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Critical Data Stories through Remixing
Youth are avid creators and consumers of data-related claims through their participation on social media sites, in which they view, produce, and share content. They remix content, building off one another’s videos, gifs, and memes to represent and discuss topics they care about. This NSF-funded project explores the development of curricula and tools with middle and high school Math and English teachers that will leverage youth’s practices with digital media remixing to develop argumentation skills and the critical data literacies necessary to participate as informed citizens. Students will explore sociopolitical issues as they create data stories by synthesizing information across data sources and media.
Afro-Latino Youth and Information Practices
This project investigates the digital information practices of Afro-Latino youth, focusing on their engagement with mental health content on TikTok. Employing qualitative methods, the study involved interviews with thirteen Afro-Latino teens. This exploratory approach, draws connections between Afro-Latino identity and information practices using three constructs: (i) typology of information practices, (ii) intersectionality, and (iii) assemblages. The study reveals that Afro-Latino youth actively construct “information assemblages” and “algorithmic counterspaces” on TikTok, enabling them to engage with content that resonates with their identities. However, it also highlights the challenges posed by these spaces’ temporary and algorithm-dependent nature in maintaining consistent engagement with mental health information.
Perspectives from LGBTIQA+ Farmers on Artificial Intelligence in Supporting Indigenous Farming Practices
As AI technologies increasingly intersect with food systems and land stewardship, LGBTIQA+ farmers engaged in preserving Indigenous agricultural knowledge offer critical perspectives. The study entails interviews and ethnographic work with LGBTIQA farmers in the Hudson Valley. While some see potential for AI to support climate adaptation, community-based knowledge sharing, and land restoration, many also voice strong concerns. They highlight how mainstream AI platforms are rooted in capitalist systems that extract and monetize intellectual property—often exploiting Indigenous wisdom without consent. Moreover, they caution that the energy demands and environmental harms associated with AI development directly contradict principles of Earth stewardship and reciprocal relationship with land. These farmers advocate for any use of AI to be community-controlled, accountable, and rooted in respect for traditional knowledge systems, serving as a bridge for intergenerational learning rather than a replacement for lived, land-based experience.
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Building Data Literacy through the Arts
This National Science Foundation funded cross-institutional project explores the value of arts-integrated instruction for promoting middle school students’ data literacy. We worked with several middle schools – teachers and students – across the U.S. to develop curriculum, tools, and frameworks for bridging art and data literacy.
Bicultural: Co-designing with Latinx Youth
Latina adolescents are one of the fastest growing demographic groups in the USA and have been found to experience higher levels of emotional distress than their non-Latino counterparts. Reliance on emotional support from the teens’ social network is a common coping mechanism. While digital media is increasingly used by Latinas to communicate and express themselves, few, if any, studies have explored the perspectives of Latinas on the role of technology in helping the enactment of emotional support. In this paper, we share the perspectives of thirteen Latina adolescents (15-18 years old) that emerged through a series of participation design workshops. Our findings suggest that bicultural aspects of Latina identity can influence perspectives on the role of technology, and provide insights into attitudes towards bicultural conflicts in emotional health. We also share our participatory design technique that incorporated an ecological framework and suggestions for future use of such an approach.
Emotional Computational Thinking
Many digital learning tools allow us to explore scientific concepts through computational modeling. Tools like Scratch provide youth with environments to create models of gravity, velocity, etc. This project explores how such tools could be designed to help learners explore emotional literacy concepts such as managing stress, happiness, and depression.
Situated Mindfulness through Ubiquitous Computing
This project explored the question: how might the affordances of mobile approaches to mindfulness support forms of situated mindfulness? We explored how to reconcile traditional Buddhist conceptualizations of mindfulness with more clinical approaches such as cognitive reappraisal and decentering.