EXPLORING ON-SKIN PROTOTYPING TOOLKITS IN STEM EDUCATION: A WORKSHOP STUDY WITH MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS
Emerging wearable construction toolkits offer new avenues for STEM learning through an accessible and creative making process. To investigate how middle students can benefit from a wearable toolkit workshop experience, we introduce a recent on-skin wearable toolkit, SkinKit, to participants between the ages of 11 and 15 through one-session workshops. We aimed to understand how such toolkits can foster creativity and learning in STEM subjects. The workshops are structured with a hands-on learning process, a group-making process, and a presentation of project prototypes. We observed that these activities increased the students’ interest in STEM topics, as reflected in the post-workshop surveys. This paper details the iterative improvements made to the workshop procedures and survey methodologies from the pilot studies to the formal workshop. Our findings suggest that wearable construction toolkits like SkinKit can potentially enrich STEM education and engage students in relevant subjects.