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1. Fostering Maker Identity and Collaboration: Affordances of the Connected Spaces Dashboard in Two Afterschool Makerspaces

   Bawankule, A; Hopping, D; Tissenbaum, M; Weatherspoon, H; Ruffin, M (October 2023, ACM)

   With a focus on learning through personally relevant projects, students in makerspaces engage in meaningful design. Maker portfolios are increasingly being used to capture and assess progress and learning in these spaces. The Connected Spaces Dashboard focuses on maker identity development and collaboration between makers in and across makerspaces. We implemented a prototype version of the Dashboard in Spring 2023, in two after-school makerspaces. Analysis of two student interviews and Dashboard profiles highlighted the aspects of the tool that were effective (e.g., student affinities) and those that needed improvement (e.g., its ambient presence). We utilize these findings to inform the development of the next version of the Dashboard. 

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2. Use of a Common Professional Language to Improve Neurodivergent STEM Scholar Sense of Belonging

   https://doi.org/10.1002/he.20522  

   Monroe, Christin; Coplan, Jan; Sullivan, Dylan; Matte, Rebecca (March 2025, New Directions for Higher Education)

   In a 1‐credit evolving STEM Community and Identity course, low‐income and neurodivergent students participate in cohort activities to build community and develop their professional STEM portfolios. The strengths‐based Birkman Method personality survey is used to enhance STEM identity and clarify communication and work styles. This course involves collaboration between STEM faculty, education faculty, and career counselors. Many neurodivergent students entering college lack confidence and struggle to identify and communicate their strengths, which can affect their academic performance and professional growth. This study documents the benefits of using a common language, based on the Birkman Method, for students, mentors, and career counselors. The language is integrated into the course, mentoring sessions, and students' professional portfolios. As a result, students feel a stronger sense of belonging within their cohort and build more meaningful connections with mentors and career counselors. The Birkman Method also helps neurodivergent students take a more informed approach to job searching, improving their morale, mental health, and employment retention. This paper outlines activities designed to foster a community of scientific thinkers and support professional development at all academic levels of postsecondary education. 

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3. Computational concepts, practices, and collaboration in high school students’ debugging electronic textile projects

   Jayathirtha, G. (January 2018, Conference Proceedings of International Conference on Computational Thinking Education 2018)

   Debugging, a recurrent practice while programming, can reveal significant information about student learning. Making electronic textile (e-textile) artifacts entails numerous opportunities for students to debug across circuitry, coding, crafting and designing domains. In this study, 69 high school students worked on a series of four different e-textiles projects over eight weeks as a part of their introductory computer science course. We analyzed debugging challenges and resolutions reported by students in their portfolios and interviews and found not only a wide range of computational concepts but also the development of specific computational practices such as being iterative and incremental in students’ debugging e-textiles projects. In the discussion, we address the need for more studies to recognize other computational practices such as abstraction and modularization, the potential of hybrid contexts for debugging, and the social aspects of debugging. 

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4. Computational concepts, practices, and collaboration in high school students’ debugging electronic textile projects.

   Jayathirtha, G. (January 2018, Conference Proceedings of International Conference on Computational Thinking Education 2018)

   Debugging, a recurrent practice while programming, can reveal significant information about student learning. Making electronic textile (e-textile) artifacts entails numerous opportunities for students to debug across circuitry, coding, crafting and designing domains. In this study, 69 high school students worked on a series of four different e-textiles projects over eight weeks as a part of their introductory computer science course. We analyzed debugging challenges and resolutions reported by students in their portfolios and interviews and found not only a wide range of computational concepts but also the development of specific computational practices such as being iterative and incremental in students’ debugging e-textiles projects. In the discussion, we address the need for more studies to recognize other computational practices such as abstraction and modularization, the potential of hybrid contexts for debugging, and the social aspects of debugging. 

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5. Using badging to promote makerspace participation and engineering identity development: Emergent themes and lessons learned from a pilot

   Bushra, Jannatul; Budinoff, Hannah; Shivers-McNair, Ann; Berger, Edward (January 2023, Proceedings of the ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition)

   Engineering identity development is crucial for engineers’ professional performance, personal fulfillment, and organization’s success. Various factors including recognition by others, interest, and competence can affect the development of engineering identity. Participation in engineering-related activities, such as involvement in makerspaces, can lead to increases in engineering self-efficacy and can provide opportunities for students’ to be recognized as engineers, potentially promoting the development of their engineering identity. However, participation in makerspaces is not necessarily equal across all student groups, with the potential for white, man-dominated cultures of engineering to be replicated in makerspaces, preventing students from marginalized groups from feeling welcome or participating. Earning microcredentials and digital badges in makerspaces has the potential to encourage participation and provide a means for recognition. The goal of this two-year project (funded by NSF’s PFE: Research Initiation in Engineering Formation program) is to study engineering students’ engineering identity development and how makerspaces and digital badges can contribute to this development process. Towards this goal, we interviewed a diverse cohort of eight first-year engineering students at a large, land-grant, Hispanic-Serving Institution in the U.S. during the Fall 2022 semester. Students participated in two one-hour interviews at the start and end of the semester on topics including their making skills, experiences in the makerspace, participation level in groups, perceived recognition as engineers, and feeling of belongingness in the engineering community and makerspaces. This paper presents lessons-learned from the interview implementation process, including dealing with disruptions from the ongoing pandemic and traumatic campus events. We also present emerging themes from qualitative analysis of the interviews. We expect the implications of this work to guide instructors and administrators in developing more motivating and interactive engineering courses and makerspace experiences for diverse students. 

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