STEM-Rich Maker Learning: Designing for Equity with Youth of Color

In recent years, maker-centered learning has emerged in schools and other spaces as a promising new phase of STEM education reform. With a sharp focus on equity, the authors investigate community-based STEM making programs to determine whether, and how, they can address the educational needs of youth of color. They explore what it means for youth to engage in making with the explicit goal of addressing injustices in their lives. The text features longitudinal ethnographic data and compelling examples that show how youth of color from low-income backgrounds innovate and make usable artifacts to improve their lives and their communities. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the theory and practice of making, STEM learning with adolescents, and equity in both formal and informal educational settings.

Book Features:

• Expands the current making landscape to include urban communities whose resources have not customarily accommodated such an innovative approach.
• Follows youth in two different community-based making spaces to unpack how this type of learning environment supports STEM experiences, and to what end.
• Explores the opportunities and tensions inherent in a community-based making space, such as community centers and youth organizations.

Angela Calabrese Barton is a professor in the Department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University. Edna Tan is associate professor in science education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.