First year engineering students' influence in a service-learning maker project
Ezequiel Aleman, Pryce R. Davis · 2020
This project explores how learners engage in "maker" activities when collaborating with others and how participation can become more inclusive when framing activities to connect learners with children in their community. We describe the first iteration of the Bricks and Bits project, where undergraduate engineering students were challenged to re-design the toys of children aged 6-7. Bricks and Bits specifically reimagines making as a service-learning project to increase the inclusion of female participants. Our analysis suggests the participation of women during the design process was still affected by many of the cultural challenges usually associated with the maker movement. However, the increased involvement of women influenced positive collaboration leading to a complex and participatory design process.