A Context for Advancing Theory, Design, and Assessment in the Learning Sciences

• In Event: 34.079 - Interactive Stitch Sampler of Equitable Learning and Teaching With E-Textiles in K–12 Education

Abstract

OBJECTIVE & PERSPECTIVES. The Creativity Labs at Indiana University has investigated the educational potential of e-textiles for over a decade (e.g., Peppler, 2010; Buechley, Peppler, Eisenberg, & Kafai, 2013; Peppler & Glosson, 2013; Peppler, 2016a; Peppler, 2016b; Peppler & Wohlwend, 2017). This work presented e-textiles as a generative catalyst for theorizing learning from the vantage point of the material (Buchholz, Shively, Peppler, & Wohlwend, 2014; Tan, Keune, & Peppler, 2016), designing standards-aligned curricula (Peppler, Gresalfi, Salen Tekinbaș & Santo, 2014; Peppler, Salen Tekinbaș, Gresalfi, & Santo, 2014), and developing playful assessments of learning in e-textiles (e.g., Peppler & Glosson, 2013).
METHODS & DATA. Retracing research on e-textiles at the intersection of arts, creativity, and technology design, this poster presents a thematic analysis of cross-cutting concerns and productive paths that could continue to advance theory, design, and assessment of learning through e-textiles. Across the past and current body of research by the Creativity Labs, we selected publications and current research projects that relate to electronic textiles from our repository. The work includes 19 peer-reviewed publications, including work that showed e-textiles as context for circuitry learning, development of new leadership roles for girls, and innovative pedagogical activities for learning. We thematically captured future research directions that were made possible by e-textiles and how they connect to an overarching research agenda. Building on key tenets of the Learning Sciences, we traced opportunities for future directions related to theory, design, and assessment of learning.
FINDINGS. A range of questions emerged that are worth exploring as e-textiles leaps toward a new era. The Learning Sciences have traditionally considered materials as mediators of learning. E-textiles directed us to question this and consider how craft-driven materials could become drivers of educational theory, design, and assessment that build on the tool’s inherent disciplinary connections. Theoretically, e-textiles call to consider how materially-driven inquiries expand on cognitive approaches to learning and the role of materials in learning across settings. Taking learning as a materially-driven activity, open questions relate to how to leverage generative aspects of soft materials and traditional crafts to support cross-cutting curriculum design. A third research program that past and current work on e-textiles made salient is related to assessment. To sustain the use and spread of creative soft-technologies, we need to consider large-scale automated assessments that are equitable and reliable and identify how creative expressions with technologies connect to future educational and professional opportunities.
SIGNIFICANCE. E-textiles are a particularly well suited context for radically advancing understanding of learning. Fostering the three research programs that emerged from the study of e-textiles has broader implications for integrating emerging and innovative technologies into learning settings by building on the unique possibilities these tools bring to the study of learning and development.

Authors

• Kylie A. Peppler, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Anna Keune, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Naomi Thompson, Indiana University - Bloomington

• Sophia Bender, Indiana University - Bloomington