Creating Equity-based Makerspaces in Community Recreation Centers through Participatory Design

Abstract

Maker-based approaches to interactive technology learning have been hailed as potential equalizers of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education for underserved youth. However, HCI researchers have shown that prevalent maker practices can be exclusionary and disregard the cultural, social, and political nuances hidden in simplistic understandings of making. The HCI research and practice community has called for efforts to increase equitable participation, including through maker-based initiatives, in technology design and learning. This discrepancy between the potential and reality of makerspace ecosystems as sites of tech-rich informal learning offers a gap within research that needs to be addressed. This dissertation details a longitudinal study, conducted in collaboration with the Digital Harbor Foundation, in which we set up and developed localized technology-rich curriculum for use in community recreation centers. This includes work towards developing localized curriculum, supporting educators in implementing equity-pedagogy, developing appropriate survey tools, and working towards understanding the infrastructure surrounding these spaces that enables or hinders program growth. The primary methodology used to achieve these outcomes is participatory design research methodology. This includes using interviews, participant observations, focus groups, surveys, document reviews, and participatory design sessions to answer research questions. This document provides four major findings to better understand how technology-rich learning can effectively take place in recreation centers. The first finding documents equity-based pedagogy strategies employed by community educators, resulting youth learning outcomes as well as a toolkit containing localized curriculum. The second finding details co-designing localized, multi-modal, interactive survey implementation methods for understanding youth's learning outcomes within this setting. The third finding provides an understanding of the infrastructure required to grow these programs within a city government-run community setting and how power can be negotiated within these settings to develop programs with the best outcomes for youth. Finally, this dissertation offers a reflection on power dynamics and the role of HCI researchers in these spaces and considerations for doing longitudinal ethnographic work with community partners. Findings and recommendations from this dissertation offer insight into how equity-based pedagogy implemented within supportive government-run community sites can improve tech-rich learning outcomes for underserved youth.