{"id":{"repo_id":"cornell","oai_identifier":"oai:ecommons.cornell.edu:1813/116286"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cornell/oai:ecommons.cornell.edu:1813/116286","repository":{"repo_id":"cornell","name":"Cornell University","base_url":"https://ecommons.cornell.edu/server/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Co-Designing Children’s Playspaces: Evaluating Participant Priorities and Outcomes","abstract":"There has been growing interest among design practitioners and researchers in participatory methods as a means of embedding user expertise in decision-making (Robertson & Simonsen, 2012; Sanders, 2002). Engaging children as co-designers may be a valuable pathway for capturing the voices of this underrepresented user group. However, despite an increase in the application of participatory methods, there is limited systematic analysis of co-design outputs and outcomes (Bossen et al., 2016; Frauenberger et al., 2015). This research proposes an experience-centered framework to support analysis of children’s priorities emerging through co-design and explores the impact of co-design on child participants. We developed an in-depth understanding of playspace priorities of child participants and gained directional insight into child outcomes. This research is grounded in a case study approach involving two 5th grade classes in Ithaca, NY who participated in either an 11-session or 3-session co-design program centered on the redesign of their school’s outdoor playspace. In total, 23 core experiences were identified during the 11-session program. Through triangulation of three ranking systems and a Q-Sort factor analysis, we highlight which core experiences were evidenced as most important to child participants, including being high up or having lookouts, climbing/hanging, and being in nature. To evaluate child outcomes, we utilized a quasi-experimental design with waitlist control and pre/post measures to evaluate the impact of participation in the co-design programs on the constructs of agency, self-efficacy, and belongingness. Post-program evaluations were also conducted via questionnaires and interviews with students and staff to assess program satisfaction and gain qualitative assessments of impact to psychosocial and skill development outcomes. Through these mixed methods, the following benefits to children were identified: increased sense of empowerment and self-confidence in personal expression, and impact to collaboration and communication skills.","abstract_html":"There has been growing interest among design practitioners and researchers in participatory methods as a means of embedding user expertise in decision-making (Robertson & Simonsen, 2012; Sanders, 2002). Engaging children as co-designers may be a valuable pathway for capturing the voices of this underrepresented user group. However, despite an increase in the application of participatory methods, there is limited systematic analysis of co-design outputs and outcomes (Bossen et al., 2016; Frauenberger et al., 2015). This research proposes an experience-centered framework to support analysis of children’s priorities emerging through co-design and explores the impact of co-design on child participants. We developed an in-depth understanding of playspace priorities of child participants and gained directional insight into child outcomes. This research is grounded in a case study approach involving two 5th grade classes in Ithaca, NY who participated in either an 11-session or 3-session co-design program centered on the redesign of their school’s outdoor playspace. In total, 23 core experiences were identified during the 11-session program. Through triangulation of three ranking systems and a Q-Sort factor analysis, we highlight which core experiences were evidenced as most important to child participants, including being high up or having lookouts, climbing/hanging, and being in nature. To evaluate child outcomes, we utilized a quasi-experimental design with waitlist control and pre/post measures to evaluate the impact of participation in the co-design programs on the constructs of agency, self-efficacy, and belongingness. Post-program evaluations were also conducted via questionnaires and interviews with students and staff to assess program satisfaction and gain qualitative assessments of impact to psychosocial and skill development outcomes. Through these mixed methods, the following benefits to children were identified: increased sense of empowerment and self-confidence in personal expression, and impact to collaboration and communication skills.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Joyce, Karen"],"institution":"Cornell University","degree_name":"M.S., Design and Environmental Analysis","degree_level":"Master of Science","degree_discipline":"Design and Environmental Analysis","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":["Goula, Maria"],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-08","date_published":"2024-08","updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:48:58Z","subjects":["children","co-design","environmental psychology","outdoor play","participatory design","program evaluation"],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["https://doi.org/10.7298/3jfx-v296"],"render_values":[{"text":"https://doi.org/10.7298/3jfx-v296","href":"https://doi.org/10.7298/3jfx-v296","code":true}]},{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["ProQuest Submission ID: 12190","ProQuest Publication ID: 31485911"],"render_values":[{"text":"ProQuest Submission ID: 12190","href":null,"code":true},{"text":"ProQuest Publication ID: 31485911","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/1813/116286","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Goula, Maria"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Joyce, Karen"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2025-01-14T19:39:36Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2025-01-14T19:39:36Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2024-08"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["dissertation or thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Design and Environmental Analysis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.S., Design and Environmental Analysis"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Cornell University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["children","co-design","environmental psychology","outdoor play","participatory design","program evaluation"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.doi","label":"DOI","values":["https://doi.org/10.7298/3jfx-v296"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["ProQuest Submission ID: 12190","ProQuest Publication ID: 31485911"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://hdl.handle.net/1813/116286"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["105 pages"]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["There has been growing interest among design practitioners and researchers in participatory methods as a means of embedding user expertise in decision-making (Robertson & Simonsen, 2012; Sanders, 2002). Engaging children as co-designers may be a valuable pathway for capturing the voices of this underrepresented user group. However, despite an increase in the application of participatory methods, there is limited systematic analysis of co-design outputs and outcomes (Bossen et al., 2016; Frauenberger et al., 2015). This research proposes an experience-centered framework to support analysis of children’s priorities emerging through co-design and explores the impact of co-design on child participants. We developed an in-depth understanding of playspace priorities of child participants and gained directional insight into child outcomes. This research is grounded in a case study approach involving two 5th grade classes in Ithaca, NY who participated in either an 11-session or 3-session co-design program centered on the redesign of their school’s outdoor playspace. In total, 23 core experiences were identified during the 11-session program. Through triangulation of three ranking systems and a Q-Sort factor analysis, we highlight which core experiences were evidenced as most important to child participants, including being high up or having lookouts, climbing/hanging, and being in nature. To evaluate child outcomes, we utilized a quasi-experimental design with waitlist control and pre/post measures to evaluate the impact of participation in the co-design programs on the constructs of agency, self-efficacy, and belongingness. Post-program evaluations were also conducted via questionnaires and interviews with students and staff to assess program satisfaction and gain qualitative assessments of impact to psychosocial and skill development outcomes. Through these mixed methods, the following benefits to children were identified: increased sense of empowerment and self-confidence in personal expression, and impact to collaboration and communication skills."]},{"key":"dc:format.mimetype","label":"Dc Format Mimetype","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Co-Designing Children’s Playspaces: Evaluating Participant Priorities and Outcomes"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Goula, Maria"],"dc:creator":["Joyce, Karen"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2025-01-14T19:39:36Z"],"dc:date.available":["2025-01-14T19:39:36Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2024-08"],"dc:description":["105 pages"],"dc:description.abstract":["There has been growing interest among design practitioners and researchers in participatory methods as a means of embedding user expertise in decision-making (Robertson & Simonsen, 2012; Sanders, 2002). Engaging children as co-designers may be a valuable pathway for capturing the voices of this underrepresented user group. However, despite an increase in the application of participatory methods, there is limited systematic analysis of co-design outputs and outcomes (Bossen et al., 2016; Frauenberger et al., 2015). This research proposes an experience-centered framework to support analysis of children’s priorities emerging through co-design and explores the impact of co-design on child participants. We developed an in-depth understanding of playspace priorities of child participants and gained directional insight into child outcomes. This research is grounded in a case study approach involving two 5th grade classes in Ithaca, NY who participated in either an 11-session or 3-session co-design program centered on the redesign of their school’s outdoor playspace. In total, 23 core experiences were identified during the 11-session program. Through triangulation of three ranking systems and a Q-Sort factor analysis, we highlight which core experiences were evidenced as most important to child participants, including being high up or having lookouts, climbing/hanging, and being in nature. To evaluate child outcomes, we utilized a quasi-experimental design with waitlist control and pre/post measures to evaluate the impact of participation in the co-design programs on the constructs of agency, self-efficacy, and belongingness. Post-program evaluations were also conducted via questionnaires and interviews with students and staff to assess program satisfaction and gain qualitative assessments of impact to psychosocial and skill development outcomes. Through these mixed methods, the following benefits to children were identified: increased sense of empowerment and self-confidence in personal expression, and impact to collaboration and communication skills."],"dc:format.mimetype":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.doi":["https://doi.org/10.7298/3jfx-v296"],"dc:identifier.other":["ProQuest Submission ID: 12190","ProQuest Publication ID: 31485911"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/1813/116286"],"dc:language.iso":["en"],"dc:subject":["children","co-design","environmental psychology","outdoor play","participatory design","program evaluation"],"dc:title":["Co-Designing Children’s Playspaces: Evaluating Participant Priorities and Outcomes"],"dc:type":["dissertation or thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Design and Environmental Analysis"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master of Science"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.S., Design and Environmental Analysis"],"thesis:institution_name":["Cornell University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T01:48:58Z"}