Alumni Spotlight: Daniel Noh

University of Pennsylvania Ph.D. Student

Classes within the Integrative Design, Arts, and Technology (IDeATe) network at Carnegie Mellon do more than train students in a specific art or technology —  they connect diverse strengths across the university to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration and new ways of problem-solving. We checked in with 2021 College of Fine Arts graduate Daniel Noh, who minored in Design for Learning, to see how experiences from IDeATe have helped him in his post-graduation achievements.

Q: Tell us a bit about what you’re doing with your life now that you’ve graduated from CMU. Where are you now? Is there a project you’re working on?

A: I am currently on the other side of PA, working on my Ph.D. in Learning Sciences and Technologies at the University of Pennsylvania, advised by Yasmin Kafai and working closely with Danaé Metaxa. 

Over the past two years, we’ve engaged teen learners in building their own generative language models — focusing our analysis on how their socio-ethical sensemaking and technical understandings of AI/ML systems intersect. We’ve also worked with high school teachers in co-designing a set of classroom lessons on AI auditing, a method of empirically and systematically evaluating the outputs of an algorithmic system to understand its opaque inner workings and possible impact. We’ve recently shifted our focus towards teens’ experiences and values regarding targeted ads and generative AI ads.  

All that to say, most of our current research focuses on how we can engage youth as designers of AI/ML systems to better equip them with the knowledge and tools to more meaningfully participate in a society inundated by these technologies. As I move towards building my dissertation, I’m interested in examining how we can better understand and integrate youths’ values when it comes to the design of sociotechnical systems that impact them. 

Q: Can you share an experience from an IDeATe class at CMU that has stuck with you? Why did it make such a strong impression?

A: I was in the Bachelor of Architecture program throughout my time at CMU. The program guaranteed that we would have many opportunities to take elective courses and nearly full flexibility during our fourth and fifth years to explore whatever interdisciplinary topics we wanted to. 

In my first two years, I was actually on track for the IDeATe Media Design minor. I took three courses across information design and mobile/web design before stumbling upon a course that piqued my interest called Learning About Learning, then taught by the wonderful Nina Barbuto. From there, my fascination for learning grew, eventually pivoting into the Design for Learning minor and landing myself in Marti Louw’s Learning in Museums course. In Learning in Museums, we worked with the Carnegie Museum of Natural History to design interactives that foster learning about a certain topic regarding the Anthropocene. Our group decided to focus on the human impact on the water cycle. However, as we began prototyping our interactives, the COVID pandemic shuttered all possibilities of continuing this project. In a hurry, we ended up designing a printable booklet that allowed parents to work with young learners to explore the water in their own house through short and simple activities.

For me, the biggest impact from this course was probably during the user-testing phase of the design. We sent the booklets out to several parents, and one returned with a comment on how valuable it was – especially during the pandemic lockdown — to have activities where they could collaborate and learn with their child. This course eventually led me into a summer internship at the museum where I created informational videos and activities on the same topic. 

Q: How do you think IDeATe helped to prepare you for your role today? What skills from IDeATe are you using as you advance your career?

A: I have to admit, IDeATe was pretty pivotal for my life; especially the Design for Learning minor! After I finished my time at CMU, I ended up pursuing a Master’s degree in learning design and technology at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. After that, I worked as an educator at the MIT Museum where I applied everything I learned during Marti’s course and the internship at the CMNH to design and facilitate a handful of delightful hands-on STEAM learning experiences for learners of all ages. Even in my doctoral studies, I am constantly applying what I learned as I facilitate workshops in museums for my research and think deeply about what the design of meaningful learning entails.

If it weren’t for the experiences and projects I worked on through the Design for Learning minor, including the booklet I made with my group in Marti’s course, a course paper I wrote in Amy Ogan’s The Role of Technology in Learning in the 21st Century, or the board game I collaborated on for Erik Harpstead’s Design of Education Games — all projects that I included in my applications for graduate school – I don’t think I would be where I am today. 

A small plug: if you’re in the Cambridge/Boston area, I highly recommend you check out the programs at the MIT Museum, it’s an awesome little space with the most amazing educators.

Q: What would you say to a student considering whether to enroll in an IDeATe class at CMU?

A: Do it — you never know where it can take you! The program is incredibly flexible, which allowed me to explore my options within the many minors available before I honed into what I was most excited about. The interdisciplinary nature of IDeATe also makes it such a welcoming space where you can explore new fields that might spark your curiosities. I never would have guessed that I would be thinking about designing for learning everyday, nor would I have found my passion in STEM and design education without IDeATe. There is such a variety of courses that have engaged me in both developing my technical skills and conceptual thinking; both which have shaped what I am researching today.