IRMA-International.org: Creator of Knowledge
Information Resources Management Association
Advancing the Concepts & Practices of Information Resources Management in Modern Organizations

The Mediating Role of Context in an Urban After-School Robotics Program: Using Activity Systems to Analyze and Design Robust STEM Learning Environments

The Mediating Role of Context in an Urban After-School Robotics Program: Using Activity Systems to Analyze and Design Robust STEM Learning Environments
View Sample PDF
Author(s): John Y. Baker (University of Pennsylvania, USA)
Copyright: 2014
Pages: 18
Source title: Robotics: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Information Resources Management Association (USA)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-4607-0.ch069

Purchase


Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to illustrate the usefulness of cultural-historical activity theory in understanding how context mediates youth activity in a successful urban after-school robotics program. Youth activity is analyzed using activity systems, uncovering the role of tools, rules, community, and division of labor in youth engagement with a set of open-ended engineering tasks. The program supported the youth in making sense of the engineering tasks using their own intuitive methods, and it also helped them to see a purpose for disciplinary practices. The author illustrates that the social context, made up of elements from in and out of school, supported youth in drawing on knowledge from across different settings. A use of activity systems is proposed for practitioners in the design of out-of-school-time educational programs.

Related Content

Brij B. Gupta, Akshat Gaurav, Francesco Colace. © 2025. 16 pages.
Akshat Gaurav, Varsha Arya. © 2025. 16 pages.
Brij B. Gupta, Jinsong Wu. © 2025. 22 pages.
Purwadi Agus Darwinto, Agung Mulyo Widodo, Nilla Perdana Agustina, Kadek Dwi Wahyuadnyana, Mosiur Rahaman. © 2025. 30 pages.
Mosiur Rahaman, Karisma Trinda Putra, Bambang Irawan, Totok Ruki Biyanto. © 2025. 30 pages.
Shaurya Katna, Sunil K. Singh, Sudhakar Kumar, Divyansh Manro, Amit Chhabra, Sunil Kumar Sharma. © 2025. 22 pages.
Kwok Tai Chui, Varsha Arya, Akshat Gaurav, Shavi Bansal, Ritika Bansal. © 2025. 22 pages.
Body Bottom