Making for Learning - Electrical Connections

One of the very popular “Making” topics is using various items to create something with electricity.  Things like paper circuits, soft circuits, squishy circuits, little bits, and copper tape can be used to make cool gadgets, items to wear, and musical instruments.  An online search will provide lots of examples of classroom activities that can be done, both online and at educational conferences. There are books full of examples.

Ask the kids why it works….is it anything more than magic?

If you have an opportunity to see kids doing these, ask the kids why it works and you will quickly discover that their knowledge is limited to knowing that “You have to connect this to that”, and there is no understanding of what happens then.  Ask the teachers, and you are likely to get the same answer. How is the time spent on these “black box” activities anything more than magic?

Children’s learning time is precious.  The average Vermont student costs over $18000 per year to the taxpayer.  That breaks down to about $20 per hour for a 5 hour day, or $400 per hour for a class of 20.  If a class is using a “Making” topic to keep students engaged, shouldn’t a teacher take advantage of the engagement to include some learning?  Or, if it is just a creative activity, call it art…..don’t claim it has any science embedded. Science means “knowledge”, and implicit in science is the ability to understand.

What is the mental model kids are creating to understand…?

If these making activities are going to be used to improve student’s knowledge and understanding of electricity, they need to be explicitly linked to models that students can use to explain what is happening.  If teachers aren’t intentional in helping students understand why, students will create their own mental models of why something works. In some cases (inertia for example), there are misconceptions that are deeply embedded and hard to change...and even legislated to ensure compliance (e.g., seat belts).  

Perhaps worse is where lessons use incorrect or incomplete models to explain things.  This is true in many maker activities using light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Teachers and lessons are left just providing instructions to “be sure to connect the positive end of the LED to the positive side of the battery, or it won’t work”.  WHY won’t it work? Doesn’t the negative side attract the positive side? What happens if you put two batteries together, positive to positive? Does the current flow through the LED?

Do Soft and Squishy Circuits create Soft and Squishy learning?

A search of the NGSS standards brought up several references to electricity, current and charges, starting at grades 3 and 4.  There were no references to diode or semiconductor, anode, or cathode, or other concepts needed to understand why. Without learning why, all you are left with is a creativity project.  Maybe there are better ways to include electricity in projects that engage students AND support STEM learning..

Next:  Electrical Connections 2: Models for Understanding Circuits and Electricity.