Research 

 

Drawing from the scholarship and traditions of constructivism, constructionism, critical pedagogy, and sociocultural educational research, we conduct research exploring new ways to teach and learn STEM disciplines. Our lab is not concerned with merely optimizing what already exists, but in reimagining how children and youth can engage with STEM disciplines in transformative, personally-meaningful, and community-relevant ways. Thus we develop tools, create learning spaces, research human and social cognition, create pedagogical designs, inquiry into communities’ social life, and work at scaling up educational innovation around the world. Our lab is unique in which is has a strong focus on research-to-practice work, so most of our basic research projects have a strong implementation and broader impact component, trying to take the best research and designs to schools and students.

On This Page

Cultural Making
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25 Years of Culturally-Aware Constructionism in Thailand

The longest Constructionist implementation in the world

A research program examining the history and nature of constructionism in Thailand, its evolution since the early days in the 1970’s, and its multiple implementation forms in different types of learning environments (schools, communities, and corporations).

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Cultural Making in Brazil

Examining making practices in traditionally marginalized communities in Brazil to understand how those practices represent ways of thinking and implications for creation and dissemination of local knowledge and education.

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A Survey of Cultural Making Around the World

Documenting authentic making practices across disparate communities internationally.

Transformative Pedagogies - Science Education

Bifocal Modeling

Comparing Data and Computer Models
in Real-Time

NSF CAREER project in science education that challenges students to experience a scientific phenomenon through two lenses in parallel – a real experiment and a computer model — and compare them in real time.

Mock-up of a block-based computational modeling platform

From Access to Sustainability (A2S)

Improving Access and Long-Term Deep Investigations

NSF-funded new software platform and research for supporting computational modeling and data collection as a sustained practice in middle school science.

Try out the platform here!

Make It Open

Opening Up Maker Education to Local Communities

EU-funded project for developing maker education-based “open schools” to support new partnerships between schools and local communities

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Science Messaging System (SMS+)

Ultra-Low Cost Remote Inquiry Learning for Underserved Communities

A platform to support real-time, interactive, message-based STEM activities for which the only resource required is a family mobile phone.

Transformative Pedagogies - Computer Science Education
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Code.Struct

A Curricula for Critical Computer Science

Designing a K12 Computer Science pedagogical framework and curricular pathway true to the central epistemological goals of Constructionism.  

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Unfold Studio

Literacy-Based Computer Science

A literacy-based approach to teaching computer science using a web application for interactive storytelling bringing together the power of programming with the ability of stories to represent and explore the lived realities of learners.

Learn more and try it out at unfold.studio.

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A Survey of K-12 Computer Science Education

Rationales, Equity, and Broadening Participation

A review of the current state of computer science education presenting the views of 14 highly regarded researchers and practitioners in the field including an examination of how children engage with computer science education and improvements that could lead to more equitable opportunities in schools.

Critiques of Educational Technologies & Mis/Disinformation
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Do Educational Technologies have Politics?

Employing multiple methods from Natural Language Processing to discourse analysis to reveal underlying patterns and motivations in the discourse of contemporary EdTech.

Mis/Disinformation

Documenting the spread of disinformation within Brazilian politics and designing and evaluating tools to combat the spread of disinformation worldwide.

Transformative Research Methodologies

Multimodal Learning Analytics

A New Frontier in the Assessment of Constructionist, Project-Based Learning

Using advanced sensing and artificial intelligence technologies, investigating new ways to assess project-based activities by examining students’ speech, gestures, sketches, and artifacts in order to better characterize their learning over extended periods of time.

Community Analytics

Using techniques from Natural Language Processing and Learning Analytics, this project systematically investigates how topics and collaborations develop over time in education research communities.

Transformative Technological Tools
Biolab

Lab in the Cloud

Ultra-Low Cost Remote Science Labs

A cloud-based solution for ultra-low cost science labs, enabling students to run interactive remote experiments in biology.

 

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GoGo Board

A Low Cost, More Sustainable Platform for Robotics and Scientific Sensing

A low-cost open-source hardware device for educational robotics, scientific experiments, and environmental sensing. Children can use the board to construct robots, measure and log environmental data, conduct scientific investigations, create game controllers, build interactive art installations, and much more.

Learn more at the GoGo Board project page or the GoGo Board website.

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Project Bloks

Tangible Programming for Pre-Schoolers

An open hardware and software platform, developed with Google and IDEO, enabling designers to create new and creative tangible coding languages, kits and experiences for children to learn how to code, using new form factors, metaphors, and knowledge domains.

Read more at Google, TechCrunch, and The Guardian.

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Science Inquiry Meets Coding

A Low-Cost Programmable Robot for Advanced Scientific Experimentation

Designed to integrate the life sciences with coding and robotics for middle and high school classrooms, an inexpensive programmable robot capable of automatically mixing fluids for experiments. 

Hapkit

Hapkit

Learning Physics Through Haptics

An open-hardware low-cost haptic device designed to allow users to input motions and feel programmed forces in one degree of freedom enabling interactive simulation of virtual environments that represent realistic physics (such as springs and dampers) and creative new touch sensations (like textures and buttons). 

Learn more at the Hapkit project page or the Hapkit website.

 

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LightUp

Augmented Reality STEM Learning

An Augmented Reality based electronics learning platform for children.

Learn more at lightup.io.

Incubated Research Communities
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FabLearn
Global

Maker Education Research

The FabLearn Global conference is the premier international research conference on Making in Education. With a nine year history, it is ACM recognized, part of the TLTL created, managed and supported FabLearn Initiative and attended by hundreds of top researchers, practitioners and policy-makers each year.

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FabLearn
Europe

Maker Education Research

The ACM-sanctioned sister conference to the FabLearn Global event held in association with the TLTL FabLearn initiative has, over its six-year history, brought together a strong and dedicated European research community with top educators, designers, and makers to discuss and explore digital fabrication in education, making, and hands-on learning for the 21st Century. 

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FabLearn
Asia

Maker Education Research

Held most recently in Bangkok, Thailand in 2019, the TLTL affiliated FabLearn Asia Conference aims to connect Asian researchers with practitioners, policy-makers, and pioneering educators to establish the current ‘state of the field’ in digital fabrication in education and disseminate information about best practices and instructional tools.  

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FabLearn
Latin America

Maker Education Research

Held most recently in Uruguay in 2019, the TLTL affiliated FabLearn Latin America conference brings together key influencers and thought-leaders  in education, policy-making, academia, design, research, and maker communities to learn, present, and discuss digital fabrication in education, the maker culture, hands-on learning, and instructional tools.

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Learning Sciences Brazil

Learning Sciences Research

Ciencias da Aprendizagem Brasil is a community of Brazilian educators and researchers, incubated by the TLTL, working to promote the field of Learning Sciences in Brazil with an interest in understanding how new practices, technologies and environments can help people learn better.

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Constructionist Computer Science

Computer Science Education

The TLTL incubated and supported Constructionist CS ED group is bringing together researchers and practitioners to create a community of collaboration and professional support for those working to promote constructionist based computer science education and research in K12 schools.

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AI in Education Conference

Computer Science Education

Along with partners UNESCO, WISE Foundation and Teachers College, the TLTL sponsored ‘AI in Education’ Conference explores the myths, realities and risks of bringing AI into education’s future.

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Lemann Center @ Stanford

Brazilian Education

A co-founding organization of the Lemann Center for Educational Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Brazil at Stanford University, the TLTL supports a vibrant community of Brazilian former visiting scholars and students dedicated to educational improvement in the country particularly in the area of STEM related education.