Design Considerations for Capturing Computational Thinking Practices in High School Students’ Electronic Textile Portfolios

Publications

Assessing computational thinking in making has proven a challenge, in part because student creations are innately diverse and unique. In this paper we consider portfolios as a way to document and assess students’ learning processes in the context of designing electronic textile (e-textile) projects. We describe students’ use of portfolios at the end of an introductory computing course, Exploring Computer Science, during which 33 students created a series of electronic textile (e-textile) projects as part of a new curricular unit. Our analysis not only illuminates the capability of portfolios

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Personal Learning Journeys: Reflective Portfolios as “Objects-to-Learn-With” in an Etextiles High School Class

Publications

Much attention in constructionism has focused on the design of learning tools and support for students building artifacts. Far less attention has been placed on reflection and reflective artifacts that let students consider their own learning. In this paper we share an analysis of portfolios in which high school students reflected on the design of their electronic textile projects during an eight-week curricular unit in an Exploring Computer Science class, an introductory computing course for high school (secondary) students in the United States. We examine portfolios as sites of student self

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Some Reflections on Designing Constructionist Activities for Classrooms

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In this paper, we present our guiding principles for designing a constructionist curricular unit called Stitching the Loop with electronic textiles which introduce high school students to key concepts in crafting, circuit design and computing. Our principles were to design for (1) engagement by promoting interest-driven designs; (2) expression by putting aesthetics first; (3) depth by developing challenging content within constraints; (4) multiple experiences for providing opportunities for practice; (5) audience by sharing designs; (6) collaboration by having students help other students; (7)

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Putting Making into High School Computer Science Classrooms: Promoting Equity in Teaching and Learning with Electronic Textiles in Exploring Computer Science

Publications

Recent discussions of making have focused on developing out-of-school makerspaces and activities to provide more equitable and enriching learning opportunities for youth. Yet school classrooms present a unique opportunity to help broaden access, diversify representation, and deepen participation in making. In turning to classrooms, we want to understand the crucial practices that teachers employ in broadening and deepening access to making. In this article, we investigate two high school teachers' approaches in implementing a novel eight-week, electronic textiles unit within the Exploring

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Growing Designs with biomakerlab in High School Classrooms

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We report on the development and implementation of biomakerlab, a wetlab starter kit for synthetic biology activities in K-12. In synthetic biology, participants make their own DNA—gene by gene—and then grow their designs into real applications by inserting them into microorganisms to develop different traits and characteristics provided by the genes. High school students worked with biomakerlab to make logo designs using microorganisms they manipulated to produce differently colored pigments. Our analysis focuses on student engagement with production activities and design challenges in

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Debugging open-ended designs: High school students’ perceptions of failure and success in an electronic textiles design activity

Publications

Research on productive failure has examined the dimensions which are most beneficial for students’ learning of well-defined canonical problems in math and science. But failure plays an equally important role in solving open-ended, or ill-defined, design problems that have become prominent in many STEM-oriented maker activities. In understanding the role of failure in openended design tasks, we draw on Kapur’s conceptualization of productive failure and connect it to research on the role of construction in learning. We report on findings from an eight-week long workshop with 16 high school

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