Children learning to sketch: sketching to learn
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-03-2022-0023 |
| Published date | 15 July 2022 |
| Date | 15 July 2022 |
| Pages | 482-499 |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library & information services |
| Author | Ekta Shokeen,Nihal Katirci,Caro Williams-Pierce,Elizabeth Bonsignore |
Children learning to sketch:
sketching to learn
Ekta Shokeen,Nihal Katirci,Caro Williams-Pierce and
Elizabeth Bonsignore
College of Information Studies, University of Maryland,
College Park, Maryland, USA
Abstract
Purpose –This study aims to understand children’s sketching behavior while they engage in interest-
driven design activities. Particularly, the authors examine their information sharing practices and the
learningopportunities that may occur when they engagein a sketching activity.
Design/methodology/approach –The data collection is based on a participatory design approach,
cooperative inquiry. For analysis,the authors used the ethnographic case study approach, which allowed us
to consider the particularity and complexity of sketching and its affordances within each distinct design
activity.
Findings –The authors foundchildren share information about their expectations,experiences, beliefs and
knowledge via their sketches. Additionally, through sketching activities, they were engaged in multiple
learning opportunitiesincluding how to label sketches, build on ideas, sketch in collaborationand innovate on
ideas.
Research limitations/implications –The findings demonstrate sketching can be used to gather
information about the broadercontexts of children’s lives which can be leveraged to identify their needs and
improve the design of futuretechnologies for children. Additionally, participatingin sketching gives children
opportunities to develop their sketching skills, a useful multimodal skillset for both design and personal
expression.
Originality/value –This empirical research is original in its context of focusing on children sketching
experiencesin an interest-driven design environment occurringvirtually in the informal setting of a library.
Keywords Sketching, Drawing, Design, Children, Information, Learning, STEM
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Today’s children are dependent on the use of technological tools for their learning and
socialization (Bulger et al.,2021;Ito et al.,2020). Research indicates that when children are
involved in a technology design process, their involvement can enhance the designed
technology (Druin, 2002) and develop our understanding of ways in which they use
technology across the contexts of their dailylives (Bonsignore et al., 2013;Clegg et al., 2014).
Sketching is a crucial component of the design process (Goldschmidt and Smolkov, 2006;
Oehlberg et al., 2009);designers use sketching techniques extensively whengenerating ideas
and prototypes (Ainsworthet al., 2011;Buxton, 2010;Self, 2019). Prior research on children’s
sketching experiences for technology design have been limited to small-scale exploratory
This research was supported by the Doctoral Student Research Award from the College of
Information Studies, University of Maryland. The authors also want to acknowledge the support of
the Clifton Park –Halfmoon Public Library in New York for hosting this project. Most of all, the
authors want to acknowledge the children who participated in the research.
ILS
123,7/8
482
Received1 March 2022
Revised31 May 2022
Accepted17 June 2022
Informationand Learning
Sciences
Vol.123 No. 7/8, 2022
pp. 482-499
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2398-5348
DOI 10.1108/ILS-03-2022-0023
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/2398-5348.htm
studies (Hemmert et al., 2010;Hiniker et al., 2017), most of which scaffolded children’s
drawings with storyboards or adults who sketch as children verballydescribe their design
ideas (Mitchell and Nørgaard, 2011). Relatedstudies have focused on sketching instruction
in formal learning environments (Kelley and Sung, 2017;Sung et al., 2019). In contrast, our
study shifts the focus to engaging children in their own interest-driven sketching to
understand how their needs and interests can enhancethe design process and development
of products.
Drawing is broadly considered makingmarks that have meaning, and different styles of
drawing have different functions (Adams,2002). For this study, we consider sketching as a
particular kind of drawing that involves the construction of visual representations for a
purpose of designing technology. Specifically, we investigate the following research
questions:
RQ1. How do children share informationvia their sketches in a design activity?
RQ2. What learning opportunities occur when children engage in interest-driven
sketching activities?
To answer these questions, we examinedata collected from a series of Science, Technology,
Engineering and Mathematics(STEM) Design Club sessions held in a virtual publiclibrary.
The overall aim of this exploratoryproject was to understand children’s interests and issues
by involving them in their own interest-driven technology design activities. However, the
focus of this paper is to examine children’s sketching behaviors. Our findings suggest that
children’s sketches offer insights into their expectations,experiences,beliefs and knowledge.
We also observed that sketching promoted children’s efforts to engage in multiple learning
opportunities, including how to label sketches,build on ideas,collaboratively sketch and
develop innovative ideas. These findingsextend our understanding of children’s experiences
of sketching during design processes. The contribution of this study is a better
understanding of children’s sketching to strengthen future design processes with children
and prepare researchers to better support children’s sketches. Moreover, understanding
children’s sketching can inform the creation of future sketching software by providing
insights into what childrendo while sketching, the way they do it, and what their needs are
while they engage in sketching.
Related work
This section presents the reviewon affordances of sketching in the design practice, drawing
activities among childrenand the connections between sketching and STEM.
Sketching in design
Sketching is critical to design(Goldschmidt, 1991;Lugt, 2002;Buxton, 2010), as it is used in
the analysis, communication and documentation (Ainsworth et al.,2011;Atilola et al.,2016).
During the design process, sketching evolves in three stages: explorative, explanative and
persuasive (Olofsson and Sjolen, 2005), and can support reinterpretations of individual
thinking, collaborative thinking and access to earlier ideas (Lugt, 2002). Thus, sketching is
not merely a byproduct of design –rather, it is central to design thinking(Atilola et al.,2016;
Buxton, 2010). Although widely used, sketching is an aspect of design that is the least
taught and practiced (Socha and Walter, 2005). There is limited guidance for supporting
sketching instruction or explaining how and when to apply sketching knowledge
(Ainsworth et al., 2011;Kelleyand Sung, 2017;Sung et al.,2019;Zhao et al.,2020). Prior work
has identified a few strategieson how to get started with sketching,but detailed examples of
Children
learning to
sketch
483
To continue reading
Request your trial