CARADITE collaborates with various Duke University initiatives and centers, including the Center for Research and Engineering of AI in Technology in Education (CREATE) within the Pratt School of Engineering. Current collaborators also include a cohort of Emerging Pedagogies Seed Grant Recipients and Fellows who are conducting early-stage research about emerging pedagogies, innovative instructional designs, and student learning practices.
“I hope this research contributes to the growing literature surrounding identity development through hands-on tinkering and human-centered design, specifically in future engineers.”
Megan madonna
Assistant Research Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering
Project: Strengthening Community and Engineering Identity through Human-centered Design
Our project works to develop and validate engineering experiences that help students, especially disadvantaged and minority populations typically underrepresented in STEM, see themselves as creators and inventors who can have a meaningful, lasting impact in their communities through human-centered design. This year, we will study the impact of such experiences through Ignite, our Durham-area K12 engineering outreach program, which challenges students to work on community-relevant problems related to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We have developed a modular and sustainable education model for the implementation of Ignite in informal learning settings that leverages and contextualizes engineering concepts within the human-centered design process to promote critical thinking skills, augments the internalization of concepts learned in the traditional science curriculum using standards for mathematical practice, and reinforces the connection between knowledge and value creation. This year, Ignite is working with 34 high school students and 70 middle school students surrounding immersive tinkering and problem-solving to build STEM efficacy and perseverance while supporting community identity.
“Our research examines emerging pedagogies required for virtual care and online learning, guiding healthcare professions students and practicing clinicians to modify interpersonal behaviors and improve rapport-building abilities in clinical telehealth contexts.”
Michelle Webb
Assistant Clinical Professor, School of Nursing
Jennie De Gagne
Professor & Director of the Nursing Education Specialty, School of Nursing
Project: Video Elicitation: An Innovative Teaching Strategy to Enhance Interpersonal Skills in Virtual Healthcare Environments
Telehealth video visits are an important medium for delivering healthcare, but clinicians remain uncertain about how to establish rapport in telehealth. Teaching rapport-building to practicing clinicians who must adapt established behaviors for telehealth, requires more than providing didactic instruction. By reviewing video recordings of their own patient interactions, however, clinicians can reflect on their interpersonal communication challenges and adapt their behaviors for virtual environments. This technique, known as video elicitation, aligns well with Knowles andragogy principles for adult learners. This project evaluates the use of video elicitation as a key teaching strategy to help health professions students and established clinicians improve their interpersonal skills and rapport-building abilities in telehealth contexts. The project is part of a larger research initiative between interprofessional healthcare clinicians and researchers from Duke Schools of Nursing and Medicine, and the Health Center for Interprofessional Education and Care to develop an interprofessional educational module on culturally responsive rapport-building strategies for telehealth video visits. A grounded theory study is currently underway to create a theoretical model for rapport building in telehealth video visits that will guide curricula development. An e-Delphi study is also planned to garner consensus among telehealth experts on specific curriculum components culminating in the development of an interprofessional educational module that can be integrated into existing telehealth curricula and professional development programs. Plans are to pilot and evaluate the module using the New World Kirkpatrick Model in 2026. Initial exploration of the effectiveness of video elicitation is part of the grounded theory study. In June, initial findings from the grounded theory study were presented at the International Association of Human Caring Conference in Boca Raton, Florida. In addition, an abstract on the results of the video elicitation evaluation is being considered for a March 2025 conference focused on Creating Health Environments in Phoenix by Sigma Theta Tau International.
“Our research addresses the impacts of a mobile teaching laboratory used to create active learning experiences in the classroom by tracking how hands-on activities and neuroscience research tools improve student outcomes and interest in research-related careers.”
Thomas Newpher
Associate Professor of the Practice, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
Minna Ng
Assistant Professor of the Practice, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
Project: The Neuroscience Teaching Lab: Impacts on student self-efficacy and engagement in neuroscience research
Undergraduate research experiences are associated with many positive outcomes on student learning, self-efficacy, academic performance, and post-graduation plans. Importantly, these high-impact learning activities show even greater benefits for students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Thanks to generous funding from several families, the Duke Neuroscience major has recently established a Neuroscience Teaching Lab. The Teaching Lab is located in the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences and also serves as a mobile laboratory, bringing hands-on active learning experiences to classrooms across Duke’s campus. The goal of the Teaching Lab is to introduce our students to the tools and techniques of modern neuroscience research with the hope of increasing research self-efficacy, science identity, and engagement in neuroscience research. Our Emerging Pedagogies Seed Grant from the Office of the Vice Provost for Learning Innovation and Digital Education has allowed us to assemble a team of undergraduate researchers to track the impacts of the teaching lab. To date, our team has designed and released an IRB-approved survey to students enrolled in the Neuroscience gateway course. In the coming months, we plan to analyze results from the initial survey, release additional surveys to our core and methods courses, and begin work on a manuscript to communicate our findings.
“By incorporating digital badges into ePortfolio practice, we can potentially create a platform that not only records achievements, but also promotes lifelong learning and professional development.”
Karen Weber
Executive Director, Office of University Scholars and Fellows
Rebecca Simmons
Professor of the Practice, Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
Project: Exploring Digital Badges for Enhancing ePortfolio Practice
We received a grant from Emerging Pedagogies to explore the potential applications of digital badges as a means for credentialing student learning outcomes. Digital badges are an emerging tool to acknowledge specific skills, achievements, and competencies honed through various educational endeavors. Our digital badge working group members comprise faculty members from the Pratt School of Engineering and Romance Studies, as well as staff members from the Office of Undergraduate Education, Human Resources, the Career Center, and Teaching Innovation. Many of the members in this digital badge working group were originally members of an ePortfolio working group. The exploration of digital badges within the context of ePortfolios presents a promising opportunity to enhance the educational experience and demonstration of competencies for students. It fosters a culture of recognition, validation, and continuous improvement. By incorporating digital badges into ePortfolio practice, we can potentially create a platform that not only records achievements, but also promotes lifelong learning and professional development. Through this grant, we are distinguishing the key attributes of digital badges and how they differ from more traditional credentialing methods. We are also identifying best practices in the field and the exemplar badge programs across the country. Primarily, we are interested in ascertaining how Duke students, faculty, staff, and employers might react and employ the use of digital badging.
“We believe that design is a creative, human act that is a unifying theme across all that we do as members of society.”
George Delagrammatikas
Professor of the Practice, Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science
Project: A Design Community of Practice
The Pratt School of Engineering has established a Design Education Committee that has been tasked with: 1) Defining what design means in a liberal arts institution, 2) Identifying those groups within the Duke community that are engaged in design, and 3) Serving as a clearinghouse that facilitates meaningful links between groups that have historically been unconnected under the umbrella of design.
“Participating in LILE’s Emerging Pedagogies fellowship has given me the opportunity to establish and foster new relationships with like-minded colleagues who will be leaders in demonstrating design thinking as a high-impact pedagogical approach while supporting others in exploring its value in and out of the classroom.”
Cambey Mikush
Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Project: Duke Community of Design Thinking Educators
Project-based courses can improve learning and self-efficacy by engaging students in solving real-world problems in collaboration with community partners (Krsmanovic, 2021). Design thinking (DT) is an iterative problem-solving framework that prioritizes deeply understanding collaborator needs before defining opportunities, ideating solutions, developing prototypes, and testing the concept. Using DT to structure project-based courses with real community partners helps students consider diverse perspectives while developing stronger communication, problem-solving, critical thinking, and teamwork skills (Lynch et al, 2021).
If educators are to support students in developing projects with DT as a meaningful component, those educators themselves need a strong foundation in DT and a deeper understanding of how it applies to project-based courses. We created the Duke Community of Design Thinking Educators to empower Duke educators from across disciplines to further their use of DT as a pedagogical practice. We aim to:
- Contribute to thought leadership and scholarship on the intersection of design thinking and our various fields.
- Explore ways to demonstrate the value of design thinking as a high-impact pedagogical method in project-based courses.
- Explore ways to equitably source high-impact design thinking projects.
The Community meets monthly to share knowledge and identify tangible ways to meet our objectives. We are also engaging in DT-focused continuing education courses and discussing insights that relate to DT in higher education. Topics include innovating with data, problem solving, designing for change, leading complex projects, and the intersection of AI and design. Over the next 10 months, we aim to host 1-2 workshops around design thinking in project-based courses, open to the Duke and broader community. We are also in the process of planning a collaborative design thinking seminar for Duke graduate students from across various areas of study.
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