App Making for Pro-Social and Environmental Change at an Equity-Oriented Makeathon

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the effectiveness of an equity-oriented Makeathon designed to foster maker mindsets and maker identities in high school girls by engaging them with diverse tools, materials, mentorship, collaborative prototyping, and creative computing. The central theme of the University of British Columbia (UBC) Girls' Makeathon emphasized Tech for Change. Teams were challenged to make a mobile app related to an issue that teen girls face in local or global communities throughout the world. Participants learned how to identify a complex problem, design effective solutions, and change the world for the better by communicating their ideas (via apps and a pitch to a panel of experts). The results from the girls' design experiences, team presentations, surveys, and interviews show gains in their understandings of greening making and pro-social change making. Findings underscore the matter concerning how, why, and where do girls learn to become makers, coders, and inventors of media and technology (thereby overturning traditional gender and generational stereotypes)? The lessons learned in empowering girls to tackle inequality and create the futures they want to be part of will be useful for teachers and researchers who are interested in working with youth to design apps and innovative maker activities for environmental and sustainable education, research, and/or outreach.