HERC researcher Dr Emma Murphy awarded IRC postdoctoral research fellowship

HERC researcher Dr Emma Murphy has been awarded an IRC postdoctoral research fellowship in the area of older adults, technology and learning. Her research will investigate the potential of multimodal interaction design to enhance the experiences of older adult learners in higher education.

Older adult participation in formal and informal learning in the higher education sector is rapidly increasing due to an ageing population (Cruce & Hillman, 2012). Sensory, physical, cognitive impairments associated with the ageing process may hinder initial involvement as current higher education learning infrastructures are designed for a younger student population. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework for understanding how to create curricula and resources that meet the needs of all learners from the start rather than retrofitting accessible solutions (Rose and Meyer, 2002).

Building on a UDL principle of multiple representation through different modalities this project will explore ways that multimodal interaction design can extend this notion of flexibility in UDL and support older adult learners.  Through a field study using contextual inquiry with older adult learners, this research aims to firstly explore the modalities that older adults are currently processing information in a lecture setting with a view to identifying both barriers and positive learning strategies. The results of this field study will inform the design of a multimodal tool with visual, auditory and tactile feedback which will be evaluated with older adult learners.