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Afterschool Matters Number 34 • Spring 2021
Disconnecting and Reconnecting Designing Professional Development VOICES FROM THE FIELD
A Photovoice Workshop on Healthy Resources to Meet the Needs of OST Mind the Gap
Social Media Use | Charmaraman, Grevet STEM Educators | Clark, Bloom, Rubino- The Overlap Between Public Libraries
Delcourt, Serrano Najera, Vargas, Gramajo, Hare, Barnes, & Ryan and OST Learning | Jacobs
Richer, & Adachi-Mejia
Black Girls Create Overcoming Barriers Through
Integrating Arts with STEM to Foster Developing a Culturally Responsive Collective Impact
Systems Thinking | Grace, Kelton, Owen, Maker Program for Black Girls | Lindsay A Case Study | Mendez
Diaz Martinez, White, Danielson, Butterfield,
Fallon, & Schafer Medina NEW FROM NIOST The Magic of Afterschool
Exploring STEM Engagement in Girls in Raising the Next Generation of
Undergraduate Motivations for Rural Communities Resilient Unicorns | Svaicer
Participating in Afterschool Programs Results from GEMS Clubs | Wheeler & Hall
A Case Study of The STEMinist Project BOOK REVIEW The Intersection of Belonging and
Muller, Christman, Rice, Soto-Apolinar, Hirsch,
Data Is Delicious! Equitable Outcomes | Parchia
& Arya
Review of Measure, Use, Improve! Data
Use in Out-of-School Time | Starr
National
Institute on
Out-of-School
Time
AT THE WELLESLEY
CENTERS FOR WOMEN
Afterschool Matters
Editorial Review Board
Ken Anthony
Connecticut Afterschool Network
Annessa Bontrager
Share Our Strength
Rudy Garcia
Pussycat Foundation &
BridgeUP OST Program
Ian Hippensteele
Sea Education Association
Anne Lawrence
OST learning specialist
Rebecca Lee
Harvard School of Public Health
Anthony Pound
New Victory Theater
Julia Rugg
Wings
Emily Ustach
New Urban Arts
Jocelyn Wiedow
Sprockets Saint Paul
Photo credits
Page 1, Wellesley Centers for Women
Page 20, The STEMinist Program, University of
California, Santa Barbara
Page 40, Black Girls Create, Wellesley Centers
for Women
See the inside back cover for the call for papers for future
issues of Afterschool Matters.
table of contents Afterschool Matters Number 34, Spring 2021
ii
Black Girls
Create
Developing
Welcome a Culturally
40
Responsive
Maker Program
Disconnecting and for Black Girls
Reconnecting LaShawnda
A Photovoice Workshop on Lindsay
1
Healthy Social Media Use
Linda Charmaraman, Catherine Grevet VOICES FROM THE FIELD
Delcourt, Cynthia Serrano Najera,
48
Emily Vargas, Alyssa Gramajo, Amanda Mind the Gap
M. Richer, and Anna M. Adachi-Mejia The Overlap Between Public
Libraries and OST Learning
Brittany R. Jacobs
Integrating Arts
54
with STEM Overcoming Barriers Through
to Foster Collective Impact
11
Systems Thinking A Case Study
Elizabeth Grace, José Mendez
Molly L. Kelton, Jeb P.
61
Owen, AnaMaria Diaz The Magic of Afterschool
Martinez, Alison White, Raising the Next Generation of
Robert W. Danielson, Resilient Unicorns
Patricia Butterfield, Michaela Fallon, and Katie Svaicer
Georgia Schafer Medina
65
The Intersection of Belonging
20
Undergraduate Motivations and Equitable Outcomes
for Participating in Priscilla Parchia
Afterschool Programs
NEW FROM
68
A Case Study of The STEMinist
Program NIOST
Alexandria Muller, Devon M. Exploring
Christman, Mallory M. Rice, Fatima STEM
Soto-Apolinar, Sarah Hirsch, and Diana Engagement in
J. Arya Girls in Rural
Communities
Designing Professional Development Results from
Resources to Meet the Needs of OST STEM GEMS Clubs
Educators Kathryn A. Wheeler
30
Joëlle Clark, Nena and Georgia Hall
Bloom, Lori Rubino-
Hare, Courtney BOOK REVIEW
Barnes, and Data Is Delicious!
Sean Ryan Review of Measure, Use,
Improve! Data Use in
76
Out-of-School Time
Elizabeth J. Starr
Afterschool
Matters
Georgia Hall
WELCOME Managing Editor
Jan Gallagher
Parents, educators, policymakers, and the media express a lot of worry about Editor
what young people have lost during the pandemic. The concerns are real:
Many students have struggled academically or simply dropped out of online Daniella van Gennep
Designer
schooling. Levels of depression and anxiety among youth, already higher than
ever before, have climbed in response to the isolation, grief, and worry we have all Afterschool Matters is a national,
experienced. peer-reviewed journal dedicated
to promoting professionalism,
I don’t want to minimize these losses. But I do want to point out that young scholarship, and consciousness
people, and the professionals who work with them, have gained in ways we could in the field of afterschool
not have imagined. education. Published by the
National Institute on Out-
In March 2020, schools, teachers, and students pivoted in a matter of days from of-School Time with legacy
in-person to fully remote learning. There were some hiccups and some major support from the Robert Browne
gaps. But eventually most teachers, students, and parents mastered technology Foundation, the journal serves
they had never experienced before. More importantly, they learned how to teach those involved in developing
and running programs for youth
and how to learn in a new environment.
during the out-of-school hours,
OST programs followed suit. Unlike schools, most programs had the luxury of in addition to those engaged
in research and shaping policy.
taking time, before they relaunched, to figure out what to do online and how to
For information on Afterschool
do it. What followed was a burst of energy, creativity, and resilience that we could Matters and the Afterschool
not have experienced in a less challenging year. Matters Initiative, contact
Georgia Hall
Many young people found a new voice in online environments. Nearly all OST
Director &
providers can tell the story of one or more participants who are more expressive Senior Research Scientist
in online chat than they ever were in person. Some youth discovered new skills, National Institute on
often combining technology with artistic or academic learning in creative ways. Out-of-School Time
Some found comfort in independent work; others benefited from more focused Wellesley Centers for Women
Wellesley College
exchanges and deeper relationships with adult mentors.
106 Central Street
Yes, moving through the pandemic has been stressful for all concerned. Yet Wellesley, MA 02481
program leaders, frontline staff, and young people have shown remarkable
resilience. They have been formed new avenues of communication while working
virtually. They have mastered new “spaces” where meaningful learning takes
place. They have figured out how to share singing, dancing, theatre, cooking, and
gardening without leaving their homes.
As the field steps forward this summer and fall to fill in for what has been lost, we
should also celebrate what we and the young people we serve have gained. As we
return to in-person programming, let’s avoid the impulse to “go back to the way we
were.” What parts of what we learned in this hard, hard year are worth keeping?
Georgia Hall, PhD
Director & Senior Research Scientist, NIOST
Managing Editor, Afterschool Matters
Disconnecting and Reconnecting
A Photovoice Workshop on Healthy Social Media Use
Linda Charmaraman, Catherine Grevet Delcourt, Cynthia Serrano Najera, Emily
Vargas, Alyssa Gramajo, Amanda M. Richer, and Anna M. Adachi-Mejia
Educators, parents, practitioners, and main- Early adolescents often hear messages like “Don’t
spend too much time on your phone!” Yet little is
stream media often raise concerns about the known about how middle school youth regulate their
smartphone usage. To help fill that gap, we held a
dangers of social media for teenagers. Fre-
quent social media use and exposure to sites LINDA CHARMARAMAN, PhD, is a senior research
scientist at the Wellesley Centers for Women and di-
that emphasize anonymity may be risky for rector of the Youth, Media & Wellbeing Research Lab.
CATHERINE GREVET DELCOURT, PhD, is an assistant
professor in computer science at Wellesley College.
young adolescents (Charmaraman, Gladstone, CYNTHIA SERRANO NAJERA is a senior at Wellesley
College majoring in computer science.
& Richer, 2018). However, with healthy limits, EMILY VARGAS is a recent graduate of Wellesley Col-
lege who majored in English literature.
social media can improve social connectivity, ALYSSA GRAMAJO is a research associate and proj-
ect coordinator of the Youth, Media & Wellbeing Re-
enhance a sense of belonging, and provide fo- search Lab.
AMANDA M. RICHER is assistant methodologist at
the Wellesley Centers for Women.
rums for self-disclosure and identity explora- ANNA M. ADACHI-MEJIA, PhD, is a photovoice meth-
odology specialist; at the time of this workshop, she
tion (James et al., 2017). was an associate professor at the Geisel School of
Medicine at Dartmouth.
week-long summer workshop to explore early adoles- school participants. Research on this topic not only is
cents’ perspectives on positive and healthy social me- limited but also can quickly become outdated, as social
dia usage. media and use of technology evolve almost daily.
We used a community-based participatory action Our workshop structure was informed by the lim-
research model to design our social media curriculum ited prior work, capitalizing on three axes from these
around one specific middle school community, begin- studies: identity construction, practice of safe social
ning by gathering perspectives from students, parents, media use, and connections between science and par-
and staff. This work shaped our workshop curriculum, ticipants’ everyday lives.
which we piloted in summer 2019 with 13 students The study focusing on the role of digital media
from this middle school. The workshop activities en- in identity construction (Davis et al., 2017) described
gaged participants in reflecting on their social media a program in which participants developed apps that
habits, using a method called photovoice to empower others could use. In the process, participants were able
participants to share the world through their lenses. In to express their identities, navigate unfamiliar spaces,
the process, they developed interest in becoming pro- and connect their afterschool activities to their social
ducers as well as critical consumers of social media. contexts at home. This experience placed participants’
Our long-term goal is to incorporate these participants’ interests at the center of the program, giving them free-
voices into a user-centered design process to build an dom to express themselves and gain a positive sense of
app, website, or workshop to support healthy social identity (Davis et al., 2017).
media use. Our photovoice project provides an exam- Another program taught middle school partici-
ple of how to engage in a research-community collabo- pants how to use social technology safely by practic-
ration to learn which social media and well-being is- ing the tips they learned using an online safety skills
sues are most salient in a school community. It is also a program (James, 2013). The program leader who cre-
model to show afterschool or summer program provid- ated the curriculum intentionally incorporated intro-
ers how to conduct their own photovoice workshop. ductions to computer hardware and software into daily
lessons to help participants master new technology
Youth and Social Media skills, all while incorporating cyber safety suggestions.
Previous studies of social media interventions to pro- For example, the program reinforced a social network
mote health in adolescents have found some success in site with a safety feature that prevents users from using
engaging youth in the process of creating content, in- curse words.
cluding videos (Barrett et al., 2017). Researchers have The third study coupled a life-relevant science
also documented limitations in the ability of these in- learning program with an integrated social media app
terventions to maintain participant engagement; some to help learners connect science learning to their ev-
young people were not interested in the specific social eryday lives (Mills et al., 2018). Participants created
media platform used or in posting on social media gen- social media posts, including pictures, screenshots,
erally, did not have easy access to a mobile device, or and texts, that helped them explore rich connections
were too busy (Yi-Frazier et al., 2015). between science and their lives, but only after they dis-
In 2018, more than 10 million youth were in- cussed their findings and questions. Researchers found
volved in afterschool programs (Moss, 2018) and 90 that combining social media with practices such as
percent of teens used social media (American Academy prompting learners to discuss their posts and encour-
of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2018), yet we found aging non-scientific posts revealed the rich contexts of
limited research on afterschool programs that engage participants’ social media sharing (Mills et al., 2018).
young people in learning healthy uses of social media. Similarly, to harness the digital contexts with
Our search found only seven articles (Afterschool Alli- which youth already are familiar and provide hands-on
ance & MetLife Foundation, 2013; Barnett et al., 2014; activities related to their personal identities, our sum-
Davis et al., 2017; Felt et al., 2012; James, 2013; Mills mer workshop used a research technique called pho-
et al., 2018; Vickery, 2014) that studied how social me- tovoice (e.g., Wang & Burris, 2017). Photovoice proj-
dia and technology can be meaningfully incorporated ects invite participants to take photographs to define
in afterschool programs. Of these, three articles studied and communicate their unique perspectives in order
afterschool programs for high school youth; the other to generate dialogue and initiate social action. For ex-
four programs were for both high school and middle ample, a photovoice project might showcase students’
2 Afterschool Matters, 34 Spring 2021
safety concerns in a school or highlight health issues Our subsequent study of 772 adolescents aged
within an ethnic group. Photovoice is often used in 11–15, conducted in 2019–2020 with funding from
public health studies that seek to engage and empower the National Institutes of Health, focused on the re-
vulnerable participants (Farrah et al., 2013), including lationship between social media usage and well-being
young people, whose voices are not often represented (Charmaraman, Moreno, & Richer, 2020; Charmara-
in the design of campaigns intended to improve their man et al., in press). We found that the age at which
health. Instead of viewing young people as passive a teenager starts using social media can affect future
players suffering from the all-consuming demands of online behaviors. For example, joining Instagram or
digital technology, photovoice allows them to try new Snapchat at age 10 or younger was significantly associ-
personas as active storytellers and advocates for change ated with more unsympathetic online behaviors, on-
(Kia-Keating et al., 2017). Using photovoice with so- line sexual harassment, and digital addiction than was
cial media can engage young people in digital citizen- joining these services at age 11 and up (Charmaraman
ship and in meaningful, broad discussions about indi- et al., 2020).
vidual and community health and well-being (Bugos et This study included a survey that asked what top-
al., 2014; Kia-Keating, 2009; Wang et al., 1998; Wilson ics would be most relevant for a summer workshop
et al., 2006). This research method is particularly well about social media and well-being. In general, respon-
suited to engage teenagers in reflection on their social dents were interested in learning how to have more
media usage because teens already use photos in nu- agency, as shown in Table 1. We used these responses
anced ways to express themselves online. to help us structure the curriculum.
Pre-Workshop Research School Staff Focus Groups
We are an interdisciplinary research team with back- Our community-based approach included taking time
grounds in out-of-school time program quality, posi- to learn about the school in which we planned to hold
tive youth development, community health, and hu- the workshop. We hosted two focus groups, one with
man–computer interaction. Our community-based teachers and one with counselors, to learn about the
collaboration was based on our positive track record school’s social technology and student well-being
of partnership with a large suburban middle school needs.
in Massachusetts. The project started with the “need- The teachers shared that they had not received
finding” stage described below, in which we analyzed much training about use of social media in their class-
the results of large-scale student surveys and other room. They noted that social media incidents outside
data. This contextualization work shaped the structure of school frequently caused conflict between students.
and curriculum of the summer workshop. Teachers doubted that students would feel comfort-
able sharing their true feelings about social media in
Student Survey a group setting.
We used the results of two large-
scale surveys we administered in Table 1. Survey Responses Used to Structure the
Massachusetts middle schools Social Media Workshop
to inform our workshop. The Possible Topic for a Percentage of
first survey, funded by Children Summer Workshop Respondents
and Screens: Institute of Digital (N = 772)
Media and Child Development Making the world a better place 68%
in 2017–2018, included 700
responses from youth ages 11– Improving self-esteem 65%
16 (Charmaraman, Richer, &
Moreno, 2018). Survey results Reducing loneliness and depression 61%
showed that this age group was
Taking more breaks from social media 59%
highly connected: 84 percent of
respondents had a smartphone, Providing social support to others 59%
and 78 percent used at least one
social media site. Source: Charmaraman et al., 2020
Charmaraman et al. DISCONNECTING AND RECONNECTING 3
The counselors overwhelmingly expressed nega- other half rarely or never posted photos. More than half
tive perceptions of social media due to frequent in- reported that they checked their social media at least ev-
cidents involving students, such as mean comments ery few hours, while less than half checked every few
about peers and illicit photos of other (mainly female) days or rarely. The most commonly used social media
students. Like the teachers, the counselors expressed platform was YouTube, followed by TikTok, WhatsApp,
concern that the workshop would not reach the stu- Snapchat, Instagram, and a long list of less common
dents who could benefit most—those with behavioral sites. Only one-third of the participants reported that
problems related to social media use. In response to they often or always “like” or comment when a friend
this observation, we made sure to recruit participants shares good news online. Most participants had attempt-
who were representative of the student body as a whole. ed to raise awareness about a social issue through social
This information helped to inform our approach media posts.
of incorporating photovoice activities into the curricu-
lum. Learning from the teachers and counselors that Photovoice Workshop Structure
photos had been used for cyberbullying and harass- Using the results of our large-scale surveys and of the
ment while simultaneously learning from survey re- participant survey, we developed the four-day curric-
sults that students were curating their photos on social ulum in daily themes, described below. Each day the
media, we decided to feature activities to help partici- schedule was divided into a digital well-being unit and
pants understand how powerful photos are, especially a STEM unit related to the daily theme. The workshop
when shared online. included a well-being objective and a STEM objective:
1. To engage participants in reflection about social me-
Participant Pre-Workshop Survey dia and well-being
For the workshop, we recruited 13 participants, six 2. To introduce participants to core computing con-
girls and seven boys, who were entering grade 7, 8, or cepts, such as bits and code, and to internet concepts
9 in fall 2019. To recruit these participants, we contact- such as identity and privacy
ed parents who had completed an online survey about
their teen’s social media use and had indicated interest The workshop entailed a combination of lectures,
in their teen participating in a summer social media whole-group and small-group discussions, interac-
workshop. The participants reflected the diversity of tive activities, guest speakers on health promotion
the larger school community: five and STEM careers, reflective ex-
were White, three Latinx, two ercises, a design-based project to
Asian, and three Black or biracial Throughout the week, develop an app for healthy social
Black.
participants worked in small media use, and photovoice activi-
In order to tailor the work- ties. Throughout the week, partic-
shop content, which included groups on their culminating ipants worked in small groups on
computer topics as well as social project: a text-based their culminating project: a text-
media knowledge, we conducted a slideshow or video recording based slideshow or video record-
pre-workshop online survey with offering advice to someone ing offering advice to someone
participants about their STEM ex- just starting to use social media.
perience and artistic inclinations.
just starting to use social This article focuses on our
The most popular interest was in media. use of photovoice to engage par-
creative arts: visual arts, music, ticipants in reflecting on social
and poetry. Next was learning media usage and well-being. For
how to create a website or application. About a third the photovoice activity, participants took at least three
of participants had learned how to code on their own photographs in response to prompts related to each
or had uploaded their own YouTube content. Fewer had daily theme. The photovoice prompts were introduced
ever attended a STEM-focused afterschool program or daily as homework for the following day’s discussion.
camp. Most respondents already owned a smartphone; Generally we provided more than one option to appeal
58 percent had received their first smartphone at age to as many participants as possible.
10 or younger. Half of respondents reported that they Before we sent participants out to take photo-
sometimes or always posted photos on social media; the graphs, we established procedures with them, as rec-
4 Afterschool Matters, 34 Spring 2021
ommended by Bugos and colleagues (2014), and tered on discussions of well-being, reflections on the
taught them ethical practices in participatory photog- day’s photos, and introduction of new photovoice
raphy. Following Wang’s (2006) recommendations, we prompts for the next day. The afternoons centered on
emphasized the responsibilities of the photographer, STEM activities and project-based activities. Each day
safety issues, and ways to minimize risk. Using guide- had a theme based on our pre-workshop research.
lines outlined by Wang and Redwood-Jones (2001), we Day 1: Fear of missing out (FOMO). In dis-
covered how participants could: cussing how they used their phones and social media,
• Maintain their personal safety while taking photo- participants highlighted how easy it is to experience
graphs FOMO. For example, one said:
• Use responsibly the power that comes with taking Maybe your friends are doing something without
photographs you knowing, and you are sad they did it without
• Follow ethical practices and respect their subjects’ you…. If you hear someone talking about it in the
privacy hallway at school or if you see it on social media,
• Approach potential subjects to ask for signed per- you could feel upset that you are left out.
mission to take their picture (Wang & Redwood-
Jones, 2001) In response to these concerns, we introduced the
concept of online addictive behaviors, outlining how
Once participants had captured their photographs, these behaviors begin and how young people can pro-
they prepared captions to share with the group, keep- actively protect themselves by being more reflective
ing in mind that their goal was to identify how they about their use of social media. The first photovoice
interpreted the day’s prompt and potential solutions to prompt offered two questions from which participants
the problem posed. We asked participants to examine could choose:
their photographs using the SHOWeD acronym (Cata- • In what ways do you experience FOMO?
lani & Minkler, 2010; Wallerstein, 1987): • If you could not access your phone, TV, internet,
• What do you See here? games, or digital devices for one week, what would
• What is really Happening here? you do instead?
• How does this relate to Our lives?
• Why does this problem or this strength exist? Day 2: Mental well-being. The group discussed
• What can we Do about this? how much depression and social anxiety may be re-
lated to social media use and how participants could
This process led to in-depth ongoing dialogues track the digital footprint of their state of mind or
about the dilemmas adolescents face around healthy mood by using apps over time. The photovoice prompt
social media use, how they can promote positive use again offered two choices:
in their online peer culture, and how they can use so- • What are triggering aspects of social media that fos-
cial media to raise awareness of social issues they care ter social isolation or social anxiety?
about. • In what ways can you provide social support or boost
After each day’s discussion, workshop leaders con- someone’s well-being on social media?
ducted a thematic analysis of the discussion and a con-
tent analysis of the photographs. We clustered similar Day 3: Self-esteem. The group discussed self-
codes and then categorized them by preliminary cat- esteem, social change, and use of privacy settings
egories created from the group discussion. We repeated and positive feedback to promote health and well-
the process for all transcript and photographic data, being in online communities. The photovoice prompt
expanding, collapsing, and restructuring categories to was, “How will you make a positive difference in this
fit the data until themes became evident. world?”
Workshop Implementation Day 4: Synthesis. Participants showcased their fi-
We implemented the workshop in person Monday nal photovoice project, which offered the advice they
through Thursday, 10 am to 2 pm, at the school. The would give to someone who is starting social media for
program was free to participating families, and the the first time, using one of the well-being topics from
school offered free lunches. Morning activities cen- the workshop.
Charmaraman et al. DISCONNECTING AND RECONNECTING 5
Photovoice Themes Theme 2: Boosting Self-Confidence, Self-
By the end of the workshop, the group had generated Esteem, and Self-Care
almost 100 images and captions. Workshop leaders Many of the photos related to “getting off and getting
categorized the images into five themes: out”: putting down devices to experience the outdoors
1. Providing social support online or try something new. Some recommended self-care ac-
2. Boosting self-confidence, self-esteem, and self-care tivities, such as exercise, cooking, or practicing a musi-
3. Managing technology in the family context cal instrument. Others suggested spending more time
4. Avoiding FOMO with loved ones: “Family and friends are more impor-
5. Addressing social issues tant than machines.” One small project group wanted
to include photos of different types of interests in the
Theme 1: Providing Social social media app they were designing in order to re-
Support Online mind users of their nondigital worlds.
During the daily discussions, participants discussed One participant mentioned that social media plat-
the meanings they saw in the photos they submitted. forms that emphasize “likes” and comments can con-
Some mentioned helping others when they saw them tribute to users’ low self-esteem:
struggling online, for example, “I see on other people’s On VSCO [a photo-oriented platform] … there are
posts, usually they’ll have something polite. I see those no likes, and you just post for fun…. I don’t care
comments almost every day: ‘Have a great day’ or ‘I how many likes I get on a post, but it makes some
hope you feel better.’” One participant emphasized people not feel good if you don’t get as many likes
that he would “support people if they needed help on on Instagram. And [because] you can’t like on
social media or give them advice and try to make them VSCO, it makes you feel better.
laugh.” One participant described a selfie he had taken
while posting a greeting to his mom (Figure 1). Body image and self-esteem were recurrent issues.
Several participants talked about promoting positive
body esteem by appreciating others’ photos and posts,
for example, “My friend posts on Instagram, ‘You look
beautiful and you’ll do great today!’ And it makes me
feel really happy.” One participant revealed that body
image was an ongoing issue on social media:
I tend to compare myself with a lot more skinnier
people. So then I look at myself and say, “Oh, my
god, I’m so fat.” And some days I feel good about
myself, but some days it’s just like I need to work
on something.
By contrast, another participant proudly displayed
the “natural” selfie shown in Figure 2.
Figure 1. “I am helping my mom feel better by Theme 3: Managing Technology in the
giving her a thumbs up on social media.” Family Context
In group discussions, participants often talked about
Participants often submitted memes or reposted their family’s role in socializing their technology use.
inspirational quotes from other sources. For example, They reflected on the roles family members—includ-
in response to the Day 2 prompt about how to boost ing parents, siblings, and even pets—played in how
peer well-being, one participant posted a meme that participants navigated their technology use.
said, “Hey you! Just remember: You are capable…. You Many participants said their parents often restrict-
are strong. You can do this!” In the discussion, partici- ed their technology use. Some wanted parents to un-
pants said that they often saw messages like this when derstand their motivations, because using their phones
people wanted to cheer up their friends. was not merely a waste of time. One said:
6 Afterschool Matters, 34 Spring 2021• “This is a picture of my siblings and I celebrating
Christmas together!”
• “This is my family. We had to wear ugly sweaters for
Christmas.”
• “When I’m with my aunt, I rarely get to be on my
phone.”
A surprising proportion of photos included family
pets, which seemed to distract participants from tech-
nology use. Several photos were of participants playing
with or training their dog (Figure 3). One participant
combined human family with pets in a photo whose
caption read, “This is me at my aunt’s farm. My aunt
has a lot of dogs and one of her dogs had puppies. This
is one of them!” Another participant combined pets
with exercise, another recommended non-tech activ-
ity: “Take your dog on a bike ride? Here’s a quick and
easy way!”
Figure 2. A participant finds her natural beauty.
You can use your phone for good things too, not
just social media. You could search recipes, re-
search something, or use it for homework. But par-
ents just think it’s bad for you. And you’re really
bored if you’re not on it, but they don’t give you
anything to do.
A recurring theme of the group discussions was
that parents had difficulty disconnecting from their
devices but expected their children to do so. Some of
the photo captions reflected participants’ perception
that family members were too distracted by phones to
spend time with them:
• “Mommy, get off your phone. I will pay to get our
nails done.” Figure 3. A participant demonstrates training his
dog, a non-technology activity he enjoys.
• “Put down your phone when you go out to dinner,
please.” Theme 4: Avoiding FOMO
• Mom, do something else, anything else.” In the final day’s culminating photo or video presen-
tation, many participants focused on creative ways to
In contrast to stories of competing with pervasive avoid FOMO. One group recommended taking breaks
technology for parents’ attention, other photos focused from social media to avoid the discomfort of feeling
on family members with whom the participants spent left out: “When the summer seasons hit, most people
quality time, with captions like these: will be going to a pool or a beach and will be post-
Charmaraman et al. DISCONNECTING AND RECONNECTING 7ing about having fun. If you want to avoid feeling left
out, don’t go on social media during summer.” Another
group suggested focusing on digital content that can’t
inspire FOMO: “Instead of looking at your friends, you
can look at memes so you just laugh instead of feel-
ing lonely.” Another recommended unfriending people
who trigger negative emotions: “If people are boasting
about how much fun they’re having, just unfollow or
block the people. Then you won’t see all the people
having fun without you.”
In one photovoice video presentation, two middle
school girls act out a FOMO scenario. One girl is talk-
ing on the phone about an upcoming party. When the
other girl inquires, she is quickly told, “Sorry, it’s for Figure 4. “Yesterday I was on a bike ride and I
cool kids only.” As the scene ends, the two participants found a turtle trying to cross the road, but he was
join in encouraging viewers to avoid creating FOMO really slow and he might have gotten hit by a car,
in others: “Invite everyone to your activities. You are so I picked him up and brought him to the other
all the same.” In another video project, two middle side of the road.”
school boys record an everyday middle school experi-
ence: walking the halls of their school. They encour- what social media topics would be most critical to
age viewers to avoid FOMO situations by “including bring to the attention of the whole school in an assem-
everyone and not posting pictures of you having fun bly. Most participants chose FOMO. When we asked
because others will feel bad about themselves.” They them to reflect on what they would take away from the
go on to suggest that “FOMO is mostly caused by so- workshop, 10 out of 12 referred to one of the well-
cial media.” In a third video, a group of middle school being topics, particularly FOMO, addiction, and social
girls discusses the meaning of FOMO and how to com- isolation. Here are some sample comments:
bat it. Instead of scrolling through social media sites, • “I learned about fear of missing out and how to not
they suggest, young people can “go outside and play be alone.”
sports,” “hang out with friends and family,” “do chores • “I learned that most kids are addicted to their phones,
around the house,” or “go to the playground.” and there are ways to stop being addicted.”
• “I learned that a lot of people will treat people differ-
Theme 5: Addressing Social Issues ent, but even though they are different we are all the
The Day 3 prompt asked participants to show how they same.”
wanted to make a difference in the world. Participants
responded with photos and memes about issues that In the post-workshop survey, most respondents
mattered to them. The most popular issue was the envi- agreed that they had discussed the workshop topics
ronment. For example, one participant shared a meme with their families and friends, planned to use the con-
with the caption “Try not to use plastic straws ‘cause cepts they learned in a future class, and would be inter-
they find their way into the ocean and can hurt marine ested in participating in a follow-up workshop. These
life.” The next most popular theme was animals and results encouraged us to continue developing this cur-
animal rights; see Figure 4. Another common theme riculum.
was compassion or empathy for others, exemplified by
a meme showing a girl with Down syndrome in a yoga Implications and Future Directions
pose whose caption had to do with changing how “the This workshop confirmed that photovoice is an effec-
world defines and views disability.” tive method for engaging middle school participants in
topics related to social media and well-being. Early ado-
Reflections and Feedback lescents generally are already avid users of photo-based
On the final day of the workshop, we conducted a clos- social media platforms. The structure of our summer
ing focus group with all participants to find out what workshop gave participants opportunities to use photos
they had learned during the week’s activities. We asked and captions to create digital stories. In the process, they
8 Afterschool Matters, 34 Spring 2021reflected on the images and comments they produce and How does their use of media for learning about
distribute online and discussed how the transactional community issues relate to their perceptions of
nature of social media can affect their own and others’ community connectedness, community involvement,
well-being. Participant photos and captions reflected on and community support? Journal of Youth
the addictiveness of technology and envisioned strate- Development, 9(1), 157–169. https://doi.org/10.5195/
gies for self-care, including creative ways to disconnect jyd.2014.79
from technology, often by reconnecting in real life with Barrett, N., Villalba, R., Andrade, E. L., Beltran, A., &
peers, family members, and pets. Evans, W. D. (2017). Adelante Ambassadors: Using
Our long-term goal is to unpack how early adoles- digital media to facilitate community engagement and
cents see their online and offline worlds. Photovoice risk-prevention for Latino youth. Journal of Youth
can provide fun yet educational activities on a topic in Development, 12(4). http://doi.org/10.5195/
which young people are highly motivated to engage. jyd.2017.513
The process of thinking about what photos to take,
Bugos, E., Frasso, R., FitzGerald, E., True, G., Adachi-
what to share, what to say about them to others, and
Mejia, A., & Cannuscio, C. (2014). Practical guidance
what to do next provides an activity structure that can
and ethical considerations for studies using photo-
help to mobilize youth on a topic of interest. Our ap-
elicitation interviews. Preventing Chronic Disease,
proach offers a structure for afterschool program staff
11(189). https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd11.140216
to facilitate youth empowerment. The process can help
participants think about ways to safeguard their own Catalani, C., & Minkler, M. (2010). Photovoice: A
digital well-being and that of their peer and school review of the literature in health and public health.
communities. Health Education and Behavior, 37, 424–451. https://
doi.org/10.1177/1090198109342084
Acknowledgments Charmaraman, L., Gladstone, T., & Richer, A. (2018).
We are grateful for the contributions of our Youth, Me- Positive and negative associations between adolescent
dia, & Wellbeing Research lab members: Ashley Kim, mental health and technology. In M. A. Moreno & A.
Payton Vandergrift, Rachel Hodes, and Neha Lund. Radovic (Eds.), Technology and adolescent mental
We are also grateful for manuscript feedback from Dr. health (pp. 61–71). Springer.
LaShawnda Lindsay-Dennis. This project was support- Charmaraman, L., Moreno, M., & Richer, A.M.
ed by Children & Screens: Institute of Digital Media (2020). Social and behavioral health factors associated
and Child Development, NICHD (R15HD094281-01); with violent and mature gaming in early adolescence.
I Am Strong Foundation; Wellesley College summer in- International Journal of Environmental Research and
ternship programs; Wellesley Centers for Women; and Public Health, 17(14). http://doi.org/10.3390/
the Wellesley College Computer Science Department. ijerph17144996
This research would not have been possible without
the support of the middle school principal, staff, and Charmaraman, L., Richer, A.M., Ben-Joseph, E.P., &
parents. Klerman, E. (in press). Quantity, content, and context
matter: Associations among social technology use and
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Integrating Arts with STEM
to Foster Systems Thinking
Elizabeth Grace, Molly L. Kelton, Jeb P. Owen, AnaMaria Diaz Martinez,
Alison White, Robert W. Danielson, Patricia Butterfield, Michaela Fallon, and Georgia
Schafer Medina
Interest is growing among out-of-school time
ELIZABETH GRACE is a graduate research assistant in the
(OST) educators in integrating the arts into College of Education at Washington State University Spokane.
MOLLY L. KELTON, PhD, is an assistant professor in the Col-
STEM (science, technology, engineering, and lege of Education at Washington State University Pullman.
JEB P. OWEN, PhD, is an associate professor in the Depart-
mathematics) programming (e.g., Kelton & ment of Entomology at Washington State University Pullman.
ANAMARIA DIAZ MARTINEZ is an associate professor and
human and family development regional specialist at Wash-
Saraniero, 2018). Arts-integrated STEM—or ington State University Extension.
ALISON WHITE is an assistant professor and youth develop-
STEAM—programming now takes place in a ment regional specialist at Washington State University Ex-
tension.
wide variety of OST environments, from rela- ROBERT W. DANIELSON, PhD, is an assistant professor in the
College of Education at Washington State University Spokane.
PATRICIA BUTTERFIELD, PhD, is dean emerita at the College
tively institutional learning settings, such as a
of Nursing and professor emerita at the Elson S. Floyd College
of Medicine at Washington State University Spokane.
library, to emergent or fluid settings, such as MICHAELA FALLON is a medical student in the Elson S. Floyd
College of Medicine at Washington State University Spokane.
a pop-up program in a housing development GEORGIA SCHAFER MEDINA is a medical student in the El-
son S. Floyd College of Medicine at Washington State Univer-
community room. sity Spokane.Educators often consider OST environments to increase engagement in STEM (Diamond et al., 2015;
be conducive to creative and conceptually ambitious Graham & Brouillette, 2016; Peppler & Glosson,
STEAM programming because these spaces have the 2013), improve access for groups underrepresented in
potential to deconstruct rigid boundaries between dis- STEM (Ludwig et al., 2017; Peppler, 2013), improve
ciplines that formal education often reinforces. learning outcomes (Graham & Brouillette, 2016; Ja-
For the past several years, our team has been de- cobson et al., 2016; Thuneberg et al., 2018), and cre-
signing and studying STEAM programs in OST settings ate a platform for understanding and communicating
as part of the Health Education through Arts-Based about social and scientific issues (Allina, 2018; Peppler
Learning (HEAL) collaborative. The HEAL collabora- & Wohlwend, 2018; Sochacka et al., 2016).
tive is a team of interdisciplinary researchers including This study explores the possibility that arts in-
university faculty and graduate students with diverse tegration can support systems thinking. A crucial
expertise in STEAM education, health sciences, human but challenging scientific practice, systems thinking
development, youth programming, educational psy- involves the ability and propensity to make sense of
chology, and biomedical education. Our team includes complex scientific phenomena by attending to mul-
a visual artist and several additional consulting visual tiple interacting elements across micro to macro scales
artists. HEAL works in partnership with Latinx com- and exploring how these elements take part in a cohe-
munities in rural-agricultural Washington to increase sive whole. For example, the human body is a complex
STEAM education opportunities that blend visual arts system composed of multiple interacting subsystems—
with health sciences. We develop programs that inte- the digestive system, the circulatory system, and so on.
grate art into STEM learning to These systems, in turn, are com-
promote expanded conceptual posed of multiple interacting or-
understanding of STEM content. Although systems thinking is gans, which themselves are com-
In this article, we discuss reflected as a cross-cutting posed of multiple interconnected
an OST STEAM program titled concept in the Next parts. Systems have long been
Zoom! that we designed and im- recognized as a major conceptual
Generation Science
plemented in a summer camp in theme running through scientific
July 2019. Zoom! used visual arts Standards, formal educational disciplines (American Association
strategies to support elementary- environments have for the Advancement of Science,
aged children in thinking about historically offered few 1993). Although systems think-
and communicating systems- ing is reflected as a cross-cutting
explicit resources for
level ideas related to the human concept in the Next Generation
microbiome—the community of understanding complex Science Standards, formal edu-
single-celled organisms that live systems. cational environments have his-
on and inside the human body. torically offered few explicit re-
We start by elaborating on a key design conjecture in- sources for understanding complex systems (e.g., Chi,
forming Zoom!, namely, that blending visual arts and 2005; Hmelo-Silver & Azevedo, 2006). Systems think-
science can support systems thinking about complex ing includes many components (e.g., Hmelo-Silver &
scientific phenomena. We then describe the summer Azevedo, 2006; Penner, 2000; Resnick, 1996; Sabelli,
camp in which we explored this conjecture. Delving 2006). In this article, we focus on three components:
into the Zoom! curriculum, we describe the practical 1. Making distinctions and coordinating across scales
framework used to integrate visual arts with human of analysis
microbiome science and offer examples of three rep- 2. Understanding causal links across disparate scales
resentative activities, along with participants’ artwork, and elements
that illustrate the potential for arts strategies to engage 3. Understanding underlying functions rather than
learners in systems thinking. focusing only on superficial structural features
Arts Integration and Systems Thinking Systems thinking is often described as an advanced
Educators cite a variety of reasons for blending STEM skill. However, we took an assets-based view of elemen-
and the arts. Motivation for the STEM-to-STEAM tary-aged children, assuming that they are capable of
movement includes evidence that arts integration can systems thinking. A small amount of research has of-
12 Afterschool Matters, 34 Spring 2021fered a few inroads into appropriate supports for sys- ing school building, so it provided the classroom and
tems thinking. Jacobson and Wilensky (2006) argue that open spaces we needed to deliver Zoom! through a
elementary students need exposure to systems through variety of modalities. The local organization also pro-
observable phenomena and everyday experiences. Oth- vided material resources and staffing to support imple-
ers have explored systems-thinking pedagogies that em- mentation. This support from our local partner allowed
phasize immersive technologies, embodied movement HEAL to focus on curriculum implementation rather
and interaction, and play (Danish et al., 2011). than organizational and marketing considerations.
Calls for more research into systems thinking We used a team facilitation model in which all
suggest developing pedagogical methods that blend sessions included lead facilitators and several aides.
multiple disciplines (Jacobson & Wilensky, 2006). In Facilitators were members of the HEAL collaborative,
designing Zoom!, we were compelled by the possibil- and the aides included local community educators
ity that using visual arts to consider scientific phe- and teens from the community who were trained to
nomena could address this call for a multidisciplinary facilitate programming with younger children. Hav-
approach. For example, science education researchers ing teen facilitators enabled us to create a community-
regard drawing detailed representations of the natural connected, multi-age, and multi-generational learning
world, at both observable and unobservable scales, as environment. The teens also significantly bolstered
a powerful science learning tool because drawing en- the facilitation team’s ability to provide a language-
ables learners to think critically about complex causal inclusive environment. Although many children in the
relations and make their thinking explicit and specific camp were fluently bilingual, others, who were Span-
(Ainsworth et al., 2011; Prain & Tytler, 2012). Simi- ish dominant or monolingual, benefited from the sup-
larly, art education scholars highlight how arts-based port of Spanish-speaking teens.
inquiry can be a form of reframing, recontextualizing,
and shifting perspectives (Marshall, 2010) in ways that Zoom! Curriculum Overview
connect across seemingly disparate elements; this pro- Broadly, HEAL aims to bolster systems thinking about
cess is a core feature of systems thinking. health and disease, focusing on processes of disease trans-
mission, infection, recovery, and immunity. The human
Summer Camp Program Context microbiome, besides being a robust example of intercon-
We designed and implemented Zoom! as a four-day nected biological systems, is also a topic that engages
summer camp program for children ages 7 to 12. The personal experience. These two factors together make it
program took place in a small, rural community in a rich concept for integrating art and systems thinking.
southeastern Washington with a predominantly Latinx The specific scientific focus of Zoom! is the relationship
population tied to the agriculture between microbes—both benefi-
industry. Through Washington cial and pathogenic—and human
State University’s rural extension The human microbiome, experiences of health and well-
system, members of the HEAL besides being a robust ness. The title “Zoom!” was select-
collaborative had an existing part- example of interconnected ed to reflect a practice emphasized
nership with a community-based throughout the program: zooming
biological systems, is also a
educational nonprofit organiza- in and out of human body systems
tion. The partnership provided an topic that engages personal to investigate elements and inter-
opportunity to engage our target experience. These two actions at different scales.
audience during an eight-week factors together make it a During the program week,
health and science camp held an- continuous engagement in topics
rich concept for integrating
nually at the community educa- of art, systems thinking, and mi-
tion center. Zoom! met the local art and systems thinking. crobiology facilitated creation of a
organization’s need for novel edu- virtually seamless narrative of the
cational programs to diversify its phenomenon of getting sick. The
multiweek summer camp. HEAL delivered Zoom! dur- first day of camp was devoted to introducing microbes
ing one of the camp’s eight weeks, using the local or- in general and the human microbiome specifically, par-
ganization’s recruitment and communication systems. ticularly in relation to the body in a healthy state. The
The community education center had a fully function- next part of the program delved into microbial patho-
Grace et al. INTEGRATING ARTS WITH STEM TO FOSTER SYSTEMS THINKING 13You can also read
