Techno-Vernacular Creativity in Underrepresented Communities of Practice

Techno-Vernacular Creativity inUnderrepresented Communities ofPracticeNettrice R. Gaskins, Digital Media Ph.D. CandidateSchool of Literature, Media & Communication, Georgia Tech

Definition• Techno-vernacular creativity refers to cultural art forms made and organized by indigenous (also “digital native”) communities for their own entertainment. These forms generally evolve out of urban spaces and are social in nature, encouraging interaction.

Contents• Introduction• Research Question• Research Aims• Thesis Statement• Background & Context• Prior Work in Interest & Motivation• Research Design (abbreviated)

Introduction• Techno-vernacular creativity provides a techno- cultural lens that can be used to interpret creative, culturally situated works by URM communities of practice presented to us in a way that makes clear their affinity with deeper concepts.

Theoretical Framework• Techno-vernacular creativity addresses culture, creativity and innovation in historically underrepresented communities of practice. The three methods of production are redeployment, reconception, and re-creation.

Guillermo Bert’s Encoded TextilesRedeployment, or the “process by which the material andsymbolic power of technology is reinterpreted but maintainsits traditional use and physical form.”

Symphony 505Reconception, or the “active redefinition of a technology thattransgresses that technology’s designed function anddominant meaning.”

Grandmaster Flash’s Cross-FaderRe-creation, or the redesign and production of a new materialartifact after an existing form or function have been rejected.

Problem• Research shows that while URM enrollment in postsecondary schools is increasing, and these students are more engaged in technologies such as mobile applications and vernacular art production such as graffiti, STEM achievement of these students continues to decrease.

STEM to STEAM (STEM + Art)• I co-facilitated an Augmented Reality mural project as part of ISEA2012. Participants learned about and related cultural heritage designs to their everyday lives; used software to translate the math principles embodied in their designs; and created an interactive mural.

Primary Research Question• Does techno-vernacular creativity within informal learning environments (ILE) increase interest and motivation in underrepresented minorities with low participation in STEM?

Thesis Statement• The underlying premise of this work is that techno- vernacular creativity can play an important role in helping URMs generate the interest and motivation they need to engage in STEM concepts.• To investigate this theory I propose to design a model that builds on successful and proven methods in three key areas.

Culturally Situated LearningIdentity Self Construction: Indigenous cultures creativelyimprovise with cultural materials, to find personal meaning.

Art-Based LearningAdaptation: Indigenous cultures have always been creatingnew forms, incorporating ideas and symbols into their art.

Mobile Web & D.I.Y. TechnologyTransformation: Indigenous cultures transform technology indialogue with new places, creating new traditions & practices.

Research Aims• Identify elements to be used for the design of a learning intervention in an informal learning setting which relates to wider social, educational and environmental issues (ex. cultural historical).• Build an model to increase interest and motivation in STEM among URMs who, as research shows, are increasingly disengaged and unmotivated in STEM.

Cultural & Historical Context• This study uses a cultural-historical perspective on how URM individuals and groups learn offers a way to move beyond the assumption that characteristics of cultural groups are homogeneous and solely located within individuals.

Prior Work in Interest & Motivation• Interest is defined as a) the state of heightened affect for a subject and b) the predisposition to re-engage the subject again.• Motivation is used to describe the will to succeed across multiple contexts, interest is not necessarily focused on achievement and is always linked to particular concepts or ideas.

Prior Work in Interest & MotivationInterest• Bell, et al., 2009• Hidi & Renninger, 2006• Renninger, et al., 2008Motivation• Dweck, 2000• Deci & Ryan, 2000• Falk & Storksdieck, 2005

Theory of ChangeDeveloped with Tom McKlin of The Findings Group, LLC.

Research DesignModified “Systems Model of Action-Research Process” developed by Prokopenya Viktor.

Planning: Phase One• Goal: To investigate techno-vernacular creativity with professional artists, learning sciences experts, and STEM learning experts.

Cultural Heritage + Art + STEM

Action: Phase Two• Goal: To build an instructional model (toolkit) to increase interest and motivation among URMs with low participation in STEM.

Cultural Scaffolding

Personal Meaning Mapping

Results: Phase Three• Goal: To publish results on best practices and support sustained collaboration across different learning communities.

Results: Phase Three Arts-based Learning STEM Learning Sciences

Summary of MethodsPhase Method Sample SettingPlanning Documentation 20 participants Studio/Exhibition Planning exercises Conferences Interviews/surveys Georgia Tech*Action Participant database 16 participants; School-based Afterschool Tracking tool 8 each site Community-based Youth Intervention exercises Georgia Tech* Interviews/surveysResults Data gathering, 30 participants; Mobile App/Exhibition measurement combined phases Publications Conferences

Significance• To combine previously successful methods for employing culturally situated learning, arts-based inquiry, and innovation as a means for motivating URMs in STEM.• Identify elements of techno-vernacular creativity to use in a learning intervention with a sample of underrepresented minority students in an informal learning setting.• Present ways through which techno-vernacular creativity can help improve URMs capacity to find meaning, identify their own questions, and re-engage STEM concepts.

Limitations• The study will be limited in terms of its generalizability to the total population of underrepresented minorities.• The independent and dependent variables are measured as subjects’ perceptions, not actual academic performance.• The instruments that are developed for the proposed study will be based on instruments that have been used successfully in the past.

Selected Texts• Eglash, R. Bennett, A., O’Donnell, C., Jennings, S., Cintorino, M. (2006) “Culturally Situated Design Tools: Ethnocomputing from Field Site to Classroom,” in American Anthropologist, Vol. 108, Issue 2, pp. 347–362• Fouché, R. (2006). Say It Loud, Im Black and Im Proud: African Americans, American Artifactual Culture, and Black Vernacular Technological Creativity. American Quarterly 58(3), 639-661. The Johns Hopkins University Press.• Nelson, A. and Tu, T. L. N. (2000). Technicolor: Race, Technology, and Everyday Life. New York: NYU Press.• Rose, T. (1994). Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America. Hanover, NH : University Press of New England.

Techno-Vernacular Creativity in Underrepresented Communities of Practice

by Nettrice Gaskins on Nov 06, 2012

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