The Creative Communities research group in the department of Information Science at CU Boulder is seeking PhD students to join our team. Our research group consists of students with a variety of backgrounds and interests. These backgrounds include working with youth in different settings, community organizing, designing and developing technical systems, and creative media production. Students become active contributors and take on leadership roles in the design and development of learning technologies and experiences, research on how people learn, resources for educators, and relationships with community partners. Learn more about our team and our values here.
We’re especially looking for students to contribute to our Facilitating Computational Tinkering and Family Creative Learning projects. These projects are in the areas of informal learning which include family and community learning, creative learning experiences with computing, and equity-oriented community design. Students will work with local as well as national informal learning organizations that include libraries, museums, and community centers. Our partners have included the ideaLABs at Denver Public Libraries, the Tinkering Studio at the Exploratorium, and the Clubhouse Network.
PhD students Celeste Moreno (left) and Ronni Hayden (right) with visiting researcher Amos Blanton at Junkyard Social Club for a “Playing with the Sun” session
PhD student Ronni Hayden facilitating our Equity as a Moving Target session at The Clubhouse Network 2022 Annual Conference
Our project teams have been designing and developing “computational tinkering” activities and resources that help informal learning educators, or facilitators, meaningfully and equitably integrate computing in their practice and their spaces. In addition, we study how facilitators, youth, and families jointly engage in these activities through design-based research approaches and ethnographic methods. Our approach to computational tinkering aims to broaden the styles of engaging with computing, providing a more social, physical, and cross-disciplinary alternative to more dominant ways of teaching computing that focus on planning and optimization of a single solution. Computational tinkering activities enable children and families to create their own stories, music, and art using a combination of everyday materials along with programmable lights, motors, and physical sensors to expand the opportunities for exploration and creative expression. You can see some of our recent efforts through our research group’s blog.
We seek students who have some experience working with youth, families, and communities, especially from groups who have been marginalized from traditional computing/STEM environments because of race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, and/or immigration status. We also seek students that enjoy playfully experimenting and creating with code, craft, and/or other materials and technologies.
Students can apply through Information Science or ATLAS. If you have questions, please contact Prof. Ricarose Roque directly or feel free to reach out to any current students.
Former ATLAS masters student Mariana Tamashiro facilitating a workshop at the ideaLAB at Hadley Library