Cognitive Work Analysis and Design Research: Designing for Mobile Human-Technology Interaction Within Elementary Classrooms

This paper discusses how cognitive work analysis (CWA) can be seen as a critical element of the design research methodology. CWA has been shown to be an effective approach to adopt in analyzing, designing, and evaluating complex sociotechnical systems. Within design research, CWA can be seen as an integral precursor to any design iteration, as key constraints are identified and considered in collaboration with the classroom teacher in order to design effective innovations that optimize human-technology interactions. CWA may enable us to surmise why new mobile technologies may fail in their implementation in schools or do not have the level of impact on student learning they purport. We suggest how CWA informs the interpretation of the results of a study involving the introduction of handhelds in an elementary classroom, our understanding of the human-technology interaction in this context, and directions for iterations of design