Sini Davies

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to analyze five student teams’ (Grade 7) co-design processes that involved using traditional and digital fabrication technologies for inventing, designing, and making complex artifacts. A methodological framework for analyzing makercentered
learning, by relying on ethnographic video data and participant observations, was developed. The study examined the extent to which young students are able to productively participate in creative design and making activities. The results indicated that four of the five student teams successfully engaged in the co-invention processes. The importance of a shared epistemic object of co-design was prominent on every team. Some teams experienced challenges in organizing collaborative processes and the team size appeared to have a significant effect in this regard. The successful teams were able to take on complex and multifaceted epistemic and fabrication-related challenges.