Browsing by Author "Toomey Zimmerman, Heather"

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    Collaborative idea exchange and material tinkering influence families’ creative engineering practices and products during engineering programs in informal learning environments
    (Emerald, 2021) Kim, Soo Hyeon; Toomey Zimmerman, Heather; Library and Information Science, School of Informatics and Computing
    Purpose This paper aims to investigate how families’ sociomaterial experiences in engineering programs held in libraries and a museum influence their creative engineering practices and the creativity expressed in their products derived from their inquiry-driven engineering activities. Design/methodology/approach This research project takes a naturalistic inquiry using qualitative and quantitative analyses based on video records from activities of 31 parent–child pairs and on creativity assessment of products that used littleBits as prototyping tools. Findings Families engaged in two sociomaterial experiences related to engineering – collaborative idea exchange and ongoing generative tinkering with materials – which supported the emergence of novel ideas and feasible solutions during the informal engineering programs. Families in the high novelty score group experienced multiple instances of collaborative idea exchange and ongoing generative tinkering with materials, co-constructed through parent-child collaboration, that were expansive toward further idea and solution generation. Families in the low novelty score group experienced brief collaborative idea exchange and material tinkering with specific idea suggestions and high involvement from the parent. An in-depth case study of one family further illustrated that equal engagement by the parent and child as they tinkered with the technology supported families’ creative engineering practices. Originality/value This analysis adds to the information sciences and learning sciences literatures with an account that integrates methodologies from sociocultural and engineering design research to understand the relationship between families’ engagement in creative engineering practices and their products. Implications for practitioners include suggestions for designing spaces to support families’ collaborative idea exchange and ongoing generative tinkering to facilitate the development of creative engineering practices during short-term engineering programs.
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    Towards a Stronger Conceptualization of the Maker Mindset: A Case Study of an After School Program with Squishy Circuits
    (ACM, 2017-10) Kim, Soo Hyeon; Toomey Zimmerman, Heather; Library and Information Science, School of Informatics and Computing
    This study investigates the theoretical conception of the maker mindset in a making and tinkering afterschool program using Squishy Circuits. With a qualitative case study methodology, we analyzed the discourse and interaction of one learner guided by two analytical frameworks. Our finding shows the importance of providing making activities with various learning orientations (design, technology, collaboration, play) that challenge learners beyond their preferred engagement style to foster the development of all aspects of the maker mindset. Our finding highlights the need for a more nuanced analytical framework for characterizing how the three dimensions of a maker mindset interlock and diverge through making activities.
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    Understanding the Practices and the Products of Creativity: Making and Tinkering Family Program at Informal Learning Environments
    (ACM, 2019-06) Kim, Soo Hyeon; Toomey Zimmerman, Heather; Library and Information Science, School of Informatics and Computing
    This study investigates how families' sociomaterial experiences influence the creative practices of novel idea generation and feasible solution generation and the products during family workshops using littleBits as prototyping tools. We conceptualize creativity as a distributed and materially-grounded activity. Methods are interaction analysis on video-based accounts of 31 families' activities and creativity assessment metrics to analyze the novelty scores of families' products. We take an exploratory approach to understand families' sociomaterial interactions in high and low novelty score groups. Findings illustrate that collaborative idea exchange and ongoing generative tinkering with materials support the emergence of novel ideas and feasible solutions.