Tinkering and Making Strategies to Engage Children and Families in Creating with Code

国家需要在非正式的科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）教育中扩大学习编码和计算思维的机会。STEM学科越来越需要这些技能。当年轻人学习编程时，他们会参与计算思维概念和实践，这些概念和实践是解决问题的策略，包括重复过程（迭代）设计技能。该项目通过设计和开发修补空间（一个充满STEM实践探索材料的空间）活动，结合博物馆和社区中心等非正式学习型组织的编码活动，促进创新。该项目支持修补和制作两种方法，将计算思维有意义地融入STEM学习体验。修修补补式学习的特点是亲身实践、不断尝试和犯错。制作类似于修补与同伴群体学习的额外关注。该项目的长期目标是使非正规教育工作者能够与来自代表性不足群体的青年和家庭一起参与STEM编程。该项目汇集了来自科罗拉多大学博尔德分校信息科学系的跨学科团队、探索馆的修补工作室和麻省理工学院的终身幼儿园研究小组。通过与当地合作伙伴网站的合作，项目团队将设计并传播六个计算修补活动区域的集合，让学习者使用物理对象和计算代码的组合进行创造性探索。该团队将为每个活动区域开发可视化编码“微世界”，专门的编码块集旨在提供脚手架。此外，项目团队将设计和制定促进指南，以记录这些活动和促进战略，并举办讲习班，以更好地支持促进者制作和修补空间。该项目通过调查非正规教育工作者需要什么样的教学支持来制定有效的促进实践，让代表性不足的青年和家庭参与STEM计算学习体验，从而加强知识建设。研究参与者将包括博物馆、图书馆和社区环境中的非正式教育工作者，他们具有促进计算机活动的不同背景和经验。项目小组还将通过与社区合作伙伴的合作，让代表性不足群体的青年和家庭参与进来。研究问题包括：1)非正式学习教育者在让学习者参与基于设计的计算机活动时面临哪些挑战和障碍？2)是什么支持非正式学习教育者采取关键的促进实践，支持儿童和家庭进行计算机修补活动？3)在共同参与这些计算修补活动的过程中，这些活动和非正式学习教育者对这些活动的促进如何影响儿童和家庭对计算修补的发展以及作为计算创造者和学习者的身份？为了回答这些研究问题，该项目将使用定性的民族志方法来研究三个当地站点的学习者和促进者之间发展中的互动。还将使用对当地合作伙伴站点的促进者的比较案例研究来检查是什么支持促进者采取关键的促进实践。数据来源将包括对辅导员和家庭的参与性观察，以照片、视频和录音形式的文件，项目工件，双月一次的带有反思性提示的简短调查，以及对辅导员和家庭的采访。该奖项由推进非正式STEM学习（AISL）计划资助，该计划旨在推进非正式环境中STEM学习的设计和开发的新方法和基于证据的理解。这包括提供多种途径，以扩大获得和参与STEM学习体验的机会。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

There is a national need to expand opportunities to learn coding and computational thinking in informal science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. These skills are increasingly needed in STEM disciplines. As young people learn to code, they engage in computational thinking concepts and practices which are problem solving strategies that include repeated process (iterative) design skills. This project promotes innovation by designing and developing activities for tinkering spaces (a space filled with materials for hands-on exploration of STEM) combined with coding in informal learning organizations such as museums, and community centers. The project supports both tinkering and making as methods to meaningfully incorporate computational thinking in STEM learning experiences. The tinkering approach to learning is characterized by hands-on, trial and error engagement. Making is similar to tinkering with additional attention to learning with peer groups. The long-term goal of the project is to enable informal educators to engage in STEM programming with youth and families from underrepresented groups. The project brings together interdisciplinary teams from the Department of Information Science at the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder), the Tinkering Studio at the Exploratorium, and the Lifelong Kindergarten research group at the Massachusetts Institution of Technology. In collaboration with local partner sites, the project team will design and disseminate a collection of six computational tinkering activity areas that engage learners in creative explorations using a combination of physical objects and computational code. The team will develop visual coding "microworlds" for each of the activity areas, specialized sets of coding blocks designed to provide scaffolding. Additionally, the project team will design and develop facilitation guides to document these activities and facilitation strategies, as well as workshops to better support facilitators in making and tinkering spaces. The project enhances knowledge building through investigations of what instructional supports informal educators need to develop effective facilitation practices that engage underrepresented youth and families in STEM computational learning experiences. Study participants will include informal educators in museum, library, and community-based settings with varying backgrounds and experiences facilitating computing activities. The project team will also engage youth and families from underrepresented groups through collaborative efforts with community-based partners. Research questions include: 1) What challenges and barriers do informal learning educator, face to engage their learners in design-based activities with computing? 2) What supports informal learning educators to take on key facilitation practices that support children and families in computational tinkering activities? 3) In jointly engaging in these computational tinkering activities, how do the activities and informal learning educators’ facilitation of these activities impact children’s and families’ development of computational tinkering and identities as creators and learners with computing? To answer these research questions the project will use qualitative ethnographic methods to study the developing interactions between learners and facilitators at three local sites. Comparative case studies of facilitators across the local partner sites will also be used to examine what supports facilitators to take on key facilitation practices. Data sources will include participant observation of facilitators and families, documentation in the form of photos, videos, and audio recordings, project artifacts, bi-monthly short surveys with reflective prompts, and interviews with facilitators and families. This award is funded by the Advancing Informal STEM Learning (AISL) program, which seeks to advance new approaches to, and evidence-based understanding of, the design and development of STEM learning in informal environments. This includes providing multiple pathways for broadening access to and engagement in STEM learning experiences.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.