The Research Problem
The research, or “design problem” in this study and its major focus, was how to amalgamate the
process and products of learning design and participatory design, in order to create a meaningful,
engaging and collaborative approach to curriculum, pedagogy and assessment with students
(Hagen et al. 2012; Hargreaves, Earl, and Ryan 1996; Pendergast and Bahr 2010; Smyth and
McInerney 2007).
This research also aimed to explore, describe and understand how the formation of
collaborative learning design contributed to student engagement, in the form of students’ sense of
agency and autonomy in their learning, as well as to evaluate the perceived impact on intended
learning outcomes. Furthermore, this study also explored how collaborative learning design as a
social practice for teaching and learning contributed to a path for positive change within the
middle school environment (Fairclough 2011; Gee 2011; Rogers and Mosley Wetzel 2013).
For the purposes of this research, agency is defined as a desired quality which enables
individuals to perceive that they have control over their behaviours and actions in the social
world, which is influenced by the social structures under which humans operate (Holland et al.
1998).
Autonomy is defined as a process and an end goal that is linked with individual wellbeing,
seen as a desired state so as to “have a good life.” Autonomy incorporates an individual capacity
for self-governing, for making choices based on caring, desire and rational deliberation (Marshall
1996).