Study level

  • PhD

Faculty/School

Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice

Topic status

We're looking for students to study this topic.

Research centre

Design Lab

Supervisors

Professor Thea Blackler
Position
Professor
Division / Faculty
Faculty of CI, Education & Social Justice
Associate Professor Bernd Ploderer
Position
Associate Professor
Division / Faculty
Faculty of Science
Adjunct Professor Peta Wyeth
Position
Adjunct Professor
Division / Faculty
Faculty of Science

External supervisors

  • Dr Nicole Vickery, QUT
  • Linda Knight

Overview

We're interested in exploring how tangible, embodied and embedded interactions (TEIs) can be used to facilitate active play in young children (age 3-5 years old). In this project you’ll explore how existing technologies are used to provide children with opportunities for active play, be involved in the design and development of new TEIs, and evaluate how these TEIs might facilitate sustained engagement with active play.

This student project is part of a larger research project at QUT, which means you will be part of a team with other PhD students, and working with experts in education, creative industries, and human-computer interaction. The successful candidate will work within our team to establish their own topic within the broader project, so you might explore children with special needs, social interactions, etc.

Research activities

This research project may involve the following activities:

  • qualitative interviews and observations to understand the barriers and enablers
  • co-design workshops with young children
  • prototyping tangible, embodied and embedded technologies that promote active play
  • longitudinal studies that test the effectiveness of these technologies.

Outcomes

Upon completing this research, we expect to develop:

  • new TEIs that address the barriers and facilitators, which our research team is currently working to identify
  • techniques for evaluating these new TEIs
  • a framework for the design and development of systems intended to increase early childhood active play.

Skills and experience

To be considered for this project, you must have a background in human-computer interaction, interaction design, or education, particularly focusing on working with children (ideally with some experience of working with children with special needs).

Scholarships

You may be eligible to apply for a research scholarship.

Explore our research scholarships

Keywords

Contact

Contact Dr Nicole Vickery for more information.