Designing Tactile Picture Books: Critical Making in Libraries to Broaden Participation in STEM Education and Careers

• In Event: 21.056 - Creating a Diverse and Data-Capable Workforce Through Innovative STEM Programs

Abstract

The Build a Better Book project engages youth in an authentic, empathy-driven design experience in which they develop and create multimodal products that communicate information in different ways and for different audiences. The overarching purpose of the project is to heighten diverse learners’ interest in and awareness of STEM careers by involving them in a meaningful design and fabrication experience. The ‘hook’ for engaging diverse learners, including many participants from populations underrepresented in STEM, is connecting them with a real-world need: the creation of inclusive, multimodal learning materials for children and youth who are blind or visually impaired. These products, including books, games, STEM graphics and other learning tools, combine tactile and auditory information with text and braille in order to communicate information, including data, content, and stories, to diverse audiences.

Our research, grounded in theories of critical making and multimodal literacy, examines the effectiveness of two curricular models implemented in classrooms and public library Makerspaces. Making activities have potential to engage youth in compelling, creative investigations, develop the STEM workforce by building creative problem-solving skills and positive STEM identities, and broaden participation in STEM fields (Vossoughi & Bevan 2014; Martin 2015). There is evidence that making supports students to develop confidence and persistence, demonstrate improved problem solving and creative thinking skills, and develop new ways of viewing themselves and their STEM capacities (Bowler 2014; Vossoughi & Bevan 2014; Martin 2015).

Our research project engages learners (ages 10-18) in the design and fabrication of multimodal learning materials through classroom and library Makerspace workshops, and examines how the conditions and context surrounding the intervention influence its effectiveness in sparking and sustaining students’ interest in STEM fields. During a series of Build a Better Book workshops, students participate in empathy-building and immersive tactile activities to better understand the needs of their end users. In developing their design plan, students determine the salient features of the information they plan to transcribe, select the tools and technologies that will enable them to communicate this information most effectively, and iteratively build and improve their design using feedback from others. Student-designed multimodal products span a wide range of disciplines and formats, including a tactile laser cut topographic map of a local creek bed, an interactive game about the Kepler telescope and a 3D printed graphing tool.

The project team uses a variety of data sources, including pre/post-surveys, participant focus groups and facilitator interviews, to identify the strategies and practices that increase the efficacy and impact of the Build a Better Book model across different contexts.

Authors

• Stacey Forsyth, University of Colorado Boulder

• ChangChia James Liu, New York Hall of Science