Making With Math: Extending a Mathematical Play Framework to Informal Makerspaces

• In Event: Making, Playing, Learning: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives

Abstract

This study investigated how two components of mathematical play, failure and feedback, manifested among group members engaged in a making task. The activity consists of two phases: 1) using masking tape to place a path across the room; and 2) programming the robot Dash to travel on the tape path made by another group. We found that group members relied upon social and perceptual indicators of feedback and failure to develop micro-goals within the broader goal of each phase. In the discussion, we described how these findings extend and strengthen the mathematical play framework into the context of making tasks.

Authors

• Nihal Katirci, University of Maryland - College Park

• Ekta Shokeen, University of Maryland

• Caroline "Caro" Cassie-Marie Williams-Pierce, University of Maryland, College Park

• Amber Simpson, Binghamton University - SUNY