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The inclusion of community voices in research is important. Over the years, research training programs have continued to emphasize that engagement with communities at the focus of research can promote thoughtful, sensitive designs ( Rivera et al., 2004 ). In this paper, we discuss a method for youth participation in the research process. In an attempt to move beyond “staged and superficial” participation in gathering youth perspectives, we advocate for including co-researchers in the development and modification of fundamental aspects of the research process, from data analysis to the development of additional research questions and collection methods ( Guishard & Tuck, 2013 ). In the course of a study designed to enroll middle school students in participatory co-design sessions ( Cahill, 2007 ) to aid in the development of educational technologies, it became apparent that our youth participants, as co-researchers, could also aid in the development, analysis, and coding of anonymized interview transcripts; development of themes; and creation of models for behaviors found in the transcripts ( Docan-Morgan, 2010 ; Luchtenberg et al., 2020 ). Thus, this paper presents a practical example of a co-research process that includes youth participants, with an emphasis on training in qualitative coding and the fundamentals of research design.
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The Meaning of “Participation” in Co‐Design with Children and Youth: Relationships, Roles, and Interactions
Abstract The paper examines the concept of participation in co‐design practices with children and youth. Rooted inParticipatory DesignandParticipatory Action Researchframeworks, the paper draws from multi‐disciplinary literature to survey existing definitions of the relationships, roles, and types of human interactions in participatory co‐design. The paper advocates for the active role of children and youth in the co‐design process and presents models of youth participation. The paper highlights the importance of understanding and clearly communicating various degrees of participation, with the ultimate goal of empowering youth and involving them in brainstorming, planning, decision‐making, and interpretation stages of the design process. We introduce the concept ofconscious co‐designand the need to reflect on the design process at a meta level inParticipatory DesignandParticipatory Action Research.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2005608
- PAR ID:
- 10305587
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology
- Volume:
- 58
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 2373-9231
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 13-24
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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