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A Crafts-Oriented Approach to Computing in High School: Introducing Computational Concepts, Practices, and Perspectives with Electronic Textiles

Published: 01 March 2014 Publication History

Abstract

In this article, we examine the use of electronic textiles (e-textiles) for introducing key computational concepts and practices while broadening perceptions about computing. The starting point of our work was the design and implementation of a curriculum module using the LilyPad Arduino in a pre-AP high school computer science class. To understand students’ learning, we analyzed the structure and functionality of their circuits and program code as well as their design approaches to making and debugging their e-textile creations and their views of computing. We also studied students’ changing perceptions of computing. Our discussion addresses the need for and design of scaffolded challenges and the potential for using crafts materials and activities such as e-textiles for designing introductory courses that can broaden participation in computing.

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  1. A Crafts-Oriented Approach to Computing in High School: Introducing Computational Concepts, Practices, and Perspectives with Electronic Textiles

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    cover image ACM Transactions on Computing Education
    ACM Transactions on Computing Education  Volume 14, Issue 1
    March 2014
    98 pages
    EISSN:1946-6226
    DOI:10.1145/2600089
    Issue’s Table of Contents
    Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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    Publication History

    Published: 01 March 2014
    Accepted: 01 September 2013
    Revised: 01 September 2013
    Received: 01 March 2013
    Published in TOCE Volume 14, Issue 1

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    Author Tags

    1. Electronic textiles
    2. K-12
    3. education

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    • (2024)Making und die InformatikMedienPädagogik: Zeitschrift für Theorie und Praxis der Medienbildung10.21240/mpaed/56/2024.04.04.X56(494-517)Online publication date: 4-Apr-2024
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