Abstract
Most interventions with “maker” technologies take place outside of school or out of core area classrooms. However, intervening in schools holds potential for reaching much larger numbers of students and the opportunity to shift instructional dynamics in classrooms. This paper shares one such intervention where electronic textiles (sewable circuits) were introduced into eighth grade science classes with the intent of exploring possible gains in student learning and motivation, particularly for underrepresented minorities. Using a quasi-experimental design, four classes engaged in a traditional circuitry unit while the other four classes undertook a new e-textile unit. Overall, students in both groups demonstrated significant learning gains on standard test items without significant differences between conditions. Significant differences appeared between groups’ attitudes toward science after the units in ways that show increasing interest in science by students in the e-textile unit. In particular, they reported positive identity shifts pertaining to their perceptions of the beliefs of their friends, family, and teacher. Findings and prior research suggest that student-created e-textile designs provide opportunities for connections outside of the classroom with friends and family and may shift students’ perceptions of their teacher’s beliefs about them more positively.
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Notes
Eighth grade science at MHMS is taught by two teachers responsible for four sections each. One teacher has stronger content expertise in physical sciences and the other has stronger content expertise in life sciences. As a standard practice to maximize their collective impact, the teachers switch sections midway through the Spring term to cover units dedicated to their respective areas of strength. Thus, the same teacher taught all eight sections for the electricity unit. Two sections primarily assigned to each teacher were selected arbitrarily and assigned to the treatment condition, and the remaining two from each teacher were assigned to the control condition.
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Tofel-Grehl, C., Fields, D., Searle, K. et al. Electrifying Engagement in Middle School Science Class: Improving Student Interest Through E-textiles. J Sci Educ Technol 26, 406–417 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-017-9688-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-017-9688-y