Social Studies Learning Activities

Section 1: Use of Primary Source Documents

Lesson Plan: User Experience Research methods and Case Studies Blog Post

Objective: The purpose of this activity is for students to review the different categories of research (quantitative and qualitative) and the associated UX research methods. Students will also review real world case studies and will then be required to create a blog post to discuss all of the resource materials and answering the required prompts.

Standards Addressed: College and Career Readiness Standards for Adult Education (CCR) (RH.6-8.3 ), ((RH.9-10.7 ), (W/WHST.11-12.7 )

Resources

Part 1

Part 2 Case Studies

Introduction: Understanding the basic foundations of research is important for any researcher when conducting a study. During the planning process, researchers need to understand the different types of research and the methods associated with them to understand what is the best way to collect the data that they need. This activity has two parts and should be done in order. Each part has a set of resources that students will review to help answer the associated reading prompts. Students are to create a blog post that will discuss the prompts for both parts of the learning activity that they will share of their Twitter account. Afterwards they will review and comment on 2 of their classmates blog posts.

*Students should have their final research topic selected for this assignment.

Part 1

Students will read and review the reading resources listed under part 1. Next students will create a new post on their blog that will answer the following prompts:

In your own words, discuss the differences between qualitative and quantitative research.
Did the readings change your view on how you will conduct your final research study? Explain.
Discuss the research methods you are using for your final research study and why?

Part 2

Students will now read and review the case studies under part 2 resources. They will continue where they left off on their blog post from part 1 to answer the following prompts:

Did reading the case studies help you to better understand the UX research process? Explain.
Has your your perspective changed on how you will conduct your final research project? Explain.
What did you find interesting and/or would change from the case studies? Explain.
Think of a product or service of any kind (big or small) that you have used or experienced that you feel could be improved with a UX research study. Explain why and what research methods would be helpful.

After completing the blog post, students will post the URL on their Twitter accounts using the hashtag #uxresearch101. Students will then be required to read, review, and comment on at least 2 other students blog posts.

Section 2: Using Google Maps

Lesson Plan: Build a Custom Google Map Using Locations from Google Form Survey

Subject Area: Social Studies

Objective: The purpose of this lesson plan is to show students how they can enhance their Google Form/Sheet surveys by using add-ons that will create a custom Google Map to showcase their survey results. At the end of this lesson plan, students will be able to utilize the Mapping Sheets add-on by creating a demo survey that will create a custom interactive Google Map based on the survey results. They will also know how to use the add-on features and the ability to share the custom map for other purposes.

Standards Addressed: ISTE Standards for Students (3c), (3d), (4b), (4c), (7a), (7d)

Materials:

Computer, laptop, mobile device (cell phone not recommended)
Reliable internet connection
Internet browser (Google Chrome recommended)
Google Applications: Form, Sheets, Map, Drive
Required Headings for Mapping Sheets add-on
How to Share Mapping Sheets Custom Map
Mapping Sheets Website (can view extra features not included in the lesson plan)

*Before starting this lesson plan, it should be expected that students already know how to create Google form surveys with a attached Google Sheet from previous learning activities.

Introduction: When collecting UX research data, sometimes being able to study or analyze where users are located can help researchers to transcribe their data. Obviously this depends on what the UX researchers ask their participants but being able to create visual geographical data can enhance their research results. Having an interactive Google Map could be used to enhance final research reports to stakeholders to help present your findings in new and better ways. The purpose of this lesson plan is to show students how they can utilize add-ons to visually show geographical representation of their Google Form survey results into a custom made Google Map. This activity is focused on students being able to follow the steps to create a custom Google Map from their created Google Form survey results using the Mapping Sheets add-on, therefore student's should create a simple survey design for this activity (more information in the instructions).

Working activity examples are located at the bottom of this page.

Activity Instructions

Preparation Stage

Students will create the framework for their Google Form with Attached Google Sheet and install the Mapping Sheet Add-on in Google Sheets.

1. Students will create a Google Form and create/attach a Google Sheet for responses. No need to add any questions or other content yet.

2. Go to the Google Sheet. Click on the Add-ons menu, and then select Get Add-ons.

3. Search for Mapping Sheets, install it, and then approve any permissions it requests.

Google Form Stage

Students will now add questions to their Google Form survey. For this activity, students have creative control but should be simplistic in their design since the purpose is to learn how to use the Mapping Sheets add-on. They may word questions how they want.

Questions that are required for this activity:

Name
Location
General question. In the example below, the survey asks what the users device platform is (mac, pc, iphone, android, etc.). This is required so students can test features of the custom map and will be explained more later on.

Once the survey is created, make sure it is shareable to others. Students now need survey responses before we can move on to the next stage. Since this activity is for demonstration purposes and you may not have enough time for students to collect responses, students should add some "dummy" responses for their survey that they create. To make it most effective, students should add at least 10 responses.

Google Sheet Stage

Students will now go to their Google Sheet to make sure their responses were collected properly. This is where students will learn to access the Mapping Sheet interface, and custom the features to create their custom Google Map.

1. Go to the Google Sheet for your Google Form responses. Make sure all of you survey responses were collected.

2. Next, you will go back to the Add-ons menu and now you will see an option for Mapping Sheets. Select it and then click on the option for Start Mapping.

3. You should now notice that a new side menu has opened up on the right with Mapping Sheets heading.

4. Your Google Sheet should look similar to the example above with the Mapping Sheet interface. Now you will select the headers that will be used for your Google Map under "Select your headers". You can refer to more information here or follow along.

5. Under Title if you click on the drop down menu, it should show all of the header in your Google Sheet (Google Form questions). For the title you will select the option that asks for the name of the participant.

6. Under Filter, it will be the same as above and show all of the Google Sheet headers. For the filter you will select the option that answers the general question from your Google Form survey. See the example above, the filter selects the "Device Platform" question from the demo survey.

7. Under Location, you will select the option from the Google Sheet that asks for the participants location.

8. Once you have all three headers selected you will now press create at the bottom of the interface, and your custom Google Map will now open in another tab.

Google Map Stage

Students will now see their custom built Google Map that displays the location of their survey respondents. It also color codes each respondent on how they answered the general question from the survey. Students will now play around with different functionality of the map.

1. You will see a interface on the left similar to this example. It should list the Filter heading you selected. Each different answer to the question has a different color code. You can uncheck different answers to only see certain answer on the map. In the bottom right, if you click on the icon it will open a new interface on the right side of the screen.

2. This is the interface that opens on the right side of the screen. It will list the name and location of your survey respondents. You can click on each on and the map will shift to the marker location.

3. If you click on a location marker on the map, a similar popup menu will appear that will show more information from the respondents survey.

Sharing Custom Google Map

Because the Mapping Sheets add-on is saved as a JSON file, the process to share it with others is a little different. You can follow the directions here or follow the easier steps below to locate the file.

1. After you have created your custom Google Map, you will need to go to your Google Drive.

2. Under folders, you should see a new folder created called "xsMapping". Click on it to open.

3. You should see a file that has the name of your created Google Sheet with the file extension JSON at the end. If you happen to open it (not necessary) you will see a lot of computer code.

4. Now you can make the file shareable to other users the same way you would any other Google application file.

5. Share your custom Google Map you have created to your class and instructor for review.

Working Examples

Map (Responses)

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