2013-14 Visitors

Home ยป 2013-14 Visitors

Katarzyna Wac, Institute of Services Science, Univ of Geneva, Switzerland.

August 2013-October 2013. 
Hosted by Prof Homero Rivas, Stanford Medical Center.
My research focuses on future mobile computing and communications solutions employed in an emerging field of mhealth, where mobile applications and services support individuals in managing own lifestyle choices, and if sick, health and care needs, interpreting symptoms or supporting medication adherence. The challenge lies in an understanding users’ acceptance factors for mhealth applications - including the users' expectations, as well as their perceived experience in different contexts of daily life and changing (health/care) needs. Derived from that, the goal of my research is to understand requirements for mobile computing and communications solutions employed in future mhealth solutions.

Jari Multisilta, Univ. of Helsinki, Cicero Learning, Finland.
July 2013-November 2013. Hosted by Roy Pea, H-STAR.

My work consists both the coordination activities and research work of the SAVI Innovations for Learning. SAVI is a new collaboration between Finland and the USA, in order to find new innovative ways to study STEM subjects. The Video Inquiry project between the University of Helsinki, Stanford University (with prof. Roy Pea), with collaborators from the University of Pepperdine and University of Lapland conducts design-based research to establish an approach for learners to capture mobile video recordings of events and phenomena that spark questions for them that can serve as seeds for inquiries and collaborative learning in the STEM disciplines.
Maja Sonne Damkjaer, Dept. of Aesthetics and Communication, Aarhus University, Denmark
September 2013-December 2013. Hosted by Prof Fred Turner, Dept of Communication.
Digital media play a crucial role in contemporary family culture. My research explores how and with what consequences digital media are intertwined with the first formative phase of parenthood, a topic rarely studied. My aim is to contribute to a nuanced understanding of this increasingly mediatized life-transition, and thereby help point toward opportunities for future parent support strategies and technologies. While at H-STAR, I am working on a qualitative analysis of media usage among first-year parents based on interviews, observations, and Facebook data. My analysis focuses on parents’ appropriation of online media as a resource for developing parental skills, networks, and identity.
 
 Bjarne Toft, Dept of Mathematics & Computer Science, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark
September 2013-December 2013. Hosted by Prof Persi Diaconis, Dept of Statistics.
The overall purpose oy my research is to study the interplay between games and mathematics with respect to (1) history, (2) unsolved mathematical research problems, (3) the use of games in mathematical education, and (4) how to use the general interest in games to transfer non-trivial mathematical ideas to a broader audience. I am in particular interested in the games discovered by the Danish designer Piet Hein, like Nimbi, Soma and Hex. There is presently a Danish project, carried out by a broad group of people from design, art and science, to publish a comprehensive book about Piet Hein.

Naja Nielsen, Head of TV and Executive Editor, Danish Broadcasting News, Copenhagen, Denmark
February 2014-June 2014. Hosted by Prof Jay Hamilton, Dept of Communication.
My principal research question is, How does the digital revolution challenge a legacy news broadcaster like DR News? The media industry has lost its business models and perhaps its relevance to global digital services like Google, Facebook or Netflix. What can the legacy business learn from the disruptors of Silicon Valley?
  DR is the biggest media organization in Denmark, providing news and current affairs via TV, radio, mobile and online, but compared to Facebook or Google it looks very small. Danes increasingly think of social media services or search engines as “news providers” even though they don’t actually produce the news. Are they a threat, or could they be potential partners?

 Tiina Korhonen, Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki, Finland
February-April 2014. Hosted by Prof Paulo Blikstein, Graduate School of Education.
My research and development interests lay  in the wide landscape of 21st Century learning and school practice development, with special focus on the opportunities offered by ICT.
  I am coordinating two Finnish nationwide education development projects: the Innokas project and the Innovative School project, a subproject of Finnable 2020.
  At H-STAR, I am starting a research collaboration between the Innokas network and Fablab@schools led by prof. Paulo Blikstein; becoming familiar with the work and data collection processes at Fablab@schools; and planning the implementation of Fablab-related research in Finnish schools.

Essi Pöyry, Aalto Univ School of Business, Department of Marketing.
February 2014–April 2014. Hosted by Prof Christian Wheeler, GSB.
My research examines interaction psychology in online environments. Due to different psychological premises, online communication and behavior can differ from how individuals interact with others in direct offline contact and the kind of decisions they make. As companies are increasingly interacting with consumers only in digital channels or in multi-channel contexts, understanding these differences is important. During my visit at H-STAR, I focus on studying multi-channel interaction psychology and pay-what-you-want pricing: How do consumers’ behaviors change over different channels and how do contextual features of an online environment affect consumers’ decisions if they are allowed to set a purchase price?

Jari Multisilta, Univ. of Helsinki, Cicero Learning, Finland.
June 2014-July 2014. Hosted by Roy Pea, H-STAR.

My work consists both the coordination activities and research work of the SAVI Innovations for Learning. SAVI is a new collaboration between Finland and the USA, in order to find new innovative ways to study STEM subjects. The Video Inquiry project between the University of Helsinki, Stanford University (with prof. Roy Pea), with collaborators from the University of Pepperdine and University of Lapland conducts design-based research to establish an approach for learners to capture mobile video recordings of events and phenomena that spark questions for them that can serve as seeds for inquiries and collaborative learning in the STEM disciplines.