NSF Awards: 1542801
STEM Teaching Integrating Textiles and Computing Holistically (STITCH) is a curriculum and professional development project designed to facilitate the development of a curricular approach to STEM content that integrates computer science (both hardware and software applications and development) into STEM curricular content to solve a range of authentic problems across disciplines in grades 6-11. The projects require students to program microprocessors to gather and process the data needed to answer a range of STEM associated questions related to concepts drawn from physics, chemistry, earth science, and life science. E-textiles incorporate elements of embedded computing for controlling the behavior of fabric artifacts. In contrast to conventional wires and breadboards, these artifacts are created using novel materials such as conductive fibers or conductive Velcro, sensors for light, sound, and pressure, and actuators such as LEDs and speakers, in addition to traditional aspects of fabric crafts. By sewing circuits using these materials to produce wearable items (e.g. tee-shirts, backpacks), students engage in designing solutions that are intellectually rigorous as well as culturally and personally meaningful.
The STITCH curriculum provides personally relevant context for learning foundational scientific concepts and the computer programming necessary to engage in data collection and analysis processes to solve real world problems aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards’ (NGSS) emphases on measurement and modeling as vehicles for engaging core concepts.
Our video will showcase student collected and analyzed data using the STITCH Roller Coaster T-shirt to measure g force on real roller coasters in high school physics class.
NSF Awards: 1542801
STEM Teaching Integrating Textiles and Computing Holistically (STITCH) is a curriculum and professional development project designed to facilitate the development of a curricular approach to STEM content that integrates computer science (both hardware and software applications and development) into STEM curricular content to solve a range of authentic problems across disciplines in grades 6-11. The projects require students to program microprocessors to gather and process the data needed to answer a range of STEM associated questions related to concepts drawn from physics, chemistry, earth science, and life science. E-textiles incorporate elements of embedded computing for controlling the behavior of fabric artifacts. In contrast to conventional wires and breadboards, these artifacts are created using novel materials such as conductive fibers or conductive Velcro, sensors for light, sound, and pressure, and actuators such as LEDs and speakers, in addition to traditional aspects of fabric crafts. By sewing circuits using these materials to produce wearable items (e.g. tee-shirts, backpacks), students engage in designing solutions that are intellectually rigorous as well as culturally and personally meaningful.
The STITCH curriculum provides personally relevant context for learning foundational scientific concepts and the computer programming necessary to engage in data collection and analysis processes to solve real world problems aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards’ (NGSS) emphases on measurement and modeling as vehicles for engaging core concepts.
Our video will showcase student collected and analyzed data using the STITCH Roller Coaster T-shirt to measure g force on real roller coasters in high school physics class.
Continue the discussion of this presentation on the Multiplex. Go to Multiplex
David Campbell
Program Officer (retired)
Clever acronym! I didn't see mention of the STITCH Roller Coaster t-shirt...did I miss something?
Colby Tofel-Grehl
Assistant Professor
Within the limitations of the three minute video we did not get a chance to add in the rollercoaster video and project.
https://fox13now.com/2018/05/18/utah-high-schoo...
Molly Malone
What an innovative project! To what do you attribute your success in recruiting teachers? Was it the project itself or method of outreach? Is the STITCH curriculum widely available to all educators?
Colby Tofel-Grehl
Assistant Professor
Great question. We are lucky in that we work with amazing states and districts that are supportive. Teachers in rural spaces typically get access to less professional development so when they are targeted and their needs are front and center, they tend to respond in droves.
We are in the process of finalizing our website (https://chaoslearninglab.weebly.com) which will have all curricular materials. Always feel free to email us for any help or support.
Lorna Quandt
This is so creative and seems like such a fun way to learn! I be this also capitalizes on the benefits of embodied learning. Is embodied learning a theory which your team has actively used to frame the project?
Kristin Searle
Assistant Professor
Hi Lorna, we have not actively framed the project in terms of embodied learning, but this is great food for though. Tammy Clegg's BodyVis project is an awesome (and literal) example of embodied learning.
Mary Murphy
Instructor
This is a great way to integrate traditional concepts with applied STEM. I have already shared with some colleagues. Will the website give an idea of what a teacher needs for content knowledge and supply costs to implement?
Kristin Searle
Assistant Professor
We found that teacher's needed a refresher on content knowledge, so while some of this happens in the PD and isn't in the curriculum itself, a lot of the content is there. We will be sure to include our supply ordering spreadsheet.
Jacob Grohs
Assistant Professor
Thanks for sharing! The demand for teachers to participate being so high is great! What sorts of scaffolding was needed in professional development? It seems there are technical skills to learn in working with microcontrollers, etc. but also it seemed students were empowered to choose their own projects. Giving students this flexibility and freedom is a great learning strategy but can be challenging to implement in a large class and teachers might be concerned about how all this time aligns with the core content of the course. Did you experience any of these challenges and if so how did you navigate them?
Kristin Searle
Assistant Professor
Teachers needed scaffolding in terms of science content and programming. So, for instance, we have teachers give us instructions for making a sandwich to illustrate the point that the computer only does exactly what you tell it to do. We make a big mess (mayo and mustard required!), have a lot of fun, and suddenly writing code feels a little less intimidating. We wrote a paper for ICLS 2018 (see volume 1) on how our professional development model evolved to include more scaffolding over the years of the project.
The projects follow a specified sequence, which teachers can adapt to their standards (all projects are standards-aligned) and available time. All projects have the same circuitry requirements, but students choose how to integrate them into an aesthetic design, resulting in projects that look very different. Some projects, like the temperature sensing lunchbox, follow a template. In order to teach thermal heat transfer, we compromised on the aesthetic dimensions of this particular project. Students can personalize if they finish early or in out of school time. During professional development, we try to model the organized chaos of everyone working on a project that is the same but different and ask them to help each other with debugging, so they seem the same functional circuit crafted in a variety of different ways. This translates to them more easily being able to help their students troubleshoot when the time comes.
Bridget Dalton
Great to see how students are developing science knowledge and technology skills while engaged in a tactile design project. Authentic connection to the aesthetics of design.
Colby Tofel-Grehl
Further posting is closed as the showcase has ended.