The School of Information Science & Learning Technologies is home to multiple institutes and laboratories where graduate students gain hands-on experience with the technologies and theories used in their fields. SISLT believes in not just teaching theory, but putting theory into practice. Under the guidance of our exceptional faculty students will gain real-world experience doing what others only talk about.
Adroit Studios is an interdisciplinary team devoted to researching and developing video games. Working with our team can provide valuable project based experience for a wide range of skills and interests. The Design team leads brainstorms, writes documents, and works with curricular experts to envision the best possible game experience to accomplish each learning objective. Our Art team uses cutting edge software to make 3D models, 2D graphics, animations, and special effects; used to create our beautiful, exciting 3D worlds players will want to explore. The Development team uses Unity and Perforce, both industry standard technologies, to bring the worlds to life and create custom gameplay interactions. Once we have a playable demo, our Usability team conducts user testing collecting screen recordings, eye-tracking, psychophysiology measures, and interviews to get formative feedback for the game design and development. During the user testing, the Learning Analytics team gathers logs of user behaviors during gameplay, and uses machine learning algorithms to analyze them for patterns of success or patterns of players who need some kind of help. Also every project has a Curriculum team of subject matter experts to set learning objectives, design solutions, and review the curricular implementation to assure it has the impact we’re aiming for.
Visit the Adroit Studios Gaming Lab website or contact Joe Griffin at GriffinJG@missouri.edu for more information.
This interdisciplinary research team is interested in questions relating to scholarly communication and the knowledge that is created and shared through research. Adopting a broad view of science and notions of data, we conceptualize research, visualize data, and analyze scholarly activity. We are interested in applications in a range of fields, from information science and other social sciences to the humanities and the sciences; using a range of methodologies including bibliometrics, network analysis, data science approaches, altmetrics, NLP, and conceptual analyses, we investigate questions relating to scholarship and the science of science.
Data, Science, and Society Research Group’s Related Research: Presentations & Publications.
Contact Dr. Heather Moulaison-Sandy at moulaisonhe@missouri.edu and Dr. Laura Ridenour at lerbhn@missouri.edu for more information.
The Digitization Station supports SISLT’s collaboration with KOPN Community Radio in providing access to time-based public media. As a participant in the IMLS-funded Public Broadcasting Preservation Fellowships (PBPF), the MU iSchool is committed to students’ skills-building with audiovisual archives. Students in the Archival Studies emphasis encounter audiovisual topics and issues throughout their coursework, in preparation for professional practice. Through ongoing activities including Audio Preservation Workshops and Research Discussion at The Bridge, the Digitization Station provides students with research experiences related to the expression, digitization, preservation and study of a community archive of national significance. Our KOPN subcollection in the American Archive of Public Broadcasting continues to expand at https://americanarchive.org/special_collections/kopn-women.
News and Updates
- February 2022: IMLS-funded Fellowship available for MLIS student archivist
- July 2021: Fellows and Faculty Advisor presentation at AERI 2021
- March 2020: KOPN in AAPB Online Learning Resources
- February 2020: KOPN in Transcribe to Digitize Challenge
- September 2019: Faculty Advisor Research Discussion at The Bridge
- March 2019 & 2021: KOPN Special Collection featured by AAPB for Women’s History Month
- November 2018: Fellows poster presentation at AMIA 2018
- October 2018: Faculty Advisor, Fellows, and Project Director presentation at Digital Preservation 2018
- August 2018: Fellows and Faculty Advisor poster presentation at SAA Research Forum 2018
- August 2, 2018: Campuswide Audio Preservation Workshop led by Fellow at SISLT
- April 7, 2018: Campuswide presentation by Fellow at SISLT Spring Conference 2018
- October 2017: School of Information Science and Learning Technology Will Use Technology to Save Local History
Contact Dr. Sarah Buchanan at buchanans@missouri.edu for more information.
The Information Experience Laboratory (IE Lab, founded in 2003, first usability lab in Missouri) is a learning design and user experience laboratory, as well as an enterprise for research, teaching and service in technology and pedagogical usability. The IE Lab has the mission to improve learning technologies, information and communication systems. We conduct research and evaluate digital technology for clients in diverse fields such as journalism, healthcare, computer science, engineering and education. The IE lab offers hands-on training conducting usability studies in real-world settings as our faculty and student practitioners working on projects with clients together.
The IE Lab has expertise in:
- human-centered design (Human-Computer Interaction, HCI),
- usability evaluation,
- user experience (UX) and learner experience (LX) in the field of learning design and technologies, and
- sociotechnical integration analysis — how technology impacts workflow change.
We apply a variety of usability and UX methods including Think Aloud, Task Analysis, Focus Groups and experimental settings. We also offer workshops, professional consulting, usability courses, and internship opportunities.
Visit the IE Lab website for further information, contact us via email at ielab@missouri.edu, Dr. Marra at rmarra@missouri.edu or Dr. Moore at moorejoi@missouri.edu. Meet us in our new location in 119 Townsend Hall, on campus of the University of Missouri-Columbia.
The Technology to Enhance Learning Lab is founded and directed by Dr. Xinhao Xu. As the name suggests, TELL conducts research on how to use cutting-edge technologies to help people learn. The lab also offers practical solutions to deliver effective learning and training through technology. Major research areas of TELL are:
- XR-Based Learning Environments
- Embodied Interactions and Learning
- Learning Games for STEM Subjects
- Novel Technologies for Instructions and Learning
TELL is home to a group of passionate doctoral students doing research in technology-enhanced learning. It hosts internships for students at both undergraduate and graduate levels. TELL also supports some of the popular SISLT courses such as IS_LT4888/7888 Introduction to VR-enabled Instructional Design, IS_LT4361/7361 Introduction to Digital Media, and others.
Visit the TELL website for more information. Contact us at tellmizzou@gmail.com. Follow us on twitter @MizzouTell
The WeMake — Design & Learn Lab is a makerspace located in 101A Townsend Hall. This lab offers all students at MU hands on experience with 3D printing, Scanning, CNC routing, and the makerspace culture. In lab, students are given the opportunity to see their creations and class projects come to life. By first teaching students how to use the 3D printers in lab, they are then challenged with creating designs and CAD drawings of their own to prototype on the printers.
At the moment, the lab houses two Afinia H800 printers, a Dremel Idea Builder 3D printer, a Carbide Nomad 883 CNC router, a computer to run the modeling programs, and countless past projects and prints to inspire the students.
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