The identity affordances of tools: an examination of visual design tool use in STEM

ABSTRACT

This article compares how visual design tools are used during an internship for high schoolers co-researching science journalism through infographics. Drawing on interns’ documentation of design processes, we demonstrate that tools shape both how youth create visual representations and how features of tools enable and constrain youth in positioning themselves in socially valued ways. Thus, affordances of tools can be interpreted according to their cognitive and identity fostering properties. We argue identity affordances of tools are under-theorized and are consequential for learners and learning. Educators should be mindful of, if not make explicit, properties of tools when designing for learning.

Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported by National Science Foundation under Grant No. IIS-1441561, IIS-1441471, IIS-1441481. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of National Science Foundation.

Disclosure statement

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

Notes

1. Unwanted, disruptive intrusion into an ongoing video-conference call.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Science Foundation [IIS-1441471,IIS-1441481,IIS-1441561].