Giannakos, M. N., & Jaccheri, L. (2013). What motivates children to become creators of digital enriched artifacts? In Proceedings of the 9th ACM Conference on Creativity & Cognition (pp. 104-113). New York: ACM.

Summary

Type: Empirical

Purpose: The authors "present the results of an empirical investigation regarding the key aspects of a creative learning context. The goal is to understand what motivates children to participate in [software and hardware intensive] activities" (p. 1). "Children engaged in programming languages (i.e., Scratch) and programmable hardware platforms (i.e., Arduino), which enable them to engage in the world of creativity with digital enriched artifacts, like robots and interactive installations" (p. 8).

Findings: "The results showed that: (a) software and hardware intensive activities raise awareness of technology, intensify the experience, and invite students to explore boundaries and increase collaboration and the exchange of views and ideas, and (b) the activity’s easiness and usefulness significantly affect children’s intention to participate" (p. 1).

Recommendations: Increase creative opportunities for children by assuring an environment that will entertain that.


Methodology

Sample Size: 66

Participant Type: Students; 2 two-day workshops with 12 girls each and 1 one-day workshop with 17-18 year old girls.

Notes: 3 workshops with 66 children total were evaluated.