Techno-Vernacular Creativity, Innovation & Learning in Underrepresented Ethnic Communities of Practice
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The document summarizes a dissertation that examines techno-vernacular creativity (TVC) in underrepresented ethnic communities and its potential to increase interest and motivation in STEAM fields. Key points: 1) The dissertation includes a literature review on TVC, prior research, and theoretical frameworks related to culturally situated learning and design. 2) A professional workshop at Georgia Tech brought together experts to explore how TVC can engage underrepresented groups in STEAM. Workshops were also conducted with middle school students. 3) Results found that the professional workshop helped bridge disciplines and cultural differences. Student workshops found expression and art were most engaging and increased interest in STEAM topics. 4) The dissertation examines
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Techno-Vernacular Creativity, Innovation & Learning in Underrepresented Ethnic Communities of Practice
- 1. Techno-Vernacular Creativity, Innovation & Learning in Underrepresented Ethnic Communities of Practice A Dissertation Presented to the Academic Faculty By Nettrice R. Gaskins In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Digital Media Georgia Institute of Technology
- 2. Panel Celia Pearce, PhD, Advisor/Chair Georgia Institute of Technology Jacqueline Jones Royster, PhD, Committee Member Georgia Institute of Technology Janet Murray, PhD, Committee Member Georgia Institute of Technology Ron Eglash, PhD, Committee Member Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Alessandra Raengo, PhD, Committee Member Georgia State University
- 3. Outline • Introduction • Theoretical Framework & Prior Research • Informal Learning Science Contexts • TVC in Research & Practice • Methodology • Results & Findings • Discussion & Conclusions • Future Work
- 4. INTRODUCTION
- 5. Definition A vernacular is the native language or dialect of a specific population (see Howell, 1688), as opposed to a language of wider, mainstream or dominant communication. Introduction
- 6. Definition Techno-Vernacular Creativity (TVC) refers to cultural art and technology made by underrepresented ethnic groups (UEGs) – Indigenous, or African and Latino Diasporas – for their own entertainment and creative expression. Introduction
- 7. Framework for Analysis As a result of… UEGs are able to… Reappropriation redeploy the material and symbolic power of technology Improvisation reconceive of technology that transgresses that technology’s designed function and meaning Conceptual Remixing redesign or produce a new material artifact after the existing form or function has been rejected Nettrice Gaskins Rayvon Fouche Introduction
- 8. Introduction contextualize or place something in a new or different context synthesize or see relationships between seemingly unrelated fields syncretize or invent something new by combining elements nobody else thought to put together Redeployment Reconception Re-creation
- 9. Reappropriation or the cultural process by which UEGs reclaim artifacts from the dominant culture and environment. Introduction
- 11. Improvisation or the spontaneous and inventive use of materials. Introduction
- 12. The cypher is a figure that is based on the naturally occurring circle, or mandala Introduction
- 13. Conceptual remixing, tinkering, or making do with whatever is on hand Introduction
- 14. Research Question Does Techno-Vernacular Creativity (TVC) within an informal learning environment (ILE) increase interest and intrinsic motivation in ethnic groups who are underrepresented in STEAM? Introduction
- 15. Problem Statement While the enrollment of underrepresented minorities in postsecondary schools is increasing and UEGs are more engaged in cultural art and technology, studies show that STEM achievement of UEGs continue to decrease. Introduction
- 16. Support for Problem Statement Introduction
- 17. Support for Problem Statement Chart from NPR, source data from Pew Internet and American Life Project, refers to mobile devices only. Introduction
- 18. Significance of the Problem The purpose of this study was to identify and analyze artworks by practitioners from underrepresented ethnic communities that use STEM concepts; to explore how these works can be harnessed to engage UEGs in STEAM and affect positive learning outcomes. Introduction
- 19. STEAM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics. Introduction Concept map by Nettrice Gaskins
- 20. Plan of Action For this study, I conducted four workshops to examine the impact of combined research methods with TVC on STEAM learning among UEGs, including: • A professional workshop at Georgia Tech with experts such as artists from groups underrepresented in STEAM • Three workshops: two with 4th and 8th grade students at Drew Charter School and one with 6th-7th grade students at Lithonia Middle School Introduction
- 21. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK & PRIOR RESEARCH
- 22. Theoretical Framework & Prior Research Techno- Vernacular Creativity Modes Culturally Situated Arts-Based Learning Black Vernacular Techno Creativity [Fouche, Baraka] Vernacular Art/Crafts & Technology [Wahlman, Vlach] Cultural & Social Practices [de Certeau, du Bois] Culturally Situated Design [Eglash et al.] Arts-Based Research [Barone, Eisner] Interest & Motivation Design [Renninger, Keller] Theoretical Framework & Prior Research
- 23. Culturally Situated Design Tools Theoretical Framework & Prior Research Cornrow Curves CSDT courtesy of Ron Eglash/RPI
- 24. Theoretical Framework & Prior Research Cosmogram courtesy of Duane Deterville; Native American Medicine Wheel; Buddhist mandala
- 25. Artwork courtesy of Sanford Biggers. Lotus CSDT courtesy of Ron Eglash/RPI. Theoretical Framework & Prior Research
- 26. Theoretical Framework & Prior Research Artwork courtesy of John Biggers (top) and Nontsikelelo Mutiti (bottom).
- 27. Theoretical Framework & Prior Research Artwork courtesy of Nontsikelelo Mutiti. Ruka CSDT courtesy of Ron Eglash/RPI.
- 29. Contextual Model of Learning Socio-Cultural Context Personal ContextPhysical Context Adapted from Falk, J.H. & Storksdieck, M. (2005) Informal Learning Science Contexts
- 30. Informal Learning Contexts Contextualize Syncretize Synthesize Personal Context Sociocultural Context Physical Context Hanging Out Messing Around Geeking Out Asset Building Connection Build Knowledge Apply KnowledgeEngage Assess Conceptual Mapping Interviews Reflection Reflect Falk & Dierking Mimi Ito, et al. Scott, Sheridan & Clark Improvisation/ Reconception Remixing/ Re-creation Reappropriation/ Redeployment Peer & Self Assessment Gaskins/Fouche Informal Science Learning Contexts
- 31. Interest & Motivation Design ARCS Model of Motivational Design (Keller) Describes learners’ perceptual arousal and inquiry arousal Uses examples in which learners are familiar such as culture, present knowledge and prior experience Helps learners understand their likelihood for success Helps learners feel rewarded for their effort Attention Relevance Confidence Satisfaction Informal Science Learning Contexts Adapted from Keller, J. M. (2010)
- 32. Arts-Based Inquiry Culturally Situated Design Arts-Based Learning Digital Media/ Technology Write/talk about the artist’s culture(s) in this work. Write/talk about what you see in this art. Write/talk about the type technology you used. Write/talk about how this artist’s culture relates to your culture. Write/talk about what comes to your mind when you look at this art. Write/talk about how this technology can be used to create things you like. Write/talk about how you felt about learning this artist’s culture. Write/talk about how well you think you can make this art. Write/talk about how you felt about using the software. Write/talk about what you liked and did not like about the artist’s culture. Write/talk about how this art is similar to other art you like. Write/talk about what you liked and did not like about the software. Attention Relevance Confidence Satisfaction Personal Context Physical Context Socio-Cultural Context Informal Science Learning Contexts
- 33. TVC IN RESEARCH & PRACTICE
- 34. TVC in Research & Practice TVC framed this study toward addressing STEAM, by: • Analyzing TVC in informal learning settings and combining methods as a means for engaging UEGs [Scott, Sheridan & Clark, 2014] • Increasing UEG interest and intrinsic motivation in STEAM; • Bringing A and B together to diminish the separation between TVC and STEAM • Addressing, not only cultural and social issues, but also satisfying the pedagogical demands of curricula [Eglash, et al, 2008] Research & Practice
- 35. Remixing Bearden Research & Practice Artwork courtesy of Romare Bearden; Black Odyssey Remixes app developed by SITES
- 36. Mapping or diagramming— representing ideas in graphic form—is an important TVC characteristic that uses techniques such as remixing. Research & Practice
- 37. “Afrofuturism is way of re-contextualizing and assessing history and imagining the future of the African Diaspora via science, science fiction, technology, sound, architecture, the visual and culinary arts and other more nimble and interpretive modes of research and understanding.” – Sanford Biggers Research & Practice
- 38. TVC modes such as remixing have been integrated with the ethos of techno- culture (i.e., afrofuturism) that extends to computing. Mandala CSDT developed with Libby Rodriguez and Ron Eglash/RPI. Artwork by Xenobia Bailey. Research & Practice
- 39. METHODOLOGY
- 40. Research Methodology Constructivist Grounded Theory [Charmaz] Participatory Action Research [Kindon et al.] Preliminary Observations & Workshop Professional CSABL Workshop STEAM Learning Workshop Culturally Situated Design Arts-Based Research Interest & Motivation Design Black Vernacular Technological Creativity Vernacular Art, Crafts & Technology Cultural & Social Practices Methodology
- 41. Professional CSABL Workshop • Two-day workshop at Georgia Tech looked at potential impacts of culturally situated arts-based learning on UEGs • Convened 21 experts in Learning Sciences, Culturally Situated Design, STEM Education, and Art • Quantitative data collection: Tom McKlin developed instruments to assess the outcome of the workshop • Qualitative Data Collection: Seed questions, brainstorming and concept mapping • Data analysis: Pre-post surveys, feedback forms, social network analysis, interviews (external); concept maps
- 42. PAR for the CSABL Workshop Phase Action Action Establish relationships and common agenda with stakeholders Reflection On research design and knowledge. Action Build relationships Identify roles and responsibilities Collectively design research processes and instruments Discuss potential outcomes Reflection On research questions and design Action Work together to implement research and collect data Enable participation of all members Reflection Begin to work on feeding research back to participants and plan for feedback on process and findings Action Collectively identify future research and impacts Adapted from Kindon, et al. (2007)
- 43. Preliminary Observations & Workshops • Drew Charter School students were 89% African American, 2% Hispanic/Latino with less than 9% White/Other • 100 8th graders made vision maps; 100 4th graders made vision maps and used Bearden Remixes app* • Data collection: 4th & 8th grade math class observations; vision maps, digital collages, arts-based inquiry and group discussion* • Data analysis: Field notes, vision maps Methodology
- 44. Personal Meaning Maps Anbiya Smith, “Personal Map of Leimert Park,” July 10, 2013. Courtesy KCET KAOS Network Youth Voices. Layer 1 Layer 2 Methodology
- 45. Methodology
- 46. Methodology
- 47. Middle School Workshop • Lithonia Middle School students were 95% African American, 4% Hispanic/Latino, and 1% White/Other • 35 students made vision maps and used CSDTs and interactive (tangible) media • Students visited Museum of Papermaking for Mapping Place: Africa Beyond Paper • Data collection: Vision maps, CSDT work, arts-based inquiry and group discussion, retrospective pre-post self- assessment, interviews • Data analysis: Rubrics, interviews and questionnaires Methodology
- 50. Interview Categories (Coding) Analytic Interest Expression Choice/Control Interaction Expressions of Affect Toward... Science Technology Art/Mapping Mathematics Methodology
- 51. Limitations/Delimitations • This study was limited in terms of its generalizability to the total population of underrepresented ethnic groups. • The independent and dependent variables were measured as subjects’ perceptions, not actual academic performance. • The vision mapping tool tested and adapted for the workshop was based on qualitative studies, so the goal was not to capture large datasets. Methodology
- 53. Qualitative: Professional Workshop CSABL participants created concept maps to brainstorm ideas for culturally situated arts-based digital media applications. Results
- 54. Quantitative: Professional Workshop Courtesy of Tom McKlin of the SageFox Consulting Group, LLC . Results
- 56. NG: What is a map? Student1: A map is anything that is in the area. Student2: A diagram of a certain place. NG: Okay. So show something that is in this particular area. [Several students point to different objects in the room.] NG: What’s a vision map? Student3: Something that you visualize in your mind. Results
- 57. Participants explored diagramming, collage and repetition with math concepts such as rotation and translation. Results
- 58. Results
- 59. Quantitative: Vision Maps Table 1: Extent (Vision Maps) Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid average 6 37.5 37.5 37.5 above average 9 56.3 56.3 93.8 outstanding 1 6.3 6.3 100.0 Total 16 100.0 100.0 Table 2: Breadth (Vision Maps) Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid below average 2 12.5 12.5 12.5 average 8 50.0 50.0 62.5 above average 5 31.3 31.3 93.8 outstanding 1 6.3 6.3 100.0 Total 16 100.0 100.0 62% remixed the design template to create new patterns. 38% used the existing design with no remixing. Half used different ways to remix patterns. Results
- 60. Results
- 61. Quantitative: CSDTs Table 5: Reappropriation (CSDTs) Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid average 7 87.5 87.5 87.5 above average 1 12.5 12.5 100.0 Total 8 100.0 100.0 Table 6: Improvisation (CSDTs) Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative Percent Valid below average 3 37.5 37.5 37.5 average 1 12.5 12.5 50.0 above average 4 50.0 50.0 100.0 Total 8 100.0 100.0 Half received above average scores in improvisation for remixing blocks and using repetition, rotation, or translation to create their designs. Results
- 62. Quantitative Results: Self-Assessment (Attention) Participants were given this statement: There was something interesting in the workshop that got my attention. 75% selected “5=All of the time.” Results
- 63. Participants were given this statement: There are examples of how people use math, technology, or art in this workshop. Nearly 44% chose “5=All of the time”. Quantitative Results: Self-Assessment (Relevance) Results
- 64. Participants were given this statement: This workshop has things that make me want to ask more questions. 44% of the respondents chose “5=All of the time” . Quantitative Results: Self-Assessment (Confidence) Results
- 65. Participants were given this statement: I enjoyed this workshop so much that I would like to know more about this topic. 75% chose “5=All of the time.” Quantitative Results: Self-Assessment (Satisfaction) Results
- 66. Qualitative Results: LMS Interviews Expression, and with it Interest, were the most important aspects of the workshop for the middle school participants. Results
- 67. Qualitative Results: LMS Interviews Art showed 40% of the coverage in participant comments, with the second biggest area (math) at 21%. Technology (9%) supported math and expression. Results
- 68. FINDINGS
- 69. Findings: Professional Workshop • By bridging disciplines participants explored how to make STEAM more meaningful for UEGs; and how to link culture to STEAM. • Participants were able to overcome cultural differences, share and exchange knowledge across disciplines in a “quick building of trust.” [McKlin, 2014] • Participants felt they could help decrease stereotypes that prevent UEGs from participating in STEM and increase the motivation of UEGs to participate in STEAM. • The workshop played an important role in influencing individuals and encouraging potential collaboration. Findings
- 70. Findings: STEAM Workshop • Exposure to culturally responsive materials are important for underrepresented ethnic learners’ self-concept and self-image. • UEGs needed to see themselves reflected in STEAM as well as the images of the practitioners, themselves. • Access to different tools allowed participants to interact with material forms and effects of technology; and fostered a more “intense, media-centric form of learner engagement.” [Ito, et al., 2008] • Making STEAM more meaningful/cultural led to changes in motivation and knowledge of how STEM is used in art. Findings
- 72. Discussion • TVC demonstrates the informal engagement of UEGs in STEAM in ways that are typically not classified as “information technology,” “science,” or “engineering.” • Artistic or creative expression is essential to learning STEAM among UEGs. • As a method for engaging UEGs in STEAM, TVC has implications for future culturally situated arts-based learning interventions and collaborations. • TVC supports several informal learning contexts that builds on characteristics of interest among UEGs as requisite for intrinsic motivation. Discussion & Conclusions
- 73. Conclusions • The definition of technology needs to be expanded to include multiethnic and multilingual qualities of culturally diverse groups as they relate to STEAM. • TVC provides culturally situated and culturally responsive learning contexts for UEGs to learn and master tools in innovative ways. • In order for STEAM to be motivating it has to be based on a careful match between different options and the needs, interests, goals, abilities, and cultural backgrounds of the target group. Discussion & Conclusions
- 74. Questions Thank you for your time and attention.
- 75. References Baraka, A. (1971). Technology & Ethos. In Raise, Race, Rays, Raze: Essays Since 1965. New York: Random House, 157. Barone, T., Eisner, E. (2012). Arts-Based Research. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Charmaz, K. (2006). Constructing Grounded Theory: A Practical Guide through Qualitative Analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications Ltd. De Certeau, M. (1984). The Practice of Everyday Life. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press. Du Bois, W. E. B. (1989). The soul of black folks. New York: Bantam. (Originally published in 1903). 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. Falk, J. H., & Dierking, L. D. (2000). Learning from museums: Visitor experiences and the making of meaning. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press. Falk, J.H. & Storksdieck, M. (2005). Using the Contextual Model of Learning to understand visitor learning from a science center exhibition. Science Education, 89, 744-778.
- 76. References Fouché, R. (2006). Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud: African Americans, American Artifactual Culture, and Black Vernacular Technological Creativity. American Quarterly 58.3 (2006) 639-661 Ito, M., et al. (2009). Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press. Ito, M., et al. (2008). Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital Youth Project In The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Reports on Digital Media and Learning. Cambridge: MIT Press. Keller, J. M. (2010). Motivational design for learning and performance: The ARCS model approach. New York, NY: Springer. Kindon, S. Pain, R. & Kesby, M. (2007). Participatory Action Research Approaches and Methods: Connecting People, Participation and Place, New York, NY: Routledge. Renninger, K.A. (2007). Interest and Motivation in Informal Science Learning. Washington, DC: National Research Council. Vlach, J. M. (1976). “The Shotgun House: an African Architectural Legacy: Part I,” Pioneer America, vol.8, no.1-2. Wahlman, M. S. (2001). Signs and Symbols: African Images in African-American Quilts. New York: The Museum of American Folk Art.
Editor's Notes
- Good morning everyone. Today I am here to present and defend my dissertation, Techno-Vernacular Creativity, Innovation & Learning in Underrepresented Ethnic Communities of Practice.
- Cultural art is less about definition and more about how people find meaning and make sense of their environments through creativity. In this study I associate cultural art with vernacular that describes a look, style or expression that is associated with or native to a particular time, place, event or group.
- This study builds on the work of Rayvon Fouché and other scholars that look at how African Americans produce knowledge sets through music, dance, literature, visual art, and sports. Fouché identifies this production as black vernacular technological creativity. As part of my critical analysis of this domain, I applied a different framework to look at the interrelationships between coexistent cultures and subcultures and how they relate to each other in mutually constructive ways.
- TVC describes a capacity to contextualize or place something in a new or different context, synthesize or see relationships between seemingly unrelated fields, and syncretize or invent something new by combining elements nobody else thought to put together.
- Self-taught Chicano (Mexican American) engineers developed hydraulic automobile suspension systems, a distinguishing feature of modern lowrider culture.
- Underwater Dreams is a film about an immigrant Mexican high school team that learned how to build an underwater robot using Home Depot parts. In 2004, they defeated MIT in a competition. One team member refers to controlling this robot as if he were “hittin’ switches.” This is lowrider vernacular plus STEM which is science, technology, engineering and math.
- Sierra Leone teen Kelvin Doe, also known as DJ Focus, taught himself engineering and built his own radio station using discarded materials.
- Artists Sanford Biggers and David Ellis re-purposed the traditional Hindu/Buddhist mandala and created a breakdancing floor for audience engagement and performance. This mandala-cypher, as a diagram or vernacular map, is a source of improvisation.
- DJ Grandmaster Flash is credited with the invention of the first cross-fader or audio mixer by reclaiming parts from a junkyard. The creative innovations of underrepresented ethnic artists demonstrate the informal engagement of UEGs in STEM in ways that are typically not classified as “information technology,” “science,” or “engineering.” To better understand TVC, this study explores a broader definition of technology and technological practices.
- Interest includes stored knowledge, stored value, and feelings that influence both immediate and long-term engagement, questioning behavior, and activity of individuals or groups of individuals around a specific topic. According to Renninger, interest always leads to motivated behavior. With motivation, participants begin to ask questions and seek answers based on their personal interests as they engage with materials.
- While ethnic and racial groups that have historically comprised a minority of the U.S. population are growing in size and influence, they remain underrepresented in STEM.
- While gaps still remain, the digital divide is narrowing. UEGs are the most numerous and active users of the mobile web – from a smartphone, tablet computer, or mobile network. UEGs also employ technology for very specific goals, linked often to their histories and social locations. TVC counters studies asserting that UEGs are not interested or engaged in STEM.
- The contributions of this study would be of interest to scholars in Arts Based Research, Learning Sciences, and Cultural Studies. Studies on the integration STEAM are recent areas of research in the field of Educational Studies, to which this study would be significant.
- In this study, I combined three key areas: a) culturally situated design, which connects cultural art with standards-based STEM principles; b) art-based learning, which stimulates the development of 21st century skills such as creativity through inquiry; and c) educational applications of new technologies that can be used to create new openings for learning.
- I began with Rayvon Fouche’s theory for Black Vernacular Technological Creativity that looks at how African Americans engage with technology. Fouche gives the example of Grand Master Flash who played a key role in the technical design of audio mixer. Then, I broadened my scope to include vernacular artifacts and cultural ethos that motivates practitioners from diverse ethnic groups that are underrepresented in STEM.
- I also looked at the development of culturally situated design tools, or CSDTs that help users learn math and computing principles as they simulate cultural designs. In 2012, I co-facilitated a workshop in Albuquerque, New Mexico with high school students who learned how to use existing CSDTs to create a physical mural with interactive elements.
- Through an art-based method of inquiry called close-looking, I showed participants how to extrapolate cultural information from a variety of artworks using different techniques to amplify specific concepts and techniques. For example, diagramming or mapping enables artists to explore math concepts such as geometry. The mandala is one example of a vernacular or conceptual map. This adds another layer or dimension of learning to TVC.
- Artists across many ethnic cultures use diagramming to redeploy and remix cultural artifacts such as quilting and hair braiding motifs to produce patterns. They use techniques such as repetition and rhythm to create these patterns.
- This type of work is promising in the domains of mathematics and electronic textiles, which include the development of tools that sample or take a portion from one source and reusing it to create a new project.
- Like with the cypher in hip-hop, the process of braiding is a unifying gesture; it brings people together. Likewise, braiding practice carries on a tradition of bonding between experts and apprentices. According to a report from the National Academies, the narrow focus on traditional learning activities is often at odds with this type of work. For this reason, I explored alternative or informal STEAM learning contexts. Personal learning is facilitated when students’ expectations are fulfilled by displays of works of art or other items of interest; Sociocultural learning uses socially mediated forms of culturally specific communication between the producers of media and users; Physical learning includes connections and interactions in a museum or recreation space that enhances the motivation and expectations of learners
- Other informal pathways to learning include: “hanging out,” or social engagement with digital media; “messing around,” or experimentation; and “geeking out,” which is the highest level of technological engagement. Researchers in culturally responsive education look at cultural artifacts such as diagrams or maps as “assets on which learning can occur.”
- To assess learning, I adapted instructional materials based on John Keller’s model for motivational design that includes four steps for promoting and sustaining motivations in the learning process.
- During school-based workshops, I applied the ARCS model to ask participants questions or give them prompts to write or talk about different artwork.
- Romare Bearden was inspired by traditional African American quilting. Bearden’s technique required that, for each piece of paper he cut out, the materials be allowed to respond to what was already laid down as if the pieces were notes in a musical composition. This process is similar to improvisational quilting and music sampling. The Smithsonian’s “Black Odyssey” app allows users to remix Bearden‘s collages and remix sounds by DJ Spooky.
- Like maps cultural artworks are based on broad themes or concepts. Concept maps help researchers focus on meaning. For this study, I used a variety of maps such as quilts that communicate stories and other devices that are used to trigger digital content in mobile applications and on multi-touch surfaces with tangible markers that identify a location or element in a two or three-dimensional space.
- The mandala or cosmogram is both a conceptual or vernacular map and a cultural frame through which artists combine the past, present and future. Afrofuturism charts the liberation of the African Diaspora from its history of oppression into a future of cosmic possibilities. Several of the artists whose works I analyzed used Afrofuturism and mandalas to represent their ideas.
- I worked with artists and software developers to identify cultural designs in art that were amenable to computer modeling. This involved a two-way learning process and negotiation, or what Audrey Bennett calls a “design loop.” Using existing CSDTs as a foundation, I worked with RPI on the development of the AfroFuturism CSDTs. My contribution included the creation of instructional materials that link these tools and artworks to STEM concepts.
- I used Constructivist Grounded Theory to synthesize information and Participatory Action Research, to use the information to address a specific social issue.
- Eleven (11) participants were African American (not including me as the project’s director), two (2) were Native American/Indigenous, and eight (8) were White/Caucasian.
- The purpose of the workshop was to advance the understanding of the potential impacts of culturally situated design strategies and present arts-based learning and research methods that can extend participation and understanding of STEM. Also, participants explored collaboration opportunities.
- The 4th grade students did not have access to computers or laptops but they did have iPads and were able to use the Romare Bearden Remixes app to create digital collages and music. Personal Meaning Maps are derived from Concept Mapping and used to illustrate learning outcomes from the same educational experiences across the different learners.
- Derived from concept mapping, Personal Meaning Maps or PMMs analyze responses along with four semi-independent dimensions: Extent is designed to capture participants’ understanding of the tool; Breadth measures changes in the number of conceptual categories an individual uses to describe the task; Depth measures conceptual understanding; Mastery gauges where the participant falls along a continuum between novice and expert relative to a specific concept. I adapted this method to design a vision mapping activity.
- I facilitated group discussions, interviews and administered a retrospective pre-post self-assessment (questionnaire) to analyze and assess the relationship between cultural information, contextual learning models and UEG interest and intrinsic motivation.
- TVC describes a capacity to contextualize or place something in a new or different context, synthesize or see relationships between seemingly unrelated fields, and syncretize or invent something new by combining elements nobody else thought to put together.
- Participants’ vision maps and CSDT designs were coded based on four dimensions: Extent is designed to capture participants’ understanding of the tool; Breadth measures changes in the number of conceptual categories an individual uses to describe the task; Depth measures conceptual understanding; Mastery gauges where the participant falls along a continuum between novice and expert relative to a specific concept.
- For this study, concepts were aggregated into analytic categories: Interest, Choice/Control, Expression, and Social Interaction. Excerpts of interviews were coded for expressions of affect towards STEAM and the workshop.
- The study was not intended to address formal learning activities, not test score performance, but rather to identify and measure subjective characteristics and perceptions related to changes in interest and motivation among UEGs in STEAM that may have occurred as a result of the workshop.
- Each map highlights artworks by artists from underrepresented ethnic communities. Ron Eglash later led the development of the Mandala CSDT that was used by participants during the STEAM Learning workshop. I created a curriculum based on visual elements and algorithmic designs in Xenobia Bailey’s art that are simulated by the CSDT.
- The Executive Summary indicated that, after the workshop, participants felt they were able to decrease stereotypes that might prevent underrepresented ethnic groups (UEGs) from participating in STEM and increase the motivation of UEGs to participate in STEM. Based on a Social Network Analysis, the evaluators reported that the workshop played an important role in not only influencing individuals but also in encouraging potential collaboration.
- Students created vision maps using a template, collaging different elements, including text. They also used the Bearden Remixes app to create digital collages and remix sounds.
- Sixteen individuals completed Vision Maps during the STEAM Learning workshop at LMS. Participants fell along a continuum between novice and expert relative to concepts such as remixing and mapping or diagramming in different forms.
- Participants were not able to import their own symbols or motifs. However, they were able to use the existing CSDT demos and make changes to the animations in the CSDTs.
- These results are based on a questionnaire conducted to assess interest and motivational during the STEAM workshop at Lithonia Middle School. The questionnaire used the ARCS motivation model.
- Relevance means the teacher/facilitator used concrete language and examples in which learners are familiar such as culture, present knowledge and prior experience. 37% chose “4=Most of the time.”
- Confidence means learners understand their likelihood for success; with confidence they are more willing to speak up and ask questions. Nearly 13% chose “4=Most of the time” and 25% chose “3=Half of the time.”
- For the LMS interviews, concepts were aggregated into larger analytic categories: Interest, Choice/Control, Expression, and Social Interaction. All means of expression are essential vehicles through which ideas in any domain are learned. Interest is closely related to attention or learners’ perceptual/inquiry arousal.
- Excerpts of the interviews were coded for expressions of affect towards science, mathematics, art, technology, and the workshop, including participants’ feelings about these subjects after the workshop, and any expression of changes in feelings towards the subjects as a result of the workshop.
- Findings show that this combination led to an increase in interest and motivation among UEGs.