Sewing Electronics in Class: Improving Middle School Students' Science Learning

• In Event: The Use of Maker Spaces and Computer Simulations to Enhance Student Engagement and Assessment

Abstract

Most interventions with “maker” technologies take place outside school or out of core area classrooms. Yet intervening in schools holds potential for reaching broad numbers of students as well as the opportunity to shift dynamics in classrooms. Using a quasi-experimental design, this study investigate the impact of one such intervention where electronic textiles were introduced into four 8th grade science classes while the other four classes undertook a traditional circuitry unit. Students in e-textiles unit showed improvements relating to their friends’, families,’ and teacher’s interest in their science learning. Findings suggest that e-textile making provide opportunities for connections outside of the classroom with friends and family and may shift students’ perceptions of their teacher’s beliefs about them more positively.

Authors

• Jiangyue Gu, Utah State University

• Colby Tofel-Grehl, Utah State University

• Deborah A. Fields, Utah State University

• Chongning Sun, Utah State University

• Cathy Ann Maahs-Fladung, East Carolina University