Supporting American Indian Students' Identity Work Through Culturally Hybrid Computing With Electronic Textiles

• In Event: 72.052 - Indigenous Students Navigating Identity, Motivation, and Epistemology in Education: A Fireside Chat

Abstract

This paper reports on the experiences of 36 American Indian youth using electronic textiles. Research questions focused on (1) what kinds of design activities with e-textiles best connected to existing community cultural practices and to student interests and (2) how students conducted identity work while engaged with e-textiles materials. I develop an approach to teaching computing that I call culturally hybrid computing and argue that it can play a role not only in leveraging cultural practices but also in sustaining/revitalizing those practices and supporting students’ identity work. Findings show that attention not only to cultural content but also to pedagogy and providing space for creativity and personalization within a constrained design task opened up spaces of possibility for students.

Author

• Kristin Anne Searle, Utah State University