Our Story
Iterative Design Process
Complementing and extending these prior works, the Anywear Academy focuses explicitly on building computational community, doing so by involving the campers in shared missions that engage them in group problem-solving through coding and wearable design. The Anywear Academy is novel because of its use of edu-larp as a frame for learning.
Our two research questions were:
Does the proposed camp increase girls’ self-reported competence, self-efficacy, and interest in computational skills and careers?
Will the proposed camp experience lead to activity-based evidence of learning and integration of computational skills and ubicomp design skills at the group social level of the camp?
We began with a set of computational learning objectives taken from age-appropriate CSTA standards [4] that were feasible to aim for within the context of a five-day summer day camp experience, and that emphasized ’core’ computing concepts as well as iteration and communication skills. (The topics covered in the camp’s programming classes blend both types of skills.)
As part of our co-design process, we also convened a Youth Advisory Committee with expertise in informal STEM learning as well as larp and edu-larp design. The core team also included a non-profit summer camp operator with expertise in designing and running role-play-based camps, as well as an external evaluation team with a long history of evaluating informal STEM/computational learning experiences. We used input from this group and others in the team to develop the narrative, design, and technical components of the Edu-Larp over a one-year period (see Figure 1), toward creating a camp that resonated with our target group’s interests.
From previously successful research and with advice from our stakeholders, we ensured that the campers would have some unstructured time for the iterative design processes, and time for integrating their knowledge and skills [15, 34].
Our camp makes use of the Micro:bit hardware platform due to it’s previously success in educational settings [5] and the strengths that it offered for wireless communication, which would help support interaction at a distance. The Micro:bit is specifically developed for use in computer education and has a robust ecosystem of with a robust surrounding ecosystem. The ecosystem features a broad array of free online tutorials and projects, as well as a market of both official and 3rd party accessory components. We paired this with the visual coding environment, MakeCode. This block-based coding platform is similar to Scratch, but purpose-built for a variety of maker hardware [30].
We wanted the campers to have a long growth path offered by the hardware we provided, to allow them to continue to develop their skills based on their interests after the camp concluded. The micro:bit platform was chosen due to its connections to other commercial maker platforms and hardware. It has a low barrier of entry with MakeCode’s block-based interface, but it can just as effectively be programmed in python, javascript or the arduino version of C++. The additional hardware components chosen were based on providing the most amount of flexible utility at a relatively low cost. Neopixels and continuous servos have extension packages that work with MakeCode and expand the outputs available to the campers. While Micro:bit features a relatively unique cartridge style pin out, we chose not to include any of the bespoke “daughterboard” style accessories, as they are generally not well designed for wearables, relatively restrictive in their use cases, and more expensive than more generic compatible electronics. Puzzles were also constructed using Micro:bits by the camp designers and facilitators, which were integrated into props for the different environments. These included a combination lock puzzle made with five Micro:bits which required campers to trigger different Micro:bits either in sequence or synchronously using different sensor inputs. The purpose of this was to provide a challenge that brought in the concept of sensor input.
Research & Evaluation
We had 10 campers on the first day with 9 returning to finish the rest of the camp. All campers assented, and their families consented, to their participation in the research (as per the guidance of our IRB board). The camp was run in a community center in a US city in July of 2021. The event was organized and facilitated by the non-profit, and ran for five days from 9am to 4pm. The camp was staffed with 4 facilitators hired based on their experience in education, larp and theatre, in addition to an onsite coordinator from the non-profit, who also served as the primary instructor of the class material. The other 4 facilitators shifted roles based on the need at the time, acting as non-player characters during missions, supervising crafting activities, and providing design feedback, as well as handling set design and construction.
Results from the first deployment of Anywear Academy support the hypothesis and the promise of camps like this one to positively contribute to sparking and maintaining interest in computation among middle school girls.
Camp observations, interviews, and pre-and post-surveys showed that campers reported increases in measures of competence, self-efficacy, and interest in computation, indicating that we are on the right track in regard to our primary research question.
The target demographic and focus are middle-school-aged girls, but all are welcome!!