Kuwata, Jin M. (jmk2142)

My teaching is grounded in the belief that learning is not just the acquisition of knowledge, but the cultivation of ways of seeing, reasoning, and making sense of the world. Whether I’m guiding students through computational modeling, learning design, or problem-based inquiry, my goal is to help them engage ideas not only as consumers, but as designers, critics, and epistemic agents.

I approach teaching as a form of design—each course an intentionally crafted experience that invites students to grapple with real questions: What counts as understanding? What makes a problem worth solving? How do our representations shape what we see, and what we overlook? My classrooms are collaborative studios where students prototype, critique, reflect, and iterate—not just on projects, but on their own ways of thinking.

I draw deeply from the learning sciences, cognitive science, and design theory to help students build fluency with concepts like constructivism, metacognition, computational thinking, and epistemic practices. But I also ask them to wrestle with the human stakes of learning design—issues of inclusion, ethics, identity, and meaning.

Ultimately, I want my students to leave not just with skills or artifacts, but with a sharpened lens: one that helps them design, teach, and think with greater clarity, humility, and purpose.

Chang, Y. K., & Kuwata, J. (2020). Learning experience design: Challenges for novice designers. Learner and user experience research.

Learning Experience Design (LXD), defined as the practice of designing learning as a human-centered experience leading to a desired goal, poses many challenges to novice designers. This chapter presents common challenges experienced by novice learning designers through the lens of design problem solving as well as expert suggestions on how to address the challenges. Without expert knowledge and schema, novice designers experience difficulty conceptualizing and analyzing complex learning problems. An insufficient or erroneous definition of the learners and contextual needs poses further challenges in drawing effective design solutions grounded in learning theory and design principles that flexibly accommodate multiple learning experiences. It is important that novice designers develop their identity as a designer as they learn to think and problem-solve as one.

Chapter available at: https://edtechbooks.org/ux/LXD_challenges

AECT LXD Webinar Series - LXD Challenges for Novice Designers Yoo Kyung Chang & Jin Kuwata

Video and Slides available at https://edtechbooks.org/dd_chronicles/lxd_challenges_novice