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

国家需要扩大在非正规科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)教育中学习编码和计算思维的机会。STEM学科越来越需要这些技能。随着年轻人学习编程，他们参与了计算思维概念和实践，这是包括重复过程(迭代)设计技能在内的问题解决策略。该项目通过设计和开发修补空间(一个充满了STEM实践探索材料的空间)的活动，并结合博物馆和社区中心等非正式学习组织的编码来促进创新。该项目支持将修补和制作作为有意义地将计算思维纳入STEM学习经验的方法。修修补补的学习方法的特点是动手、尝试和犯错。与与同龄人一起学习的额外注意力的修修补补类似。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方案编制工作。该项目汇集了来自科罗拉多大学博尔德大学(CU Boulder)信息科学系、探索博物馆的修补工作室和麻省理工学院终身幼儿园研究小组的跨学科团队。在与当地合作伙伴网站的合作下，项目团队将设计和传播六个计算修补活动领域的集合，这些活动领域将结合使用物理对象和计算代码来吸引学习者进行创造性探索。该团队将为每个活动区开发可视化编码“微观世界”，即专门设计的编码块集合，以提供脚手架。此外，项目组将设计和编写促进指南，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建造和修整空间。该项目通过调查非正规教育者需要什么教学支持来制定有效的促进做法，使代表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，他们具有不同的背景和促进计算机活动的经验。项目组还将通过与社区合作伙伴的协作努力，吸引来自代表性不足群体的青年和家庭。研究问题包括：1)非正式学习教育者在让他们的学习者参与基于设计的计算活动时面临哪些挑战和障碍？2)什么支持非正式学习教育者采取关键的促进实践，支持儿童和家庭在计算修补活动中提供支持？3)在共同参与这些计算修补活动时，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认同？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地方的学习者和促进者之间发展中的互动。还将利用对各当地合作伙伴站点的促进者的比较案例研究，来审查是什么支持促进者采取关键的促进做法。数据来源将包括参与者对主持人和家庭的观察，以照片、视频和录音形式记录的文件，项目人工制品，带有反思提示的双月一次的简短调查，以及对主持人和家属的访谈。该奖项由推进非正式STEM学习计划(AISL)资助，该计划旨在促进对非正式环境中STEM学习的设计和发展的新方法和基于证据的理解。这包括提供多种途径来扩大获得和参与STEM学习经验的途径。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.