"You Can Actually Feel It Happening": Examining the Materiality of Learning Computing Through Tangible Matrix-Based Fiber Crafts

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 3
  In Roundtable Session: Materiality, Embodiment, and Learning

Abstract

Tangible computational manipulatives present a promising approach for addressing the continuing lopsided gender representation of women in computing. However, they are typically based on blocks that are associated with male practices. It remains under-researched how tangible fiber crafts, which are associated with the history and future of computing, can become tangible manipulatives for computer science learning. This qualitative study fuses constructionist and posthuman perspectives on learning to investigate how two matrix-based fiber crafts materials can drive computational learning during middle school craft courses. The work presents materials as non-neutral and active players in unfolding computational learning, which has implications for the design of equitable computational manipulatives and theorizing learning.

Authors

• Anna Keune, Institute of Education - Ruhr-Universität Bochum

• Kylie A. Peppler, University of California - Irvine