Fiber crafts course (weaving and fabric manipulation) as a context for computational learning with middle school youth¶
Design · All designs
Evidence · 7 claims (7 for) · 2 studies (2 qualitative),q2· 0 of 2 report an effect size · 7 claims rest on one study
Description¶
A 6-session fiber crafts course, facilitated twice at a K-8 charter school, offered weaving with three loom types and fabric manipulation with a laser-cut matrix template as contexts for performing computational concepts. "The participants of the course were 16 middle school students between 11 and 14 years old," self-selected via an interest survey. The crafts were chosen because they are matrix-based, connected historically to computing, and require routine movements that perform algorithms such as loops and conditional pairings.
Design Implications¶
Context¶
Requirements¶
- Pre-warped looms and prepared materials (laser-cut grid template, threads, needles) so sessions could focus on production
- Facilitators familiar with the crafts and with the study's purpose regarding computing-crafting connections
Constraints¶
- Facilitators did not ask students to recognize the crafting tools and materials as co-actors
- Soft-robotic actuator animation sessions were excluded from this analysis
Target Learners¶
- seventh- and eighth-grade students in a maker-centered school program
Learning Goals¶
- performing computational concepts (loops, variables, conditionals) through physical crafting
Claims¶
- In fabric manipulation, the algorithmic performance was contingent on repeated combinations of components paired with steps of the craft [+W]
- Weaving supports middle school students' performance of the computational concepts variables, conditionals, and functions [+W]
- Neither youth nor loom alone drove the algorithmic production and fabric output; both actively produced it collaboratively [+W]
- In weaving, performed algorithms emerged as repeated youth-material movements one dimension at a time, producing reliable fabric outputs [+W]
- Computation in weaving is characterized by the performance of automation, with student-loom patterns moving from irregular to regular over time [+W]
- Computation in fabric manipulation is characterized as speculative physical 3D modeling [+W]
- Middle school students experienced their craft performance as computational, connecting weaving and sewing to loops and coding [+W]
Related Designs¶
Examples¶
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Key Sources¶
- Anna Keune. (2024). Learning within fiber-crafted algorithms: Posthumanist perspectives for capturing human-material collaboration. Intern. J. Comput.-Support. Collab. Learn. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11412-023-09412-1
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
design |
id |
fiber-crafts-course-computational-learning |
title |
Fiber crafts course (weaving and fabric manipulation) as a context for computational learning with middle school youth |
description |
A 6-session fiber crafts course, facilitated twice at a K-8 charter school, offered weaving with three loom types and fabric manipulation with a laser-cut matrix template as contexts for performing computational conce... |
status |
review |
generated |
by process:settle-candidates on 2026-10-18 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — anna-keune-2024 |
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