ARTICLE Touchy feely vectors: A compensatory design approach to support model-based reasoning in developing country classrooms DurgaPrasad Karnam 1 | Harshit Agrawal 1 | Pranay Parte 2 | Saurabh Ranjan 1,3 | Priyanka Borar 1 | Prasanna Prakash Kurup 4 | Amose Jebin Joel 5 | Pattamadai Sankaran Srinivasan 4 | Uddhav Suryawanshi 5 | Aniket Sule 2 | Sanjay Chandrasekharan 1 1 Learning Sciences Research Group, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, TIFR, Mumbai, India 2 Astronomy Education Group, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, TIFR, Mumbai, India 3 Centre of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, India 4 Swami Vivekanand Junior College, Vivekanand Education Society, Mumbai, India 5 Atomic Energy Central School-4, Anushaktinagar, Atomic Energy Education Society, Mumbai, India Correspondence DurgaPrasad Karnam, Learning Sciences Research Group, Astronomy Education Group, Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, TIFR, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Email: karnamdpdurga@gmail.com Funding information Govt. of India, Department of Atomic Energy, Grant/Award Number: RTI4001 Abstract Educational technology designs in developing countries mostly focus on making knowledge resources widely available, through MOOCs, repositories and computer- based tutoring. The use of digital media for cognitive augmentation, particularly interactive designs that help learners understand modelling topics in STEM, is under- explored. We report a 3-year design study examining this potential in the Indian con- text, testing two iterations of an interactive system, Touchy-Feely Vectors (TFV). The design supports learning vectors, a modelling topic pre-university students struggle with. Virtual lesson-plans were co-designed with teachers to augment — but not replace — their existing practices, and to address classroom and resource constraints. Pre-post testing of TFV-1 (a computer-based prototype) showed that it helped students develop a more integrated vector concept, and improved their reasoning. Field-implementation of TFV-2 (a textbook-linked touch-screen based design) in 6- classrooms (3-Control, N=135; 3-Experimental, N=131) showed that it fostered cognitive engagement in average-students and geometry-algebra integration (model- based reasoning) in good-students. These results, along with a requirements analysis based on textbooks, indicate that the interaction possibilities supported by different representational media critically shape student reasoning. The study also illustrates a systematic approach to design and test digital media systems that support cognitive augmentation in developing countries. KEYWORDS cognitive augmentation, developing country context, digital media, geometry-algebra integration, model-based reasoning, vectors 1 | INTRODUCTION Educational interventions based on digital media typically seek to address two broad issues: providing wider access to educational resources, and introducing students to new cognitive vistas opened up by computers, particularly in STEM (science, technology, engineer- ing and mathematics) contexts. Designs within the former approach include online content repositories, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and computer-based tutoring systems (Anderson, Boyle, & Reiser, 1985; Blok, Oostdam, Otter, & Overmaat, 2002; De Jong, Received: 22 January 2020 Revised: 8 September 2020 Accepted: 26 September 2020 DOI: 10.1111/jcal.12500 J Comput Assist Learn. 2020;1–29. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jcal © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd 1