Positive Youth Outcomes in Making: Remote Learning Edition
After some experimentation, I discovered that the best way to engage students in an online STEAM workshop was to “chunk up” the sessions: ex. giving students 20 minutes to search their homes and collect discarded materials. They get another 20 minutes to make physical prototypes based on 3D models they build (see above). During the remaining time one student who had never bothered to turn on his camera suddenly hit the button to present his work. We were amazed at what he showed us.
This student’s example demonstrates competence, which is one of five (5) positive youth development outcomes. The STEAM workshop allowed youth to practice skills and succeed. Here, it was important to break down larger tasks into smaller pieces and help them learn to make decisions by considering the various possible outcomes. Using whatever is on hand, experimentation and modeling contributes to developing a maker mindset. This fosters in students creative confidence and a sense of agency — having the ability to creatively solve problems on their own and with their peers.
Confidence is built on small successes. When a young person does something and gets positive feedback, they are more likely to try it again and maybe go a bit further than the first time. At the end of every session, students presented their work for feedback. They were encouraged to try new things and iterate — iteration is a key part of the design process.
Connection helps young people build relationships and relationship skills. I was surprised to discover that a student who had taking my workshop (same content) face-to-face in late February had also enrolled in the remote learning version… twice more. This student was able to keep working and learning, improving his making skills. I set up a Tinkercad Classroom to create a place to belong to, using a nickname and class Code to sign in. Moderators used ice breakers to build a connection with participants.
Caring/compassion in a design project requires empathy, a skill that allows students to understand and share similar feelings as others. Through empathy, students were able to put themselves in other people’s shoes and connect with how they might be feeling about a problem, circumstance, or situation. For the STEAM workshop, I used the Tempt1/EyeWriter story to convey empathy. This example was also culturally relevant for the youth.
Character is often defined as having respect for societal and cultural rules, the possession of standards for correct behaviors, morality, and possessing integrity. I used fictional and real life examples such as Tempt1/EyeWriter to serve as character models. Another example of this is Science Story Quilt Instructable I developed for the Lesley STEAM Learning Lab at Lesley University. I provided links about diverse artists who explore science and quilts, real scientists and fictional ones. Last spring we had a chance to facilitate the activity with middle school students.
For me the biggest challenge with teaching remotely is fostering the maker mindset and convincing others that students/youth bring with them their own capital (knowledge and skillsets) that can be used or built upon to learn and make new things.