This grant focused on introducing American Indian youth, along with their teachers and families, in two different communities in the Southwest to culturally responsive maker activities and spaces. We developed new models of STEM learning by examining activity designs that situate making within local communities and combine high-low technologies with heritage craft practices. Our approach centered on various design activities whereby students could design, make and share the outcomes of their work with a broader awareness towards the social, cultural, ethical, and environmental impact of their maker designs. 

We pursued an iterative approach in the development, implementation, and research of culturally-responsive maker activities. First, we invested significant efforts to develop and extend relationships and build trust with Indigenous communities. We obtained tribal council approval for our work from the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian community and IRB approval from the Navajo Nation Human Research Review Board. We also partnered with the Ute Mountain Ute tribe in White Mesa, Utah and the Title VI program across three school districts in Northern Utah to establish maker activities and a mobile makerspace there. Second, we co-designed and set up a makerspace in a school library at a tribally-controlled charter school in Arizona and examined which access points and activities worked best for the community. As part of the high school makerspace, we conducted professional development workshops with teachers and aides where we introduced activities which used recyclable materials to make something that represented a significant place in their lives. We also implemented several family making nights to introduce parents and their children to maker activities such as 3D printer pens, Ozobot robots, and paper circuit activities. Finally, we implemented three game design workshops across multiple contexts in which youth experimented with place-based game making in their communities and captured local stories, such as those behind a series of large metal sculptures in the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian community.

As part of our research, we also documented students? experiences and reflections working with activities. Our research conducted over the course of five years illustrates the ways in which making can provide important contributions to the fields of educational technology, learning sciences, engineering, arts, and American Indian education. It provides insights into how making activities and makerspaces can both promote STEM content and connect to cultural practices in local communities. Of particular importance is the way in which place- and narrative-based making activities open up spaces for both heritage culture and contemporary Indigenous culture. We also found that pedagogical strategies such as collaborative group work and pair programming allowed us to provide culturally responsive instruction even when participants? projects were not explicitly culturally connected.  Further, our research has elucidated some of the limitations of current programming platforms for novice users, such as ARIS and RPG Maker. Our models of culturally responsive making build upon skills that already exist in specific Indigenous communities and help community members see that elements of local knowledge systems, especially place-based knowledge and narrative traditions, connect with 21st century learning skills. In fact, they value many of the same principles: thinking creatively, reasoning systematically, and working collaboratively. As youth engage in culturally responsive making activities, they learn how community-based practices are connected to computational thinking. In addition, they learn about how relevant engineering and computing are to contemporary tribal decision-making issues and assist communities in understanding how best to support their young people on a STEM trajectory and why STEM careers matter.

In terms of dissemination, we have presented our design and findings at various conferences such as FabLearn 2017 in Palo Alto, CA, AERA 2018 in New York City, NY, ICLS 2018 in London, UK, the 2018 Connected Learning Summit in Cambridge, MA, AERA 2019 in Toronto, Canada, the 2019 Connected Learning Summit in Irvine, CA, ICLS 2020 (virtual). We have published several journal articles from this work in The International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction and the British Journal of Educational Technology. We also present annually to the Navajo Nation Human Research Review Board and follow their suggestions for dissemination of our research to Navajo Nation stakeholders.  

Last Modified: 11/14/2021
Modified by: Kristin Searle