That'll teach them!: Evaluation of K+K=K workshops' long term goals: What do the children say?

Abstract

The goal of this master thesis was to evaluate the K+K=K workshops’ long term objectives by asking selected participants aged 11-13 years, about their experiences. The two-day workshop combined creativity and the OSS programming language Scratch to promote art, science and alternatives to computer games, amongst children.

The qualitative research was based on primary data collected through vis-à-vis semi structured interview, and on secondary data consisting of participant observation. Through a grounded theory approach three key theories were identified to apply to the data: constructionism, media theory and domestication theory. Data analysis yielded the following main topics: 1) issues concerning the research process and the children’s experiences at the workshops, 2) issues emerging from the children’s answers, 3) matters concerning the workshop’s long term goals.

The principal conclusions about contextual issues provided suggestions for improvement of the research process as well as the children’s workshop experience. Furthermore, matters that emerged from the children’s answers indicated issues with the organisational structure of the actual workshop content and sparse prior information to workshop participants. By taking the informants’ critiques to heart, future workshop experiences can be improved, facilitating an even more valuable learning experience for the children. Finally, analysis revealed viable options to increase impact of the workshop’s long term goals. Adequate advance information on workshop content will enable participants to better understand the workshop and its goals. The children’s answers confirmed that an informal learning setting like eg. the K+K=K workshop provides young people an effective introduction to different perspectives on computer use and boost their passion for art and programming.