Focusing on Community for Black and Latina Girls While Making at Home

• In Event: Moving Making to Online and Homes Spaces: Lessons for Maker Education

Abstract

Objectives or purposes: Our project seeks to design and provide high-quality out-of-school STEAM programming to 4-8th grade girls, and in particular, Black and Latina girls. We also employ STEAM mentors who are primarily Black and Brown high school and college-aged women to facilitate learning. In this work, we ask the research question: What lessons can we learn about facilitating online STEAM activities and building community for learners?

Theoretical framework: We take a sociocultural understanding of learning (e.g., Lave & Wenger, 1991), in that learning happens through participation in communities. We also take the perspective that learning takes place across multiple contexts such as home, school, and community, and in interactions with peers and adults (Barron, 2006). In addition, due to gendered racism that still exists in STEM environments, we hold that we must create counterspaces: or safe spaces where Black and Latina learners can learn in community with others (Ong et al., 2017).

Methods and Data Sources: This work builds on reflective practices and testimonial authority (Collins, 2019) of program designers and researchers reflecting upon youth participation and design iterations implemented during the 2020-2021 program year. A crucial part of the design of our program is our online learning platform that organizes activities and allows learners to share their projects, view and comment on others’ work, and to receive feedback from mentors and other caring adults.

Results: A few significant constraints persisted in supporting learning through making and design online. For example, for learners to learn together while at home, it was necessary to ensure learners had access to required materials and supplies, leading to the logistical challenge of managing material distribution across a large geographical context. We also identified motivating learners to attend live sessions and encouraging learners to turn their cameras on during workshops as constraints throughout the year. One learner in particular, Marnie, helped us to realize that live, virtual sessions, regardless of the content may not be appealing or engaging to some learners. We sought other ways to support Marnie’s learning, such as delivering materials for a special, more advanced project to work on with the support of her parents at home.

Significance: Thus, we acknowledge that our program must focus as much on community-building and connections to a wide range of opportunities as on the content that is delivered through virtual sessions. Some virtual sessions were designed to facilitate relationship and community building rather than content goals; these sessions allowed mentors to learn more about the learners’ interests and to design activities and discussions around these interests in flexible and playful ways. Other recent work from this project demonstrated that connecting with families through multiple modes of communication such as email, SMS, and phone calls helped keep families informed of program updates and events. Moving forward, we have learned that attending to technology availability and designing for flexible pacing, multiple modes of engagement, and space to socialize and play are crucial in creating an environment where making and learning at home can thrive.

Authors

• Naomi Thompson, Northwestern University

• Miranda Standberry-Wallace, DePaul University

• Shai Moore, Northwestern University

• Evelyn Flores, DePaul University

• Bo Ju, DePaul University

• Nichole Pinkard, Northwestern University

• Denise Nacu, DePaul University

• Sheena Erete, DePaul University