EAGER: BP: WeJam: A Feasibility Study of Programmable Instrument Design to Broaden Participation in Computing

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Tufts University will explore the feasibility of engineering instruments for audio composition to broaden participation in computing and engineering design. The Tufts project staff, in collaboration with Dr. Rebecca Fiebrink at Goldsmiths College, University of London, will investigate how participation in the development and use of a programmable instrument construction toolkit for audio composition and accompanying pedagogy can increase interest, engagement, and learning by underrepresented youth females, African-Americans, and Latinos in computing and physical engineering. The team will develop and evaluate physical and virtual kits that enable teens to design and build their own physical input devices, then to program electronic synthesizers that translate manipulations of those devices into audio compositions. WeJam uses design-based research, incorporating methods from participatory design and the learning sciences, to investigate how to refine these tools and the pedagogical activities that draw upon them in order to maximize interest, enjoyment, and learning by the target populations.