Abstract
In this chapter, the authors describe a new approach for exploring individual participants' engagement in immersive youth maker activities. Participants were outfitted with wearable first-person point-of-view still-image cameras and wrist-based electrodermal sensors. The researchers analyzed the recorded electrodermal data stream for surges in skin conductivity and compared them with the corresponding photographs based on their timestamp. In following with prior work, these surges were interpreted as moments of engagement. A comparison sample was created to look at moments that lacked this psychophysiological marker. Results suggested that the two participants had both shared and divergent engagements with the afterschool program's activities. While the group project of building a high altitude balloon had been established prior to the youth's participation, the girls were able to choose what aspect of the project they wanted to be responsible for. This range of activities provided opportunities for youth to sample a variety of practices typically associated with making.
TopIntroduction
Making is thought to be an immersive and highly engaging set of technological practices for a broad range of youth (Calabrese Barton, Tan, & Greenberg, 2016; Svihla, 2015). As such, there is an opportunity for researchers to better understand the ways that individuals differentially engage with making. This is important to explore because making often provides an opportunity for custom experiences. What one youth does in a makerspace may be different from what another youth does at the same makerspace. Moreover and relatedly, what one youth finds engaging in a makerspace may differ from what another youth finds engaging. This could apply when makers are doing the same activity. The current study aims to examine youths’ psychophysiological responses to some common maker activities in the context of a multi-week afterschool maker education program. Typical maker activities include crafting with both traditional and digital tools to fabricate a designed object (Martin, 2015). In this study the participants collaborated on the building of a high attitude balloon and sensor payload. The current study investigated participants’ psychophysiological responses while engaged with maker activities in the context of a project with a predetermined final product, the high-attitude balloon. This study examines whether there are indeed differential levels of engagement for youth experiencing the same activities in a makerspace.
In the proceeding sections we first provide a brief overview of prior work on the use of skin conductance as a psychophysiological measurement and follow with an explanation of the role that engagement and interest play in making. Next we present a new method we are exploring and initial findings from it using wearable cameras and sensors to examine engagement in maker activities at a minute-by-minute grain size. Finally, we conclude with a discussion on our interpretations of this new method, their potential for future work, and limitations.
Key Terms in this Chapter
MicroSeimens: The microSeimen (µS) a unit for measuring skin conductivity. It is equal to the inverse of resistance.
Situational Interest: A situational interest is when environmental factors support a person to be engaged with a particular class of content. This external support results in a person having focused attention on the activity.
High Altitude Balloon: A STEM project where a helium-filled weather balloon transports a payload to the upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere. Payloads typically include cameras and sensors to document the flight. The payload reaches peak altitude when the balloon bursts and falls to the ground beneath a parachute for retrieval.
Makerspace: A makerspace is typically a shared workspace where individuals fabricate objects. Athough these spaces often include digital fabrication tools like 3D printers and laser cutters, hand tools, and repurposed materials are also prominent. Makerspaces promote rapid cycles of design, fabrication, and user testing.
EDA: Electrodermal activity (EDA) is a change in a person's skin conductivity due to activation of the sympathetic nervous system. This psychophysiological response of the body causes an increase of sweat production near the hands and feet. EDA can be measured my measuring the resistance to a small current passed through the skin.
RCSC: Relative change in skin conductivity (RCSC) is a method for examining changes in EDA for the purpose of detecting activation of the sympathetic nervous system. Starting with mean levels of skin conductivity 10-second intervals, changes between intervals are calculated to detect periods of rising skin conductivity.
Engagement: Engagement with a particular activity or content is a combination of behavioral, cognitive, and affective components. First, behavioral engagement relies on what is observable. Second, cognitive engagement involves actively thinking about the material. Finally, affective engagement includes a positive emotional response to an activity.