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Item A systematic review of library makerspaces research(Elsevier, 2022-10) Kim, Soo Hyeon; Jung, Yong Ju; Choi, Gi Woong; Library and Information Science, School of Computing and InformaticsDespite the abundance of research on library makerspaces, systematic reviews of library makerspace research are lacking. As research on library makerspaces advances, the field needs reliable empirical findings to examine the impact of library makerspaces and identify research areas that are valuable for future research. Guided by the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) statement, 43 out of 838 records were selected for the systematic review. The overall trend of research methodologies and theories, settings, participants, research purposes, as well as tools, technologies and programming in library makerspace research were identified. The findings reveal that qualitative studies that were descriptive in nature were the predominant approaches. While appropriate literatures were explored, theoretical frameworks were less used. This systematic review contributes new areas and directions for future research, including the need for expansion of research methodologies and theoretical frameworks and investigation of diverse users and types of making.Item Synchronous Ideation Workshop with Rural Library Professionals to Envision Future Makerspaces(Wiley, 2021) Kim, Soo Hyeon; Library and Information Science, School of Computing and InformaticsIdeation can support the development of educational programs and services at public libraries. Prior studies on ideation workshops focus on face-to-face settings; less is known about synchronous ideation workshops with library professionals with limited design experience. This paper reports on the results of a reflective case study of an online ideation workshop with three rural library professionals to envision future makerspaces. Preliminary findings suggest design considerations for a synchronous ideation workshop around librarian experience, design space, and technology.Item Caregivers’ Role-taking during the Use of Discussion Prompts in At-Home Engineering Kits(ISLS, 2021-06) Kim, Soo Hyeon; Kim, Jungsun; Library and Information Science, School of Informatics and ComputingThis study presents a video-based case study of families who used discussion prompts in the at-home engineering kits. We examine different roles that caregivers took on during the implementation of the prompts to organize families’ engineering learning activities. Narrative accounts and transcriptions were analyzed to investigate the different roles that caregivers took. Three roles emerged: caregivers as monitor; caregivers as mentor; caregivers as partner. We further coded families’ talks to investigate how three different caregivers’ roles influenced families’ engineering practices and caregiver-child talk types. Preliminary findings illustrate how three caregivers’ roles enabled and constrained different types of engineering practices and caregiver-child talk types. Findings contribute to future considerations in designing discussion prompts for at-home engineering kits.Item Insights from Engineering a Community-Family Partnership Project(ASEE, 2021) Simpson, Amber; Maltese, Adam V.; Yang, Jing; Kim, Jungsun; Knox, Peter N.; Kim, Soo Hyeon; D’Souza, Nikeetha F.; Library and Information Science, School of Informatics and ComputingThe objective of this three-year National Science Foundation’s Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (NSF-ITEST) project is to develop, implement, and refine a program for integrating engineering design practices with an emphasis on emerging technologies (i.e., making, DIY electronics) into home environments of families with a child in grade 3-6 from under-resourced communities. This project has two components. Each family (1) defines a home- or community-based problem and creates a prototype to improve the lives of self or others; and (2) engages in low-cost engineering design kits in their home environments. This paper presents findings from two years of interview data, as well video data collected in project sessions and home environments from 21 families. Results are presented as highlights of finding from on-going analyses to address three research aims.Item Motives, Conflicts and Mediation in Home Engineering Design Challenges as Family Pedagogical Practices (Fundamental)(ASEE, 2021) Kim, Jungsun; Kim, Soo Hyeon; Library and Information Science, School of Informatics and ComputingMuch is known about the importance of the family as a learning environment in STEM education [1], but less is known about conducting engineering design challenge activities in home environments. Although many studies highlight the development of STEM concepts and skills, more research is needed to understand how to support this development through caregiver-child interactions at home. This study aims to (a) investigate caregiver-child interactions that support the development of child(ren)’s STEM conceptualizations and skills in engineering design challenge activities within family pedagogical practices, and (b) examine caregivers’ pedagogical expectations within family pedagogy. Guided by Vygotsky’s cultural-historical view, the authors analyze child(ren)’s development of STEM conceptualizations and skills in parent-child interactions, with a focus on motives, conflicts, and mediation. Seven families with nine children (grades 1-5) participated in three to five engineering activities over six months. The research team sent at-home engineering kits that contained an instruction card, materials, and tools for engineering challenge activities in five engineering disciplines. Caregivers were instructed to video-record their engineering activities, creating approximately 100 hours of video data. Then, caregivers participated in in-depth online interviews about their pedagogical expectations in educating children, specifically in STEM education. Qualitative findings from the home engineering data indicated that conflicts occurred (a) between caregivers’ suggestions and children’s ideas, (b) in misalignments between children’s readiness to take risks and caregivers’ level of facilitation, and (c) between caregivers’ and children’s motives. From the in-depth interviews, caregivers’ narratives illustrated their pedagogical expectations in STEM learning as (a) broadening the child’s understanding of engineering and STEM domains, (b) developing independent learning skills through quality family time, and (c) nurturing thinking and problem-solving skills in daily conversations. For the first theme, caregivers commonly highlighted the value of failures and trial-and-error in lifelong education. Secondly, caregivers noted the importance of independent learning skills through their families’ life experiences. The final theme was caregivers’ awareness of the how their communities valued STEM skills.Item Rural librarians' perspectives on makerspaces and community engagement(Wiley, 2020) Kim, Soo Hyeon; Copeland, Andrea; Library and Information Science, School of Informatics and ComputingThis study investigates eight rural librarians' perspectives related to makerspaces, community engagement, and youth informal learning through cultural probes and semi-structured interviews. Preliminary findings through content analysis suggest the importance of aligning the librarians and the youths' interests in making to support learning within library-based makerspaces and highlight the need to support rural librarians to develop STEM competencies and strategic partnerships.Item 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 ComputingPurpose 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.Item 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 ComputingThis 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.Item 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 ComputingThis 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.Item Visualizing Qualitative Data: Creative Approaches for Analyzing and Demonstrating Lively Data from Diverse Learning Settings(International Society of the Learning Sciences, 2020-06) Jung, Yong Ju; Dudek, Jaclyn; Yan, Shulong; Borge, Marcela; Kim, Soo Hyeon; Liao, Jian; Shapiro, Ben; Zimmerman, Heather Toomey; Library and Information Science, School of Informatics and ComputingThis structured poster session aims to showcase novel approaches of qualitatively analyzing and communicating lively data—data that is complex, nuanced, multimodal, and multi-voiced. Such data is rich but also messy, often defying the traditional text-based forms of description and presentation. Therefore, the session pairs creative techniques and methods to analyze, triangulate, and/or visualize qualitative findings across multiple data sources (e.g., video, digital and physical spaces, participant artifacts, and patterns of movement) from diverse learning contexts (e.g., museums, libraries, outdoor spaces, and classrooms)—beyond showing transcriptions. The visual format of the session supports our goal of sharing and communicating rich data stories for further discussion with diverse audiences.