Weinhandl Robert, Mayerhofer Martin, Houghton Tony, Lavicza Zsolt, Kleinferchner Lena Maria, Anđić Branko, Eichmair Michael, Hohenwarter Markus
Department for STEM Didactics, School of Education, Johannes Kepler University Linz, Altenberger Straße 69, 4040, Linz, Austria.
Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Mathematics, University of Vienna, Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1, 1090, Vienna, Austria.
Heliyon. 2024 Jan 7;10(2):e24173. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e24173. eCollection 2024 Jan 30.
Persona development techniques are a well-established method to create relatable descriptions of representatives of target users of digital systems. In the field of education, research on learner characteristics has yielded comprehensive results that can help advance educational approaches. Nonetheless, these results often remain abstract and distant for researchers and practitioners. Personas offer a bridge to make this knowledge more accessible and to facilitate user-centred design processes. This study focuses on creating personas of mathematics school students to ease such accessibility. These personas are constructed based on an understanding of learners' goals, needs, challenges and problems, joys, fears, feelings and emotions, and strategies. Data collection was conducted through a multifaceted approach, encompassing qualitative and quantitative data from web surveys, think-aloud protocols, and interviews. The target demographic comprised upper secondary school mathematics students in Austria. We found five distinct patterns of characteristics prevalent in this target group. The patterns of characteristics reflected by the personas complement the scientific body of knowledge obtained from traditional approaches investigating characteristics and needs of learners. In practical terms, these personas empower the development of user-centred digital systems, learning materials, and lessons, thus fostering an enriched educational experience for mathematics students.
人物角色开发技术是一种成熟的方法，用于创建数字系统目标用户代表的可关联描述。在教育领域，对学习者特征的研究已经产生了全面的成果，有助于推进教育方法。然而，这些成果对于研究人员和从业者来说往往仍然是抽象和遥远的。人物角色提供了一座桥梁，使这些知识更容易获取，并促进以用户为中心的设计过程。本研究专注于创建数学学科中学生的人物角色，以提高这种可及性。这些人物角色是基于对学习者的目标、需求、挑战和问题、喜悦、恐惧、感受和情绪以及策略的理解构建的。数据收集通过多方面的方法进行，包括来自网络调查、出声思考协议和访谈的定性和定量数据。目标人群包括奥地利的高中数学学生。我们发现这个目标群体中普遍存在五种不同的特征模式。人物角色所反映的特征模式补充了从研究学习者特征和需求的传统方法中获得的科学知识体系。实际上，这些人物角色有助于以用户为中心的数字系统、学习材料和课程的开发，从而为数学学生营造丰富的教育体验。
