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Peer-reviewed article

The Makerspace Movement: Sites of Possibilities for Equitable Opportunities to Engage Underrepresented Youth in STEM

March 6, 2017 | Public Programs
Large gaps in achievement and interest in science and engineering [STEM] persist for youth growing up in poverty, and in particular for African American and Latino youth. Within the informal community, the recently evolving “maker movement” has evoked interest for its potential role in breaking down longstanding barriers to learning and attainment in STEM, with advocates arguing for its “democratizing effects.” What remains unclear is how minoritized newcomers to a makerspace can access and engage in makerspaces in robust and equitably consequential ways. This paper describes how and why youth engage in making in an after-school, youth-focused, community-based makerspace program “Making 4 Change.” Four in-depth stories of engagement are shared. Using a mobilities of learning framework, we discuss how youth appropriated and repurposed the process of making, and unpack how the program attempted to value and negotiate youths’ ways of making from an equity-oriented perspective.

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  • 2014 11 19 Calabrese Barton Angela 2014
    Author
    Michigan State University
  • REVISE logo
    Author
    Michigan State University
  • Day Greenberg small1
    Author
    Michigan State University
  • Citation

    Publication Name: Teachers College Record
    Volume: 119
    Number: 7

    Funders

    NSF
    Funding Program: AISL
    Award Number: 1421116
    Resource Type: Research Products
    Discipline: Art, music, and theater | Engineering | General STEM | Technology
    Audience: Middle School Children (11-13) | Educators/Teachers | Museum/ISE Professionals | Learning Researchers
    Environment Type: Public Programs | Community Outreach Programs | Making and Tinkering Programs
    Access and Inclusion: Ethnic/Racial | Black/African American Communities | Hispanic/Latinx Communities

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