Sir.cular

Sir.cular

Inspiration

With our group's collective interest in education, we noticed a gap within the self-directed learning models of Australian universities. In classes, we noticed an unwritten rule when it came to participation: "Unless I'm sure, I won't speak up." This was reinforced in our interviews, online ethnographies and secondary research, where experiences of fear of being wrong, embarrassment and anxiety were consistent amongst students.

On the teacher's end, there was also uncertainty: "Unless I'm sure what the students want, I won't change the lesson plan." Interviews with teachers showed that while educators wanted to create a more collaborative and responsive environment, they often lacked visibility in what students were thinking, feeling or needing in the moment.

Seeing both sides, this revealed the problem was not just a lack of student confidence and engagement, it was the feedback gap between the students and the teachers.

What it does

Sir.cular is not just a tool designed to increase participation. It is an app that creates a streamlined feedback loop between students and teachers, bridging the gap between them to cultivate a psychologically safe learning environment and a more circular model of learning.

At key moments during a class, Sir.cular quietly checks in with students, asking questions such as "How are you feeling right now?" or "What do you need?". Students can respond anonymously, which then informs the teacher in real-time, allowing them to see how many students need the support and in what areas. This allows them to adapt the classroom directly to student needs. Instead of relying on the flow of information going just from teacher to student, Sir.cular makes learning move around the room.

How we built it

The design of Sir.cular was inspired by Scandinavian learning cultures and design, which connect to nature and the idea that design should be accessible to all. This influenced our visual identity, which uses soft forms, simple geometry, natural shapes and playful colours to move away from the rigid, institutional feeling often associated with education technology.

We ideated through Crazy 8's initially, then did prototyping and branding through Figma.

Challenges we ran into

One of our biggest challenges was moving beyond obvious solutions of simply "getting students to participate more". But then we instead began asking "How can we change the environment so students feel more confident and safe to contribute?".

Another challenge was the time constraints, and working efficiently and productively with the team to create the best output possible.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We're proud of how our concept evolved directly from our research. Specifically, our user insights from both students and teachers. We were able to develop a clear conceptual identity around "circular learning" which challenges the traditional top-down model of education.

What we learned

The project helped us learn that the most valuable design opportunities can exist in the things that are unsaid. The unwritten rules were not immediately obvious, but it appeared through small behaviours and finding latent knowledge in our own interviews. By understanding behaviour, we were able to design for the conditions that shaped it.

Through this process we learnt our individual strengths as well as our strengths of working together as a group. We learnt how important each step in the design process is to create a genuine solution, rather than just jumping to a 'pretty solution'.

What's next for Sir.cular

Sir.cular has the ability to be adapted to all students and teachers environments to bridge the gap in education environments globally. Sir.cular has the potential to radically shift how lectures are conducted.