Abstract
The purpose of this intrinsic qualitative case study was to curate an operationalized school design framework connected to participatory design theory by teachers with students in a public-school setting. The aim of this study was to design an evidence-based framework for teachers to use with students when engaging in a co-design classroom, program, or school. The observable problem that led to this this study was youth are not involved in classroom, program, or school design. As a case study, the researcher observed and curated over a 15-day period an instantiation of a public middle school technology education teacher co-designing their classroom with students in the Midwestern US states. Fourteen student interviews were completed, classroom activities were audio and video recorded, and the teacher-participant was interviewed on three different occasions during the study. Several patterns from the study emerged. Students were engaged by activities and disengaged by lectures. The constraint and issue of time repeated throughout the study. A trusting, imaginative, effective, and flexible teacher was necessary to carry out the co-designed classroom. The findings from the study led to the development of the collective co-design framework, which has five evidence-based components and two theoretical extensions. The study adds to scholarly research by extending the participatory design theoretical framework to the student level in a school.|Keywords: participatory design theory, student academic engagement, social cognitive theory, collective co-design framework, agency, K12, public school, middle school