Making Models : vom Selbermachen stofflich-digitaler Artefakte als Modellbildung

In recent years a maker movement that is characterized by linking DIY to digital media has appeared. In this context amateurs create and construct digital physical artefacts themselves, and share documentation of their projects online to learn from each other. Distributing on-going projects to other makers presupposes that essential characteristics of the artefact under construction are documented. This raises the question of how young amateurs can be supported to document their physical digital artefacts. This thesis develops an approach based on model theory to define the making of digital physical artefacts as modelling processes. Starting from a general model definition, corresponding modelling concepts from computer science are taken up, expanded by alternative un-formal approaches from HCI and applied to making. Requirements for modelling software tools are derived and implemented. A content analysis of makers models and the evaluation of the new tools points towards the appropriateness of graphical models and unveils benefits of visual programming code for documentation. They are meaningful and practical model formats to outline un-formal and abstract characteristics comprehensibly. It is proposed to extend visual programming environments into simple documentation tools to relate to young makers construction activities

Making Models

In recent years a maker movement that is characterized by linking DIY to digital media has appeared. In this context amateurs create and construct digital physical artefacts themselves, and share documentation of their projects online to learn from each other. Distributing on-going projects to other makers presupposes that essential characteristics of the artefact under construction are documented. This raises the question of how young amateurs can be supported to document their physical digital artefacts. This thesis develops an approach based on model theory to define the making of digital physical artefacts as modelling processes. Starting from a general model definition, corresponding modelling concepts from computer science are taken up, expanded by alternative un-formal approaches from HCI and applied to making. Requirements for modelling software tools are derived and implemented. A content analysis of makers models and the evaluation of the new tools points towards the appropriateness of graphical models and unveils benefits of visual programming code for documentation. They are meaningful and practical model formats to outline un-formal and abstract characteristics comprehensibly. It is proposed to extend visual programming environments into simple documentation tools to relate to young makers construction activities

Physical computing with plug-and-play toolkits : Key recommendations for collaborative learning implementations

Physical computing toolkits have long been used in educational contexts to learn about computational concepts by engaging in the making of interactive projects. This paper presents a comprehensive toolkit that can help educators teach programming with an emphasis on collaboration, and provides suggestions for its effective pedagogical implementation. The toolkit comprises the Talkoo kit with physical computing plug-and-play modules and a visual programming environment. The key suggestions are inspired by the results of the evaluation studies which show that children (aged 14–18 in a sample group of 34 students) are well motivated when working with the toolkit but lack confidence in the kit’s support for collaborative learning. If the intention is to move beyond tools and code in computer education to community and context, thus encouraging computational participation, collaboration should be considered as a key aspect of physical computing activities. Our approach expands the field of programming with physical computing for teenage children with a focus on empowering teachers and students with not only a kit but also its appropriate classroom implementation for collaborative learning

Talkoo : A new paradigm for physical computing at school

Introducing physical computing into regular school classes is challenged by constraints of schedules and curricula structures, which do not allow for time-consuming electronics prototyping. We present a novel approach to prototyping with physical computing components with the Arduino-based TALKOO kit: It comprises hardware modules, a visual IDE and prototyping material. Sensor and actuator modules are pluggable and do not require soldering and prior knowledge in electronics. The components have the ability to "talk" back to the visual IDE and to a learning analytics system. A new paradigm for visual programming maps physical modules onto virtual representations on screen making programming more intuitive. The TALKOO kit expands the field of application of physical computing for children in regular school contexts. Preliminary evaluation results show that children were able to build elaborative prototypes within an hour

CSCL Opportunities with Digital Fabrication through Learning Analytics

This paper presents a recently started research project that aims to generate, analyze, use, and provide feedback for analytics derived from hands-on, project-based and experiential learning scenarios. The project draws heavy influence from digital fabrication activities and related inquiry-based learning. The intention of the poster is to raise the discussion about how learning analytics from the project can be used to support and enhance learning for tangible technologies, These activities include physical computing and other lab work for small group work in higher education and high school settings

Sustaining girls' participation in STEM, gaming and making

The fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM), computer gaming and activities with digital technologies associated with the Maker movement are still dominated by a rather homogeneous group of (mostly white male) people though there are numerous initiatives and research attempting to change this. With this workshop we aim to bring together researchers, designers, educators and practitioners in IDC to share experience and explore how we can shape and create (learning) environments and tools to sustainably engage girls of diverse backgrounds and all ages in STEM, gaming and Making.acceptedVersion© ACM, 2018. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of ACM for your personal use. Not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in ACM Transactions of Computing Education, https://doi.org/10.1145/3202185.320586