Material syntonicity: Examining computational performance and its materiality through weaving and sewing crafts

ABSTRACT

Background

Fiber crafts occupy a vital position in technology innovation and present a promising space for computer science education, which continues to face lopsided participation. It remains unclear whether and how fiber crafts can become a context for computational learning and what role different materials play with the risk to miss computational approaches that could broaden computational cultures.

Methods

Fusing constructionist and posthuman perspectives, this study analyzed how middle school students performed computational concepts while weaving and manipulating fabric and how the craft materials drove what could be learned computationally in these contexts.

Findings

Present the fiber crafts as a context for performing computational concepts (i.e., variables, conditionals, functions) and that the materials play a role in what can be learned computationally. While weaving drove computing as the performance of automation, fabric manipulation required speculative and physical three-dimensional modeling as computational.

Contribution

The paper presents fiber crafts as a promising context for computational learning and theorizes the ongoing material as material syntonicity, contributing a material direction to fostering more inclusive and sustainable computing cultures.

Acknowledgments

This article would not have been possible without the participating students and the support of their teachers. Throughout the writing of the manuscript, Kylie Peppler provided invaluable feedback and advice. Ideas for the study were improved in conversations with members of the Creativity Labs, including Naomi Thompson, Sophia Bender, and Suraj Uttamchandani. The work was also supported by constructive comments from anonymous reviewers and by the mentors of the International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS) 2018 doctoral consortium.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics approval statement

This study was carried out in accordance with the recommendations and approval of Indiana University’s Institutional Review Board (IRB). All participants gave written informed consent.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Anita Borg Institute and the Center for Craft.