Background: Scholars have analyzed the possibilities that robotics-centered learning programs offer, including opportunities for developing collaboratively and engaging in authentic STEM professional practice. This work adds a sociopolitical perspective, explicating a case of a newcomer to a robotics team that elucidates the nuances of…

Taking place within the Science Through Technology-Enhanced Play (STEP) design-based research project, this paper describes how first- and second-grade students use their bodies to imaginatively become microscopic particles inside of a collaborative simulation of state change (e.g., liquid to gas) and within two distinct play spaces: a…

Designers who create computer-based learning experiences for places like museums, out-of-school programs, and homes face a number of challenges related to the informal nature of such settings. Designs must generally function on their own without the support of teachers or curriculum while at the same time engaging a diverse audience, supporting…

This study investigated how interaction with peers influenced the ways students managed uncertainty during collaborative problem solving in a 5th-grade class. The analysis focused on peer responses to individuals' attempts to manage uncertainty they experienced while engaged in collaborative efforts to design, build, and program robots and…

This case study examines the role of playful talk in negotiating the "how" of collaborative group work in a 6th-grade science classroom. Here we develop and test a Vygotsky-derived hypothesis that postulates playful talk as a mechanism for identity exploration and group status negotiation. Our findings indicate that students utilized the…