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Engineering for Sustainable Communities (EfSC): Equitable Access to Making for Marginalized Students in Middle School

Mon, April 16, 8:15 to 9:45am, Millennium Broadway New York Times Square, Floor: Seventh Floor, Room 7.04

Abstract

Objectives

The maker movement promises to “democratize STEM education” (Martin, 2015). Maker-clubs have proliferated in informal programs and are gaining ground in K-12 classrooms. However, there is a lack of representation in the voices contributing towards the evolution of an inclusive maker culture. We present a framework- Engineering for Sustainable Communities (EfSC)- for engaging in engineering/making with middle school youth that actively broadens and recruits diverse stakeholders in the process. We ask: How does an EfSC framing of engineering/making in the middle school classroom impact youths’ making process and made artifacts in equitably-consequential ways?

Theoretical Framework

We draw from Mobilities of Learning and Equitably-Consequential Making principles. The former takes an expansive view of learning, where learning involves both vertical and horizontal movement, and takes form as ideas, tools and practices are re-authored and re-mixed towards new possibilities for becoming in-practice across setting and over time (Engeström & Sannino, 2010; Gutiérrez, 2012). Equitably-Consequential Making calls for critical, connected and collective engagement (Calabrese Barton, Tan & Greenberg, 2017). EfSC problem solving was grounded in disciplinary and community knowledge and practices promoting equity by valuing multiple perspectives.

Methods

We engaged in critical ethnography to expose, critique and transform inequalities associated with social structures that are consequential and fundamental dimensions of research and analysis (Calabrese Barton, 2001). Data generated during a "How can I make my classroom more sustainable" unit in six middle school classrooms across seven weeks included field notes, video recordings of class sessions, student and teacher interviews, and student artifacts. Data were analyzed in the grounded theory tradition, using a constant comparative approach (Straus & Corbin, 1998).

Findings & Significance

The EfSC framework impacted youths’ making process by giving voice to problems adults had not resolved (e.g., not having a lock on the door to the classroom bathroom). EfSC strongly impacted made artifacts in equitably-consequential ways as evidenced by 1) observed participatory practices, and 2) the importance teachers gave to student innovations by including them in classroom curriculum (e.g., an LED light circuit to signal the bathroom was occupied, powered by a solar cell when the bathroom light was on).

EfSC challenges and expands what it means to be an engineer, connecting engineering practice to communities. In addition to focusing on the technical problem-solving dimensions of engineering, EfSC also focuses on the needs and rights of communities. EfSC includes community-based forms of research as part of the design process. It requires engineers to ask, “Who is the project for? Whose knowledge counts? Who takes part in problem definition, data collection, and analysis? Who takes action?” (Hollander, 2010, p. 8). Using specific student projects (e.g., a green energy powered light-up desk, a canteen signaling system to help student movement at recess), we illustrate how an EfSC framework expanded what it meant to make/engineer as related to the more expansive resources, stakeholders and processes made legitimate as a result. We discuss how EfSC supports equitably-consequential making for youth from non-dominant backgrounds and implications for striving for a more inclusive maker culture.

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