Making the Learning Sciences Count: Impacting Association for Computing Machinery Communities in Human-Computer Interaction

Monday, June 17th (full day workshop)

Jason C. Yip, University of Washington, jcyip@uw.edu
June Ahn, University of California - Irvine, junea@uci.edu
Elizabeth Bonsignore, University of Maryland – College Park, ebonsign@umd.edu
Tamara Clegg, University of Maryland – College Park, tclegg@umd.edu
Elizabeth DiSalvo, Georgia Institute of Technology, bdisalvo@cc.gatech.edu

At CSCL 2013, a workshop proposed that a relationship develop between the learning sciences (LS) and human-computer interaction (HCI). In the past six years, growth has been occurring in the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) conferences in HCI. Flagship conferences such as Computer-Human Interaction (CHI), Computer-Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW), and Interaction Design and Children (IDC) all have seen integration and participation of LS researchers into leadership and community positions. We believe it is time to evaluate this growth, but also to explore, challenge, and critique the development between LS/CSCL and the ACM conferences in HCI. This workshop focuses on the interdisciplinary examination between the norms, expectations, goals, and awareness of the two communities. We intend to extend the CSCL 2013 workshop by reflecting on this past growth, exploring present awareness of the two communities, and setting up future goals, such as developing effective strategies for publications and participation in both fields.

Our workshop will be a full day event with an agenda that focuses on building community among scholars that bridge LS and HCI. The intended audience is learning scientists and computer-supported collaborative learning researchers who are interested in making an impact in Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) communities and conferences in HCI, such as CHI, Computer-Supported Collaborative Work (CSCW), Interaction Design and Children (IDC), International Computing Education Research (ICER), and Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp), CHIPlay, and others that complement the learning sciences.
The workshop will begin with participants brainstorming potential ACM and learning focused research communities and venues, comparing and contrasting complementary and/or conflicting goals, values, and disciplinary affiliations across the two communities, writ large. Participants will ideate on these results through participatory design activities such as storyboarding design fictions and card-sorting to identify options for increasing awareness and presence between the two communities.  Our focus will be on taking concrete steps toward more seamless interdisciplinary dialogue. For example, a special issue on LS and HCI in the ACM Communications magazine may be an initial step for highlighting LS work to the HCI community.
A critical component of our conversation will address publication expectations and processes followed in the ACM and learning sciences and how best to publish in both communities. We will spend time breaking down how some HCI learning papers are written, examine the review process (all authors have been Associate Chairs at CHI and IDC; June Ahn has been a Papers Chair at CHI), and highlight similarities and differences between a LS / CSCL paper and an ACM paper in HCI.
Our final workshop activity will catalog HCI design practices, research methods, and pedagogy that might benefit from LS theory and insights. To bring these opportunities to light we will brainstorm learning theories (i.e. zones of proximal development, transfer, or scaffolding) and design practices, research methods and learning goals in HCI classes, then use a matching activity to pinpoint future opportunities for LS to inform HCI. 
 

Potential participants should submit a 2-4 page interest statement in the ACM extended abstract format (http://chi2019.acm.org/authors/chi-proceedings-format/). Please email proposals to jcyip@uw.edu by June 1, 2019 to get notifications of acceptance (late proposals may be accepted until June 5 if space permits). We seek participants from a wide range of disciplinary and personal backgrounds, creativity encouraged!
 
This statement should include your experience with the learning sciences and HCI, what you hope to gain from the workshop, and what you would like to see as learning sciences integrates more with HCI research in the ACM.
 
The workshop is open to all registered participants at CSCL 2019. The minimum we need to run the workshop is 6 participants, with a maximum around 25 – 30.