Embedded design: engaging students as active participants in the learning of human-centered design practices

Background and Context: in this paper, we argue that integrating Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) into K-12 computing education can present learners with opportunities to develop human-centered design skills as well as higher-order thinking skills. Objective: to address the issues related to the development of HCI forms of expertise, we introduce an approach, called embedded design, which extends cognitive apprenticeship methods. Method: we present case studies to illustrate the embedded design approach. Findings: six principles were drawn from the case studies, to inform the implementation of the embedded design approach. Three principles address learners as agents, actively participating in domain thinking processes, and three principles address facilitators as learning designers, orchestrating the co-construction of knowledge. Implications: embedded design provides concrete guidance for implementation to help learners to improve their own thinking processes and succeed in computing education fields, but more research is needed to extend what is known about these complex learning contexts.