Modeling and using technology are two practices of particular interest to K-12 science educators. These practices are inextricably linked among professionals, who engage in modeling activity with and across a variety of representational technologies. In this paper, we explore the practices of five sixth-grade girls as they generated models of smell diffusion using drawing, stopmotion animation, and computational simulation during a multi-day workshop. We analyze video, student discourse, and artifacts to address the questions: In what ways did learners' modeling practices, reasoning about mechanism, and ideas about smell shift as they worked across this variety of representational technologies? And, what supports enabled them to persist and progress in the modeling activity? We found that the girls engaged in two distinct modeling cycles that reflected persistence and deepening engagement in the task. In the first, messing about, they focused on describing and representing many ideas related to the spread of smell at once. In the second, digging in, they focused on their testing and revision of particular mechanisms that underlie smell diffusion. Upon deeper analysis, we found these cycles were linked to the girls' invention of "oogtom," a representational object that encapsulated many ideas from the first cycle and allowed the girls to re-start modeling with the mechanistic focus required to construct simulations. We analyze the role of activity design, facilitation, and technological infrastructure in this pattern of engagement over the course of the workshop, and discuss implications for future research, curriculum design, and classroom practice.

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Background/Context Many schools no longer track classes to increase access to courses at all levels, including science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects. However, informal processes can “de facto” track students, placing them at the same level across subjects. Research shows that de facto tracking is prevalent in STEM, especially between mathematics and science course placements. Less is known about the relationship between mathematics and engineering—the focus of this study. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study Mathematics placement is likely to shape participation in engineering given its position under the STEM umbrella. Yet, de facto tracking does not occur all the time. This may depend on the categorization of courses as “academic” or “vocational,” but there is little research about this aspect of course-to-student matching. Therefore, we investigate an unexpected case of equitable participation where mathematics placement does not de facto track students in engineering. We ask: How do institutional and organizational factors shape the absence of de facto tracking? Research Design We used qualitative data drawn from a two-year mixed-methods study in a public high school district with one large comprehensive high school. The school is in the lower third of per pupil spending in the state of Massachusetts, yet has significant engineering-related course offerings. Located near Boston, it serves an economically and racially diverse student body of ∼1,800 students. For this article, we analyzed 998 hours of observations during and after school, in engineering-related elective courses and extracurricular activities, and interviews with 29 students, 31 teachers, six guidance counselors, two district administrators, and the principal. Findings/Results We find competing vocational and academic logics equally frame engineering, which we call “institutional ambiguity.” This dual framing is present at the institutional level and is supported at the school level by three organizational factors: 1) courses and activities that occur in both vocational and academic spaces, 2) teachers who link vocational and academic fields, and 3) an organizational commitment to support the integration of vocational activities. Conclusions/Recommendations Overall, this article contributes to educational and organizational research by identifying the institutional factors and organizational processes that shape the categorization of courses and student-to-course matching. Our research reveals the conditions under which schools and the actors within them have greater agency, where ambiguity in the broader environment allows for contestation and renegotiation of status hierarchies. We argue that by leveraging ambiguity, schools may avoid contributing to inequity in STEM.