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1. Youth-Community Invention: Community Epistemologies and Expansive Iterative Design

   Calabrese Barton, A. ( January 2020 , American Education Research Association)

   Objectives We examine the community epistemologies in youth’s iterative refinements of STEM-rich inventions across settings and time. Iteration in STEM-rich engineering/invention work refers to re-thinking ideas/designs within prototyping processes (Cunningham & Kelly, 2017). The objective of this paper is to examine the political dimensions of iteration through a) how iteration involves pre- and post-design “lives” of inventions especially towards new social futures, and b) the intentional incorporation of cultural epistemologies towards advancing new forms of legitimate inventor knowledge/practice (Yosso, 2005). Framing We draw from critical justice and consequential learning studies. Critical justice focuses on recognizing diversity and addressing structural inequalities perpetuated through systemic racism and classism. It seeks re-shifted relations of power and position within multiple scales-of-activity in learning, intersected with historicized injustices in learning environments. Consequential learning examines what matters to people, and how associated values and practices, when coordinated through social activity, allows for imagining new social futures (Gutierrez, 2012). Viewing the iterative process of inventing through a justice-oriented consequential lens calls into question traditional modes of knowing, and challenges/expands who and what areas of expertise are recognized and valued. Methods Our study takes place in two community makerspaces in mid-sized cities. Both center community engagement and support youth in designing/inventing to address problems they and their communities care about. Both also support minoritized youth in inventing through engagement with a wide range of community/STEM stakeholders. In researcher-educator roles, we collaborated with both makerspaces to establish programs supporting youth in sustained engagement in STEM and making/inventing in culturally-sustaining ways. In our two-year, longitudinal critical ethnography, data were generated in weekly community making sessions between 2016-2018. Data include artifacts, youth conversation groups, and videos capturing youth interaction with STEM and community experts at various stages in their design process. Analysis involved multiple stages and levels of coding based on open-coding and constant comparison procedures. Findings We ground our paper in four in-depth longitudinal cases of youth’s iterative design work: Nila’s light-up #stopracism sign; Su’zanne’s massaging slipper, Sharon’s geodesic play dome, and Jazmyn’s portable fan. Across cases, we illustrate three findings. First, youth located broader injustices within local making/inventing discourses with support from community and STEM allies, suggesting youth drew from multiple epistemologies, some grounded in community cultural wealth, others in STEM. For example, Su’Zanne drew from a familial culture of care and resistance in recognizing injustices nested in homelessness while iterating a way to make her slipper “more massaging.” The geodesic dome youth-makers drew from collective solidarity/resistance in making a structure for younger peers due to unjust lack of play infrastructure. Second, iterative engagement involving community wealth afforded further design and inventing experiences and expanded ownership over inventions across many stakeholders. For example, youth turned Nila’s #stopracism sign on during group discussions when they felt that racism needed to be foregrounded. Third, the afterlife of youth invention processes impacted the emergent inventor-maker culture through influencing the iterative process. Significance Iterations expand hybridization of cultural knowledge/practice and STEM-rich inventing, re-shaping whose cultural knowledge matters, and fostering justice-oriented collective outcomes. 

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2. “Go[ing] Hard...as a Woman of Color”: A Case Study Examining Identity Work within a Performative Dance and Computing Learning Environment

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3531000  

   Desportes, Kayla ; McDermott, Kathleen ; Bergner, Yoav ; Payne, William ( December 2022 , ACM Transactions on Computing Education)

   Performing arts computing environments have received little attention in the educational sphere; yet, they offer opportunities for learners to validate their efforts, ideas, and skills through showcasing their work in a public-facing performance. In this work, we explore an out-of-school dance and computing educational program run by the organization, STEM From Dance. The organizational mission is to create an equitable learning experience for young women of color to engage with computing while exposing them to STEM careers. Through an analysis of eleven interviews with youth participants, instructors, and the executive director, we examine how the social, cultural, and political dimensions of the learning environment facilitate identity work in computing and dance. Our findings point to three primary activities used by the organization to promote equity: (1) providing psychological safety through a supportive community environment, (2) meaningfully engaging with learners’ social and cultural context through creative work with constructionist artifacts, and (3) actively promoting identity work as women of color in computing and STEM through both artifact work and community events. Applying the constructs of identity and psychological safety we explore the tensions and synergies of designing for equity in this performing arts and computing learning environment. We demonstrate how the seemingly contradictory elements of a high-stakes performance within a novice learning environment provides unique opportunities for supporting young women of color in computing, making them non-negotiable in the organization’s efforts to promote equity and inclusion. Our work illustrates how attending closely to the sociocultural dimensions in a constructionist learning environment provides lenses for navigating equity, identity work, and support for inclusive computing. 

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3. Patches as an expressive medium for exploratory multi‐agent modelling

   https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13087  

   Brady, Corey ( April 2021 , British Journal of Educational Technology)

   This paper outlines the potential gains for Constructionist research and praxis in modelling that might be obtained by recognising the power of the Patch—a humble computational being in the NetLogo modelling environment that has been overshadowed by its more popular fellow agent, the Turtle. To contextualise this opportunity, I describe how Constructionist modelling has thrived by promoting forms of learning that rely on learners’ identifying with agents. I argue that patches are a neglected agent type in this multi‐agent modelling tradition, and that the possibilities for learners to adopt the patch perspective in support of exploratory forms of modelling and aesthetic expression have been under‐researched. Nevertheless, I show there are a variety of powerful ways for learners––both individually and in groups––to identify with patches. I describe ongoing research showing how taking an aesthetic approach to patches has the potential to support individuals and groups in powerful forms of learning with and about multi‐agent modelling.

   What is already known about this topic

   Turtles (movable agents in Logo and Constructionist environments descended from Logo) can be ‘transitional objects’ that provide learners a way to make powerful ideas their own.

   These agents can be powerful ‘objects‐to‐think‐with’ in large part because they encourage learners to identify with them in a form of learning known as ‘syntonic learning’.

   Expressive activities that draw on learners’aestheticinterests can support their learning with and about computational representations.

   Multi‐agent modelling is a powerful extension of Logo‐based learning environments that provides access to powerful ideas about complex systems and their emergent properties.

   In the multi‐agent setting, individual learners and/or groups of learners can identify syntonically with agents to provide entry points for reasoning about complexity.

   What this paper adds

   Patches (non‐movable agents in the NetLogo modelling environment) are under‐represented in the research on multi‐agent modelling, and the potential for learners to adopt the patches’ perspective has been neglected.

   An aesthetically driven approach to patches can ground students’ understanding of their expressive value.

   Participatory activities in which learners play the role of patches (called ‘Stadium Card’ activities) can ground the patch perspective, so that learners can achieve a form of syntonicity and/or collectively adopt the perspective of patches in the aggregate.

   Participatory activities that blend intrinsic and extrinsic perspectives on the patch grid can further enhance learners’ facility with programming for patches and their understanding of patches’ collective expressive power.

   Implications for practice and/or policy

   Balancing the focus between turtles and patches can enrich the modelling toolbox of learners new to agent‐based modelling.

   Patchesdocapture important aspects of individual and collective experience, and so can be good objects‐to‐think‐with, especially when conceptualising phenomena at a larger scale.

   The expressive potential of the patch grid is an important topic for computer science as well (eg, through 2D cellular automata). This is a rich context for learning in itself, which can be made accessible to groups of learners through physical or virtual participatory role‐play.

   Moreover, physical or virtual grids of people‐patches may exhibit novel aggregate computational properties that could in turn become interesting areas for research in computer science.

    

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4. Beyond Trial & Error: Iteration-to-learn using computational papercrafts in a STEAM camp for girls

   Dixon, Colin ; Schimpf, Corey T. ; Hsi, Sherry H. ( January 2019 , 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition)

   When asked about how they deal with unforeseen problems, novice learners often describe a process of “trial and error.” This process might fairly be described as iteration, a critical step in the design process, but falls short of the practices that engineering education needs to develop. In the face of novel and multifaceted problems, future engineers must be comfortable and competent not just trying again, but identifying failure points, troubleshooting, and running systematic tests with relevant data. To examine the abilities of novice designers to test and effectively refine ideas and prototypes, we conducted qualitative analysis of structured interviews, audio, video, and designs of 11 girls, ages 9 -11, working on computational papercrafts as part of a museum-based STEAM summer camp. The projects involved design and construction of expressive paper and cardboard sculptures with gears and linkages powered by servomotors. Over the course of one day, the girls generated designs inspired by a camp theme, then had to work with mechanics, electronics and craft to create working versions that would be displayed as part of a public exhibit. Computational papercraft was selected because it lowers cost and intimidation. Our design conjecture was that by making materials familiar and abundant, learners would have more relevant knowledge, could easily modify and replicate components, and would therefore be better able to recognize potential faults and more likely to engage in testing and refinement. We also supported design and troubleshooting with a customized circuit board and an online gear simulator. In the first stage of this study, we looked at what engineering practices emerged, given these conditions. We asked: What opportunities for testing and refinement did computational papercrafts open up? What resources and tools do young learners employ when testing and refining designs? Analysis showed that technical supports for testing and refinement were successful in supporting valued testing and refinement practices as youth pursued personal goals. Use of the simulator and customized microcontroller allowed for consideration of multiple alternatives and for “trial before error.” Learners were able to conduct focused tests on subsystems of their paper machines, and to make “small bets,” keeping initial ideas and designs fluid. Inexpensive materials also allowed them to test and refine at late project stages, without feeling that they were wasting time or materials. The analysis sheds light on young students practices of testing and refinement, and how to best support young people as they begin learning trajectories in engineering. The approach is especially relevant within making-oriented engineering education and other settings working to broaden participation in engineering. 

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5. The biodesign studio: Constructions and reflections of high school youth on making with living media

   https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.13081  

   Walker, Justice T. ; Kafai, Yasmin B. ( March 2021 , British Journal of Educational Technology)

   Most constructionist efforts have focused on supporting learners with tools for designing with digital and/or physical media. Recent developments in life sciences now allow K‐12 learners to design with living materials, or to biodesign. In this paper, we report on the development of a biodesign studio activity called biocakes wherein teams of high school youth genetically modified a yeast strain to bake a nutrient fortified food product. Using a qualitative deductive analysis of classroom observations, interviews and projects, we examined high school youth experiences and reflections of these activities to answer three research questions: (1) What kind of artefacts did youth make with living media? (2) How did youth engage in biodesign? and (3) What did youth have to say about their biodesign experiences? We discuss how our analyses of biodesign applications highlight the importance of assembly practices, social engagement and imaginative design for constructionist learning. These insights provide compelling examples for designing with living media in K‐12 education.

   What is already known about this topic?

   Constructionist perspectives shape important ideas about what we know about science learning, and notably in computer science fields.

   One widely taken up example includes making, where learners use crafts to make interactive computational objects.

   In life science, constructionism also provides insights about learning using digital media to model biological systems or interact with living materials.

   What this paper adds?

   This paper extends these perspectives by examining production and engagement when learners constructwithliving materials—an approach that has only recently been possible with the development of accessible wet lab tools.

   We frame learning activities as a studio model—that emphasised application design, iteration and critique—to better assess the roles assembly, construction and speculative design play in production that uses living materials.

   Our findings suggest that assembly is important for creating accessible points of entry to complex biological fabrication processes.

   We also find that speculative design provides an opportunity for learners to extend their existing abilities beyond what is otherwise available given their expertise or access to resources, and thus expansively explore related ideas.

   Implications for practice and/or policy

   Assembly and speculative design have important places in constructionist‐driven production with living materials and could, therefore, be leveraged in practice.

    

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