Increasing STEM Engagement Through the Mediation of Textile Materials Combined with Physical Computing

Abstract

Recent trends indicate an increasing global demand for skilled IT and Engineering professionals. At the same, it has been acknowledged that there is a decline in the number of graduates in the disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). The lack of interest in these subjects, which has been addressed by many scholars, has triggered recent efforts in order to investigate novel ways to attract and engage more young students in STEM related subjects. In this paper, we describe an exploratory qualitative research study that has been carried out by combining the subjects of technology and programming in a series of workshops hosting sixty pupils 12–13 years old. Children have used the Makey-Makey kit and the Scratch programming language together with textiles to explore how the combination of these different forms of expression can influence their engagement and interest with STEM related topics. The theoretical ideas used for the design and implementation of this study were guided by flow theory. Data was collected through observations, video recordings, and semi-structured interviews. The initial results of this study indicate that the attributes of attention, motivation, and empowerment shape the levels of engagement to retain and reinforce the flow state by using all these materials.