Projects & Research

The AAMASE project develops and researches a model for engaging high-school-aged African American women from low-income families in STEM-related making and entrepreneurship educational programming in a makerspace. Participants explore multiple Making disciplines (e.g., ceramics, textiles, resin, woodworking and metalworking) and entrepreneurship. New pathways to STEM careers open for these young women as they make connections among their strengths and interests, and the knowledge and skills they develop. Mentors from the makerspace support participants to develop their project designs and relevant skills. The aim is for each participant to develop the agency and skills to be able to create a signature making artifact, a creative work with personal and cultural significance to the maker (Barton, Tan, and Rivet, 2008).

AAMASE uses an iterative, participatory design research framework bringing the participants together with makerspace experts, facilitators, and researchers to co-create activities that reflect the young women’s interests. The project’s research investigates participants’ development and interests and how the makerspace community is impacted. The research used qualitative and quantitative methods including artifact elicitation, focus groups, interviews, and ethnographic field observations to iteratively develop the program model.

Together with Greensboro NC community partners, researchers from TERC and makers from the Forge, a Greensboro-based makerspace, develop ways for makerspaces to offer more opportunities to young women.

Read a press release about this project here.

Rafanan, K. (2024, March 17-20). Engaging African American Young Women in STEM and Entrepreneurship Through Community-Centered Making. In Building Culturally Sustaining Projects and Partnerships to Support Science for the ‘Rest of Us’ [Symposium]. National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Denver, CO, United States.

Levin-Guracar, E., Jaumot-Pascual, N., Rafanan, K., Lara-Meloy, T., & Eways, J. (2024, July 18-19). Object Elicitation [Conference presentation]. 2024 Play Make Learn, Madison, WI, United States.

Levin-Guracar, E., Jaumot-Pascual, N., Rafanan, K., Lara-Meloy, T., Eways, J., & Mitchell, I. (September 28-October 1). Object Elicitation Interviews: Engaging Youth in Conversations About Their STEM Learning Through Making [Conference presentation]. Association of Science and Technology Centers Annual Conference 2024.