Getting Parents & Guardians On-Board with Urban Youth MakerSpaces

Robert Friedman, C. Meghan Hausman, Roxana Hadad, Kim Richards, Germania Solorzano, and Jacob Watson

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TEAM: Hive Chicago Buzz

Framing our Design Challenge

How might we make urban maker spaces for youth living in poverty more explicitly valuable to their parents or guardians?

Research Phase

We decided to interview teachers, parents, community members and experts

Quote from a local business owner referring to skills needed to enter the job force:

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“How to problem solve. This is a huge blocker. People who keep hammering away at the same problem with the same strategy that doesn’t work and can’t/won’t explore alternatives. People who don’t know how to explore and find alternatives.”

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Research Phase

We asked parents to look at photos of spaces and pick one that would be most appropriate in a school.

Research Phase

Parents Chose:

Research Phase

When asked about barriers to parental participation in after-school events, parents mentioned:

• transportation, safety, and time.

Key Insights

Key Insights

Mindsets

1. In communities that lack resources, entrepreneurship mindsets are essential for success because there are many opportunities
2. Youth lack the critical problem solving and adaptive thinking skills that are essential in any workplace environment
3. Youth aren’t given opportunities to develop independent thinking, self-reliance and responsibility critical to workplace success

Key Insights

Relationships

• Parent/teacher- It is rare for teachers and parents to lead and collaborate around instruction.
• parent/parent- Parent networks communicate and spread opportunities and benefits associated with maker spaces and will also encourage parents to participate.
• parent/community- Maker spaces have the opportunity to bring the community and community groups into the school and vice versa.

Key Insights

Accessibility

1. Transportation options are unfamiliar, expensive and difficult to navigate.
2. Navigating to opportunities presents safety issues and there is an overall lack of trust of the unfamiliar environments
3. Language barriers can prevent participation in jargon rich activities or programs taught exclusively in english

Final Insight

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Not everyone is going to work for Google, but maybe they can/will open a local small business that needs these skills.

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• Entrepreneurial mindset is key
• Adaptive thinking is valuable

How Might We Questions

We reduced down to three HMW questions, and focused on the bolded one.

• How might we cultivate mindsets that prepare youth for becoming citizens and professionals in any capacity?
• How might we better connect parents, teachers and communities to increase the inherent value of maker spaces?
• How might we make these spaces more accessible?

Brainstorming & Ideation

Brainstorming & Ideation

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We brainstormed a number of possible solutions and voted on the most popular and the most viable

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The winning idea:

Maker “tasting stations” at local markets or sidewalks!

Brainstorming & Ideation

Of course we went with Churro stand for our storyboard. Who doesn’t like churros?

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Tasting stations (for tinkering) are entry points to a fix/setup/build program at the makerspace

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Supermarket-Costco

Auto shop

Home Depot--Hot dogs

Demo

Churro Stand

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Storyboards

Storyboards

First Interaction: Will parents stop?

Storyboards

Second Interaction: Will this family stop not only to consume but also to create??

Storyboards

Third Interaction: How does a maker grab the attention of the customer?

Storyboards

Fourth Interaction: Are the activities going to be perceived as valuable by the parent?

Storyboards

Final Interaction: Does the parent register the child for making activities?

Prototyping

Prototyping

From the brainstorming and storyboarding sessions we began to consider public spaces that families of lower socioeconomic status may attend. We also considered where we could drive a truck into a space and set up a mobile makerspace.

Prototyping

Prototyping

Prototyping

The Swap O Rama is a popular destination for families of lower socioeconomic status.

On weekends families shop, trade and barter. Families who are running their own booths will also bring children. This creates a population of youth with time and availability to try the activities in the makerspace and it creates the opportunity for parents to observe and experience these activities with their children.

Prototyping

Raw materials are available for an affordable price that can be used in the activities. There is also a space for the mobile makerspace truck to park and the option to bring generators.

Looking Ahead: What we Learned

→ Parents and community members see value in makerspaces that expose youth to mindsets and experiences that prepare them to be collaborative, independent problem solvers ready for careers in science and technology.

→ To increase the perceived value of these spaces, parents need easier access to makerspaces.

→ Designers of makerspaces need to go to the places where parents and community members are present to overcome transportation barriers.

Looking Ahead: What we Learned

Next Steps

• Set up mobile makerspace in Swap-o-Rama on Chicago’s south side
• Currently scheduled for Sunday, November 8th
• Create makerspace for parents & teachers in Center for College Access and Success (CCAS) Resource Center at Northeastern Illinois University
• Set up mobile makerspace in neighborhood festivals to connect with CCAS Resource Center Space
• Hand out information about making events in the area
• Collect feedback and observation data to iterate prototype