Designing to Lead in Science, Engineering, and Technology: Third Spaces for Collaborative Social Practice

• In Event: 52.085 - Poster Session 10
  In Poster Session: 52.085-9 - Out-of-School Time SIG Poster Session

Abstract

SET professionals are expected to negotiate, communicate, and cooperate to achieve individual and collective work goals. The purpose of this paper is describe the extent to which the Techbridge program design and local practice foster interactional practices, individual agency, and cooperative dispositions vital to leadership in SET. The author utilizes “third space” as a conceptual tool to address the research question with preliminary results from a case study of Techbridge’s OST learning community. Initial findings suggest that Techbridge designs for developing collaborative social practices explicitly in the curriculum units and activities implemented in program, in participant structures (Phillips, 1972) used to coordinate program activity, and in the interpersonal interactions between staff and participants that illustrate facilitated empowerment.

Author

• Sarah Taylor Hug, University of Colorado - Boulder