The ReflecTable is a digital learning environment that explores how design games and video-led reflection might be combined to bridge the gap between the theoretical and practical components of design education. The concept seeks to leverage the qualities of exploratory design games and video to inspire design students to critically reflect upon the relationship between their evolving design practices and the theories and techniques they are taught in lectures, by allowing them to capture, review and reflect upon short videos of a design game.
So far, we have conducted nine studies of the ReflecTable with both design students and interaction designers. The findings of these studies suggest that the ReflecTable has the potential to support design students in understanding how the theoretical concepts (vocabulary) and methods (procedures) relate to different design situations and their own evolving design practices. Further studies are ongoing that seek to further validate the concept.
The ReflecTable project is a collaboration with Patrick Olivier, Thomas Hjermitslev (Aarhus University) and Ole Iversen (Aarhus University).
Hook, J., Hjermitslev, T., Iversen, O. and Olivier, P. The ReflecTable: Bridging the Gap between Theory and Practice in Design Education. In Proc. of INTERACT'13, Springer, 624-641. Download