professional development programs are not good enough to train quality STEAM teachers.
Teachers do not receive enough support from schools and governments
Inequity Resources
There is a great inequality of access to equipment, training, and support from school principals
Difficulty with Time Management
Teachers do not have as much time as they need to carry out their daily tasks
Competitor Analysis
I reviewed these projects is to learn from their success and mistakes, which can inspire the design process of this project.
After analyzing the existing products on the market, we were able to find our unique solution:
A virtual community for STEAM educator where they can share well-designed lessons and connect with each other.
Learning Experience
Learning can be hard. Sometimes “boring”. But we can make it more engaging and “fun”.
What is the best way to learn?
The short answer is: I don't know. I think we don’t have the right answer for every person on earth. But if I offer different methods and personalize the learning experience for every user, there's a high chance that my users can find out what works for them.
How to measure is?
Product is visible, but learning is invisible. Technology-facilitated assessment can assess the learning process without disrupting the learners. With users’ permission, their activities on the website are also used to evaluate their learning experience.
Learning Community
Research shows that in a well-organized learning community, participants can encounter difficulties, ask questions, observe others doing, etc. In other words, users can be engaged in events that arouse reflection, which can efficiently improve teachers’ cognitive capacity. This project is constructed following the model of professional development within a community of practice (Daele, 2006).
Habit Cycle
A regular habit is a great method to reduce the energy to execute a study plan and fight against forgetting curve.
Personalized Learning
The system will recommend courses based on learners' information. And the user can make changes based on their own needs.
Visualized Process
On the dashboard, the users' activities, such as the time spent on the course, will be displayed using elegant and simple graphs.
Learning Community
Our platform will build a community where users have the freedom to work together, question things and debate. It will be full of lifelong-learners, great professionals, and also awesome human beings.
Habit Cycle
We will offer 3 steps to govern the habit:
Cue: alert that triggers the users to learn the course
Routine: productive user interaction
Reward: prize that is desired again
.png)
