Bounded Autonomy: Students' Maker Learning Experiences in Public High School English Inquiry Units

• In Event: 66.034 - The Design of Making Environments

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore students’ maker learning experiences in the Pre-AP English Language Arts inquiry units in a public high school. Thirty students, two teachers, and two school librarians participated in a case study. Multiple data sources included interviews, field notes, and maker artifacts. The results revealed tensions between fostering student autonomy and constraints within the school curriculum and the structure of the inquiry units, as well as students’ abilities to direct their own learning. Educators’ scaffolding played a significant role in helping students overcome challenges and pushing them out of their comfort zone. The study proposes bounded autonomy as a useful concept to bridge interest-based learning and standards-based learning.

Authors

• Xun Ge, The University of Oklahoma

• Kyungwon Koh, The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

• John Chancey, University of Oklahoma

• Kathryn Lewis, Norman Public Schools

• Shirley Simmons, Norman Public Schools

• Lee B. Nelson, Norman Public Schools, University of Central Oklahoma

• Janessa Doucette, Norman Public Schools