EAGER: MAKER: Play in the Making: Supporting Design Thinking in Maker Spaces among Underrepresented, Underserved, and Minority Students through Game Design

这项为期两年的探索性研究项目的目标是开发一种基于经验的教学模式，以扩大女孩、少数民族和低收入中学生在STEM中的参与，并通过游戏设计来实现。该模型将围绕一系列设计挑战，让中学生使用Maker空间中提供的低技术和高科技工具来解决具有个人和社会意义的现实世界问题。虽然游戏设计被认为是STEM学习的一种潜在的强大手段，但它最常用于向儿童介绍编程。我们还没有探索将制作游戏作为一种增强设计思维和启发其他制作形式的手段的潜力。在Maker Spaces中，制作游戏并不是一项常见的活动，但游戏制作是一项吸引广泛年轻人的活动。游戏设计可能是吸引年轻人的一种方式，他们可能会发现更典型的创客空间活动令人生畏或没有吸引力。这个项目将为进一步探索来自代表性不足背景的年轻人从游戏设计到其他形式的制作和STEM学习的途径奠定基础。项目领导将与六名导师(3名教师和3名图书管理员)合作，在正式和非正式的学习环境中迭代地设计、测试和改进设计挑战。学生将参与设计思维过程，强调移情作用和理解人类需求是有效设计的核心。他们将被介绍给各种工具，从纸基和纸板结构到电子纺织品、编程和机器人，因为他们参与了移情、定义、原型和测试的设计周期。家长将被邀请作为信息者、合作设计者和用户测试者参与设计过程的不同阶段，以支持学生的学习和制作过程。将作为该项目的一部分为学生制定的教学战略将为如何在Maker背景下设计和组织活动，为学生创造更具包容性的学习体验提供信息。此外，该项目还将探索导师在制作和设计思维方面需要哪些支持机制，以有效地促进学生的学习和制作。这个项目的结果将阐明参与结构，这些结构对于建立一个Maker社区非常重要，在这个社区中，学生、教育工作者和家长作为学校和图书馆的学习伙伴共同工作。这个项目是NSF的Maker Dear Coreat Letter(DCL)投资组合(NSF 15-086)的一部分，该投资组合由计算机与信息科学与工程(CEISE)、教育与人力资源(EHR)和工程(ENG)的董事合作投资。

The goal of this two-year exploratory research project is to develop an empirically-based teaching and learning model for broadening participation of girls, minority, and low-income middle school students in STEM and Making through game design. The model will center around a series of design challenges that engage middle school students in solving personally and socially significant real world problems using low and high-tech tools that are available in Maker spaces. While game design has been recognized as a potentially powerful means of STEM learning, it has been most commonly used to introduce children to programming. We have yet to explore the potential of making games as a means of enhancing design thinking and inspiring other forms of Making. Making games is not a common activity in Maker spaces, yet game making is an activity that appeals to a wide range of young people. Game design may be a way to attract youth who might find more typical Maker space activities to be intimidating or unappealing. This project will lay the foundation for further inquiry into the pathways that young people from underrepresented backgrounds might take from game design into other forms of Making and STEM learning.The project leadership will collaborate with six mentors (3 teachers and 3 librarians) to iteratively design, test, and refine design challenges in a formal and informal learning environment. Students will engage in the design thinking process that emphasizes the role of empathy and understanding human needs as central to effective design. They will be introduced to a variety of tools ranging from paper-based and cardboard construction to e-textiles, programming, and robotics as they participate in design cycles of empathizing, defining, prototyping, and testing. Parents will be invited to participate in different stages of the design process as informants, co-designers, and user testers to support students' learning and Making process. The pedagogical strategies that will be developed as part of the project for students will inform ways to design and organize activities in the Maker context to create more inclusive learning experiences for students. Furthermore, the project will explore what support mechanisms mentors need in regard to Making and design thinking to effectively facilitate students' learning and Making. The results from this project will illuminate participation structures that are important to build a Maker community where students, educators, and parents work together as learning partners in schools and libraries. This project is a part of NSF's Maker Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) portfolio (NSF 15-086), a collaborative investment of Directorates for Computer & Information Science & Engineering (CISE), Education and Human Resources (EHR) and Engineering (ENG).