What if we were twice as close to the sun?

Abstract

Diversity has been a prevalent issue in the American STEM workforce for a number of years. Efforts to increase diversification have resulted in alternate learning spaces such as makerspaces, after school programs, and technology integrated curriculums. Our study, hosted at a non-profit organization serving underrepresented youth, leveraged the video game Minecraft (MC) as a way to engage summer campers in scientific concepts and inquiries over one week. Reoccurring themes from interviews include familial rules on technology use at home, engaging with STEM in a novel way, and a love for building and creating within MC. We discuss our insight into the discoveries and challenges of these types of STEM-oriented program that takes place in informal settings. CCS CONCEPTS • Social and professional topics~Informal education • Social and professional topics~Race and ethnicity • Social and professional topics~Adolescents • Applied computing~Interactive learning environments • General and reference~Experimentation

Innovations and Technologies in Science/STEM Education: Opportunities, Challenges and Sustainable Practices

“…It also includes exoplanets and different versions of Earths, e.g., Earth with no moon, Earth with a colder sun. WHIMC immerses learners in simulated environments wherein they can move around these different worlds and make observations while exploring them (Yi and Lane, 2019;Manahan and Rodrigo, 2022;What-If Hypothetical Implementations in Minecraft (WHIMC), n.d.).…”