Literacies of Design: Studies of Equity and Imagination in Engineering and Making

by Amy Wilson-Lopez (Editor), Eli Tucker-Raymond (Editor), Alberto Esquinca (Editor), Joel Alejandro Mejia (Editor)

Overview

Though engineering design can tackle the world’s most pressing challenges, engineering-related courses and experiences are often alienating, especially to people from minoritized groups. Literacies of Design: Studies of Equity and Imagination in Engineering and Making covers the latest pedagogical theories—as well as case studies and practical tips—to support diverse people in identifying problems and designing solutions through engineering and making.

Engineers tackle a range of problems, big and small, from climate change to viral transmission to improved handrails for persons with disabilities. Inclusion and equity efforts include not only preparing the next generation of engineers and makers, but also creating and fostering spaces where youth can express their ideas and bring forth their whole selves. This book offers theories and real-life examples for educators and practitioners at every level, from K–12 through higher education and beyond.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781612497457
Publisher:	Purdue University Press
Publication date:	05/15/2022
Pages:	286
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Amy Wilson-Lopez, an associate professor at Utah State University, conducts research that explores the literacies and cultural assets that linguistically diverse youth use in engineering.

Eli Tucker-Raymond, a research associate professor at the Earl Center for Learning and Innovation at Boston University, conducts research focused on equity at the intersections of science, making, and multimodal literacies, and the ways in which these intersections create expansive spaces for learning, teaching, and being.

Alberto Esquinca, an associate professor at San Diego State University, conducts work that focuses on the biliteracy practices and identities of students classified as English learners (emergent bilinguals) in and outside of school.

Joel Alejandro Mejia, an associate professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio, conducts research on asset-based practices in engineering education, the impact of critical consciousness in engineering work, and the role of engineering in social justice efforts.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Literacies and Design for Equity, by Amy Wilson-Lopez, Alberto Esquinca, Joel Alejandro Mejia, and Eli Tucker-Raymond
1 “It’s Like a Rock Puzzle in a Wall”: Multiliteracies and Design Practices in First-Grade Engineering, by Salem R. Metzger, Alison K. Mercier, and Heidi B. Carlone
2 Elementary Students’ Communicative Practices in the Engineering Design Process Across Materials and Modes, by Lynn E. Shanahan, Mary B. McVee, and Katarina Silvestri
3 Amplifying a Student’s Voice: An Engineering Design Unit About Communication, by Gabriel DellaVecchia and Annemarie Sullivan Palincsar
4 Engineering Design in a Dual-Language Classroom, by Alberto Esquinca and Lidia Herrera-Rocha
5 The Face-to-Face Language of Engineering Design Teams in Urban Elementary Classrooms, by Patricia Paugh, Kristen Wendell, and Christopher Wright
6 Answerability in Making Democratic Worlds: An Exploration of One Fifth-Grade Teacher’s Engineering Communication in Service of Dialogic Citizenship, by Michelle E. Jordan
7 Action Civics, Literacies, and Design: Transforming Community Spaces Through Engineering and Civic Action, by Amy Wilson-Lopez, Karen Hazel Washburn, and Indhira María Hasbún
8 Twinning Critical Community and Technical Literacies:
Exploring Design Literacies Toward Equitable and Consequential
Making and Engineering With Historically Marginalized Youth, by Edna Tan and Angela Calabrese Barton
9 “It Will Be a Symphony of Children”: Learning STEM Literacies Through Technologies of the Heart in Making Spaces, by Eli Tucker-Raymond, Brian E. Gravel, Susan Klimczak, Aditi Wagh, and Ada Ren-Mitchell
10 Make Some Noise: Teens Respond to Sound Pollution in a Community Problem-Solving Project, by Jasmine Nation, David Sañosa, Joi Duncan, and Richard Durán
11 Designing for Justice in a School-Based Makerspace, by Virginia Killian Lund and Nathan C. Phillips
12 Contortion and Contextual Literacy: How Low-Income, First-Gen Engineering Students Manage Relationships Among People, Texts, and Objects, by Jessica M. Smith and Juan C. Lucena
13 Critical Literacies in Practice: Deconstructing Engineering Through an Engineering Social Justice Course, by Joel Alejandro Mejia and Renata A. Revelo
About the Contributors
Index

Editorial Reviews

"The editors and authors have put together a thoughtful collection of papers with both heart and hope at their core. The collection is clear-eyed in its emancipatory goals, bringing newcomers to theory about critical and multiliteracies— alongside more experienced literacy and design researchers and educators— to imagine practical applications inside and outside American classrooms. The book provides rich and empirically grounded illustrations of the myriad ways multimodal literacies are enacted through engineering design pedagogies in informal K–12 and higher education contexts. With discussion questions at the end of each chapter, the authors and editors remind us that critical reflection begins with the reader. This thoughtful book asks readers to rejoice in all the things educators can do to teach students young and old both multimodal literacy practices and engineering thinking, and which simultaneously center anti-racist and critical commitments to educational equity." —Alice Pawley, Professor of Engineering Education, Purdue University

From the Publisher