Data in Motion: Sports as a site for expansive learning

ABSTRACT

Background and Context

Sports and technology are often pitted as being at odds with one another. While there are several educational activities that make reference to sports we seldom see sports used as an authentic context for learning computing.

Objective

We describe the design of Data in Motion, a curriculum that considers the bi-directional opportunities for sports to improve learning of STEM and for STEM to help improve participants’ athletic performance.

Method

We implement Data in Motion as a five-day summer camp with 33 participants, grades 2–6. We observe the ways that the experience changes students’ perceptions of the connection between sports and technology through student surveys, observations and artifact analyses.

Findings

Across the pool of participants, we saw significant changes in the ways that students conceptualized the connection between technology and athletic performance. We also saw students who are not interested in sports demonstrate high engagement in the experience.

Implications

Practice-linked learning, specifically in the context of sports and technology, is a generative space for students to authentically explore interests in both disciplines. Researchers and practitioners should consider this intersection as a potential space to broaden modes of participation in computer science.

KEYWORDS:

• Sports
• wearables
• computing
• practice-linked
• informal learning

Acknowledgments

We are greatly appreciative to Rick Kolsky and the participants and mentors of his program for their participation in this project. We also want to acknowledge the larger research team of current and former Technological Innovations for Inclusive Teaching and Learning (tiilt) members who contributed to the design and implementation of Data of Motion. These individuals include Melissa Perez, Michael Smith, Neil Vakharia, Khalil Anderson, Natalie Melo, JooYoung Jang, Kelia Human, Priya Kini and Sophie Mann.

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. DGE-1842165. This work is also supported by NSF Award No. CNS-1838916. Any opinion, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Disclosure statement

The authors of this work do not have any conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Directorate for Engineering [DGE-1842165]; National Science Foundation [CNS-1838916].

Notes on contributors

Stephanie T. Jones

Stephanie T. Jones is a Ph.D student in Computer Science and Learning Science at Northwestern University. She researches expansive and community based learning environments that utilize computing and making as potential tools for broader learning goals.

JaCoya Thompson

JaCoya Thompson is a Ph.D student in the Computer Science department at Northwestern University. Her research interests include building technologies that facilitate youth engagement, learning of STEM concepts, and promote equal access to individuals from diverse populations.

Marcelo Worsley

Marcelo Worsley is an Assistant Professor of Learning Sciences and Computer Science at Northwestern University. He received his PhD from Stanford University, and leads the Technological Innovations for Inclusive Learning and Teaching (tiilt) lab.