Assessing the Impact of Career and Life Design through Innovative Hybrid Evaluation and Digital Storytelling

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.23726/cij.2024.1579

Keywords:

Evaluation, Life Design, Designing Futures

Abstract

This paper outlines the innovative integration and evaluation of a for-credit Life Design module within the formal curriculum of a university in Ireland, the first time Life Design has been introduced for academic assessment in this context. The module forms part of a larger project at the University of Galway, Designing Futures (DF), which has been funded by the Irish Government (€7.5m, 2020-2025) to support student entrepreneurship, innovation and cross-disciplinary and research-led learning. Furthermore, DF is concerned with the rounded and holistic formation of the student, including supporting them in discerning their personal and professional life goals. The Life Design module facilitates this specific aspect of the DF project, engaging students with a diverse set of Life Design tools as they encounter key life concepts and questions, helping them to figure out how to get more out of the college experience and what they might choose to do upon graduation. This article is focusing on how the Design Your Life module has been designed and refined since its introduction in 2021-2022. The iterative design of the Life Design module has been underpinned by assessment and evaluation. The discussion illustrates how student feedback and learning have been ascertained and assessed. This includes the use of innovative digital storytelling as a narrative mode of assessment, one that we have found is well-suited to the process-oriented, personal and professional development goals of Life Design. While this paper predominantly focuses on undergraduate education in a university setting, the assessment and evaluation strategies, heuristics and digital storytelling outlined here can be adopted and adapted to develop and enhance Life Design innovations in diverse contexts beyond college education.

Author Biographies

Tony Hall, School of Education & Designing Futures, University of Galway, Ireland

Tony Hall, PhD is a Professor of Education in the School of Education, University of Galway, Ireland. A design-based researcher, he is Director of Educational Design Research for Designing Futures, University of Galway and Joint Principal Investigator for the evaluation of the Designing Futures programme. Tony is a former second-level teacher (Physical Education, English, ICT, Mathematics), and School ICT Coordinator, and at University of Galway he primarily teaches on initial teacher education programmes, at graduate and undergraduate levels, and the Life Design/Design Your Life module within Designing Futures, for which he is the academic lead. Tony has previously held research positions at the Interaction Design Centre and Enterprise Research Centre, University of Limerick, Ireland; Learning Sciences Research Institute (LSRI), University of Nottingham, UK; and the Center for Informal Learning and Schools (CILS), The Exploratorium, San Francisco, US. Elected in 2016, he is a Fellow of the International Society for Design and Development in Education (ISDDE). 

Michelle Millar, School of Political Science & Sociology & Designing Futures, University of Galway, Ireland

Michelle Millar, PhD is a Professor of Political Science & Sociology at the University of Galway, Ireland. She is currently Head of School of Political Science and Sociology and has previously acted as Dean of Students and Head of School. She is a Senior Research Fellow at the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre and has acted as Principal Investigator on several funded research projects.  Michelle is currently the Programme Lead for Designing Futures programme at the University of Galway

Connie O'Regan, Designing Futures, University of Galway, Ireland

Connie O'Regan, PhD is a Postdoctoral Researcher based at the UNESCO Child & Family Research Centre, at the University of Galway. Following a career working in a range of direct support, research and project development roles, Connie is experienced in the design and implementation of research studies both within an academic setting and in an applied work setting. 

References

Burnett, B., & Evans, D. (2018). Designing Your Life: Build the Perfect Career, Step by Step. London: Vintage.

Hall, T., Millar, M., & O’Regan, C. (2024). (Re)Discovering the treasure within – The contribution of a Design Your Life Module to Undergraduate Education. In: Proceedings of HEAd ‘24: 10th International Conference on Higher Education Advances, Universitat Politècnica de València (Spain), 18th – 21st June 2024. Best Paper Award Winner. https://doi.org/10.4995/HEAd24.2024.17139.

Jamissen, G., Hardy, P., Nordkvelle, Y., & Pleasants, H. (Eds.). (2017). Digital Storytelling in Higher Education: International Perspectives. Switzerland: Palgrave.

Lorenz, T., Beer, C., Pütz, J., & Heinitz, K. (2016). Measuring Psychological Capital: Construction and Validation of the Compound PsyCap Scale (CPC-12). PLoS ONE 11(4): e0152892. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0152892

Thompson Long, B., & Hall, T. (2015). R-NEST: Design-based research for technology-enhanced reflective practice in initial teacher education. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology, 31(5). https://doi.org/10.14742/ajet.2535

Tomlinson, M. (2017). Forms of graduate capital and their relationship to graduate employability. Education + Training, 59(4), 338-352. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-05-2016-0090

Tripp, D. (1993). Critical incidents in teaching: Developing professional judgement. London: Routledge.

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Published

2024-12-16

How to Cite

Hall, T., Millar, M., & O’Regan, C. (2024). Assessing the Impact of Career and Life Design through Innovative Hybrid Evaluation and Digital Storytelling. CERN IdeaSquare Journal of Experimental Innovation, 8(3), 58–66. https://doi.org/10.23726/cij.2024.1579

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 3 (2024): Special Issue on 'Innovations in Career and Life Design'

Section

Original Articles

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Copyright (c) 2024 Prof Tony Hall, Prof Michelle Millar, Dr Connie O'Regan

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