Document/Reflect/Create Cultural Probes in Teaching and Learning Environments

Abstract

This paper looks at an experience in a teaching and learning (T&L) environment using Cultural Probes (CP) [S, II, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19], ethnographic tools traditionally used in Participatory Design [25, 2S], for reflective practice [I, 26, 27] based activities. The paper is divided into four main sections. The first provides an overview of the pedagogical underpinnings to the case study. The second section offers an outline of the case study, including students' feedback and related reflections. The third part of the paper analyses in depth the case study, providing some propositions around the possibilities offered by the use of CP in various domains. The fourth section concludes the paper, remarking the case study's major outcomes. The final proposition offered by this paper is that there are multiple ways of looking at and using Cultural Probes - ways that require designers to go beyond their traditional contexts.