patt2016 presentation
TRANSCRIPT
How to teach ‘Smart Fashion’ within the D&T curriculum: have we got it right?SARAH DAVIES & ALISON HARDY NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY
Introduction 2
why we did this?
literature 3
what do others say about teaching electronics?
involves recognising the elements that structure a system, and, more important, the ways that those elements interconnect to impact each other and the overall function of a system.
Peppler et al, (2013, p. 21)
Constructionism ‘Objects-to-think-with’
Papert and Harel (1991)
Kit of no parts Perner-Wilson and Buecheley (2013)
method 4
the resourcessimple circuit make a soft switch make a soft battery holder
data collection 5
method 6
what data did we use?oteaching handouts and kit components – documentary analysis ostimulated recall transcripts - interview
conceptual framework 7
Adaptation of Rode et al (2015) computational making factors.
Aesthetics
young people desire to make aesthetically pleasing artefacts, however, these complex decisions can hinder a participant’s creativity; sometimes aesthetic choices override decisions about the right solution ; these aesthetic choices give young people “design agency”
Creativitycreativity can be a factor in problem solving within e-textiles – ‘an abstract problem solving mechanism’and/or creativity can support free expression within e-textiles – ‘concrete and tangible skill building’
Constructing
young people need the skills to be able to produce tangible objects this includes physical skills: - sewing, - soldering, - using pliers, - wire strippers and other hand-tools.
acquisition of skills, impact on the young person’s realisation of artefacts from preparation to final outcome weak execution of stitching can lead to short circuits
Visualising Multiple Representatives
visualising 2D designs into 3D objects can be a challenge there is a need for young people to understand why they have to follow the 2D representations into real world 3D representations
Understanding Materialsyoung people need to understand how different materials operate that objects, for example crocodile clips, have the same properties as conductive thread issues associated with short circuiting
findings 8
aesthetics
creativity
constructing
visualising multiple
representations
understanding material
9
Opportunities to learn how to construct e-textiles
Two of the teachers (Teacher A and D), said that these would be very helpful for developing the construction skills required to make Smart Fashion objects with learners, back in the classroom.
Teacher D also identified that the conductive thread was “not easy to work with” (Line 231).
FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
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Opportunities to understand Smart Fashion Materials
The teachers talked about how the coin cell positive side “curled around the edge” (Teacher A Line 180) and how this affected the position of conductive elements in the circuit.
They talked about how the coin cell differed from their tradition counterpart (pen cell) and one teacher raised the need for health and safety considerations, due to the small size of the components.
FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS
findings and analysis 11
Opportunities to creatively problem solve, abstract problems
Teachers D and A talked about how the use of the group activity made the problem solving competitive and Teacher D also acknowledged that working in teams was good for “sharing ideas and working together as a team” (Line 169) to solve abstract problems.
Three teachers also identified that the problem solving activities had initially been easy and how this “built my confidence up straight away”
findings and analysis 12
Opportunities to creatively express concrete solutions o opportunities for creative expression are limited across the resources.
findings and analysis 13
Opportunities to visually represent 2D ideas into 3D objects
The teachers talk about “undoing” (Teacher C, line 69) and re-doing the circuit through the clipping and “quick to unclip” nature of the crocodile clips (Teacher E, line 31).
Teacher A discusses how the LED gives her instant feedback when she says that “it is easy to see if you are doing it right or wrong because the end objective, the goal, to get the LED to light up isn’t working” (Line 168).
findings and analysis 14
Opportunities to make aesthetically pleasing objects
When tested with the teachers, teacher D said “it’s always nice, isn’t it, to have something physical especially when you have done it yourself” (Line 240).
conclusion 15
what have we found out? Quality resources need to include opportunities for:
• abstract problem solving, • the development of material and component understanding,• experiences in construction techniques required for this kind of hybrid activity (integrated electronics
and textiles),• the visualisation of circuits, simple and advanced and• group work to support competition and team work.
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what will we do next? test the remaining resources
follow up interviews with teachers
develop Smart Fashion teaching resources - programming
references 17
further reading Buechley, L. (2006). A construction kit for electronic textiles. Wearable Computers, 2006 10th IEEE International Symposium on, 83-90.
Davies, S., & Rutland, M. (2013). Did the UK digital design and technology (DD&T) programme lead to innovative curriculum change within secondary schools? Technology Education for the Future: A Play on Sustainability, Christchurch, New Zealand, 2-6 December. The Technology Environmental Science and Mathematics Education Research Centre, University of Waikato., pp. 115-121.
Kafai, Y. B., Fields, D. A., & Searle, K. A. (2014). Electronic textiles as disruptive designs: Supporting and challenging maker activities in schools. Harvard Educational Review, 84(4), 532-556.
Kettley, S. (2016). Designing with smart textiles. London: Fairchild Books.
Ngai, G., Chan, S. C. F., Cheung, J. C. Y., & Lau, W. W. Y. (2010). Deploying a wearable computing platform for computer education. IEEE Transactions in Learning Technologies, 3(1), 45-55.
Papert, S., & Harel, I. (1991). Situating constructionism. In S. Papert, & I. Harel (Eds.), Constructionism (pp. 1-11) Ablex Publishing Corporation.
Peppler, K., Gresalfi, M., Tekinbas, K. S., & Santo, R. (2014). Soft circuits: Crafting E-fashion with DIY electronics MIT Press.
Perner-Wilson, H., & Buechley, L. (2013). Handcrafting textile sensors. In L. Buechley, K. Peppler, M. Eisenberg & Y. Kafai (Eds.), Textile messages: Dispatches from the world of e-textiles and education (pp. 55-65). Oxford: Peter Lang Publishing Incorporated.
Pulé, S., & McCardle, J. (2010). Developing novel explanatory models for electronics education. Design and Technology Education: An International Journal, 15(2)
Resnick, M., & Rosenbaum, E. (2013). Designing for tinkerability. Design, make, Play: Growing the Next Generation of STEM Innovators, 163-181.
Rode, J. A., Weibert, A., Marshall, A., Aal, K., von Rekowski, T., el Mimoni, H., & Booker, J. (2015). From computational thinking to computational making. Proceedings of the 2015 ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing, 239-250.
Seymour, S. (2008). Fashionable technology. DE: Springer Verlag.
Wilkinson, K., & Petrich, M. (2013). The art of tinkering: Meet 150 makers working at the intersection of art, science & technology
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thank you for listening Sarah Davies
Nottingham Trent University
Burton Street
Nottingham
NG1 4HH
+44 (0)115 8482644
twitter: @sdsdavies
Alison Hardy
Nottingham Trent University
Burton Street
Nottingham
NG1 4HH
+44 (0)115 848 2198
twitter: @hardy_alison