Designing an inquiry system that connects air quality data to K–12 civic reasoning.
AirBioCivic is a research-driven instructional design project combining a 6-module SSI curriculum, a live sensor data platform, and an instructor support system — all designed to turn real environmental data into civic inquiry for K–12 classrooms.
The gap between science class and real-world reasoning.
K–12 environmental science instruction often treats data as something students receive rather than something they act on. Students learn about air quality in textbooks, but rarely encounter its local, civic dimensions — who is affected, why it matters in their neighborhood, and what they might do about it.
How might we design a learning experience that connects real environmental data to student agency — turning passive consumption into active, civic-minded inquiry?
The design challenge was twofold: build a curriculum grounded in socioscientific inquiry (SSI), and develop a supporting platform that made live sensor data legible and meaningful for learners without a technical background.
Critically, the platform had to be instructor-agnostic — teachers with varying levels of technical comfort needed to facilitate the same inquiry arc without friction.
From sensor data to scaffolded inquiry.
An iterative design process across five phases — each informed by SSI pedagogy and the practical realities of K–12 classroom deployment. Click each step to expand.
Design artifacts produced.
Each artifact was designed as part of an interconnected system. Switch between tabs to explore.
Platform and curriculum guide designed as a living pair — when one changes, the other follows.
A deployable system connecting data to civic learning.
- Delivered a fully deployed web platform with live sensor data integration, accessible without technical setup at haetalkim.github.io/tamguingAIR ↗
- Designed a complete 6-module K–12 inquiry curriculum grounded in socioscientific reasoning — structured to develop both scientific literacy and civic argumentation.
- Produced a redesigned Instructor Curriculum Guide reducing implementation friction, enabling teachers with varied technical backgrounds to facilitate the full inquiry arc independently.
- Conducted a structured UX audit surfacing 7 issues across 4 screens — findings directly shaped guide redesign and platform sprint backlog.
- Demonstrated end-to-end instructional design ownership: needs analysis → curriculum architecture → platform development → instructor support → iterative redesign.
The most significant learning came from the UX audit midway through the project. What we had designed as a "simple" instructor interface carried hidden assumptions about data literacy. Redesigning the guide forced me to think about scaffolding not just for students, but for teachers — a distinction I now treat as foundational to any learning system design.