Here are the CivicIxD researchers that are currently following a PhD Track:

Facilitating Reflexivity in Design Education with PhotoReflexivity
Researcher: Marije ten Brink 
PhD track

Student reflexivity can be enhanced when design students take and discuss self-made photos with each other. However, photo-related activities in education are not utilised to their full potential. This doctoral research introduces PhotoReflexivity as an approach to unlock this potential, by encouraging students to share and interpret self-made photos. It consists of mobile technologies as well as instruments for collaborative use in the classroom. Next to practical artefacts, the research contributes by offering clear definitions of reflexivity and related concepts, a framework and practical steps to scaffold the reflexive process in education, along with design recommendations for reflexivity support. Ultimately, PhotoReflexivity is positioned as a pedagogical approach for fostering reflexivity, crucial for preparing students for their roles as responsible and autonomous design professionals. The research is conducted at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (AUAS) and the Technical University Eindhoven (TU/e).


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Toys4Therapy | visit website
Researcher: Tamara Pinos Cisneros
PhD track

Paediatric occupational and physical therapy exercises often turn out to be uninviting due to its repetitive nature, therefore patients struggle with executing them in the home environment. This research intends to study how already used muscle therapies for children with cerebral palsy can be complemented with playful and engaging interactions that increase motivation supported by behavioural change techniques (BCTs). For this, I am focusing on new technologies, like smart toys (interactive & connected), that can provide personalised hand therapy while improving the play experience, providing the therapists with relevant data and encouraging children to exercise more at home. This research provides an important opportunity to advance the understanding of motivation and playfulness in therapy assisted by new technologies. This is a PhD project executed in collaboration with the ‘Digital Society School’, the Civic Interaction Design Research Group and the Digital Life Centre, at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, the ‘University of Twente’ and ‘Roessingh Rehabilitation Centre’.


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Convivial Media
Researcher: Luis Rodil-Fernández
prePhD track

Convivial media investigates alternative ways in which people find each other through digital media with or without the internet. We look at emerging off-grid communities that use networked media in ways that better adapt to their offline-first lifestyles. We look at countries where digital media has followed a different path of adoption than it did in the Global North. We look at the new wave of protocols for the so-called distributed web, that are giving birth to ways of building online communities that have sustainability, consent and data sovereignty as core values. These bottom-up approaches to building media are laboratories of alternative imaginaries around innovation where ideas are driven by values that go beyond innovation for innovation’s sake.

Convivial media aims at developing critical pedagogies from methodologies encountered in the arts, to equip coming generations in developing a more intuitive, observant, consentful, humane and critical relationship with networked media. Observing, documenting and developing alternative notions of innovation that can provide a more lasting and sustainable vision of a networked world. One that empowers participants to co-exist in a more livable network.