STEM Education for Girls
Rachel Ralph, Paula MacDowell, Yu-Ling Lee, David Ng · IGI Global eBooks · 2022
Makerspaces are common learning spaces providing hands-on opportunities for students to make, create, plan, and play. This chapter describes an equity-oriented (girls) makeathon day. Teacher and teacher candidate participants (n=15) acted as mentors for 22 girls creating wearable technologies, augmenting reality using old t-shirts, and creating a mobile app related to an issue that teen girls face today. The results of this case study focus on results from an adapted questionnaire (teacher efficacy and attitudes toward STEM [T-STEM]) and semi-structured interviews. Qualitative data of this case study research was analyzed through open-coding and triangulated with quantitative data and Mann-Whitney U tests. Participants identified the importance of technologies for their growth as educators and to create safe and supportive environments for girls. Participants highlighted the importance of professional development and support and how to create effective makerspaces. Continued research and opportunities need to be created to encourage diverse educational makeathon events.