is a Research Associate at the Center for Engineering Learning and Teaching (CELT) in the UW Department of Human-Centered Design and Engineering. Her research emphasizes the social foundations of learning in both STEM informal and formal learning environments with a focus on agency, meaning-making and identity development.
Background: This research aimed to provide young people in a juvenile rehabilitation centre (JRC) with access and exposure to virtual reality (VR) as a growing media technology industry, to offer media education that was fun and engaging, and to introduce the digital arts to participants as a potential career path. The project evolved through a partnership with the Washington State Librarian who, as a part of her role overseeing public library activities, wanted to ensure that newly acquired VR equipment was made available to as many people as possible. This effort included libraries within sites of incarceration. Analysis: This article presents a reflective and analytical discussion on the success and challenges of creating, implementing, and researching a VR art design program in a JRC. Conclusions and implications: Carceral logics are entangled in research and education, in constant tension with anti-oppressive methods in place. Improvisational action as a design method in media education programs, including VR art design with incarcerated youth, may support greater participation and stronger research outcomes.
Endowed Chair at the University of Washington. Dr. Atman is co-director of the newly-formed Consortium for Promoting Reflection in Engineering Education (CPREE), funded by a $4.4 million grant from the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. She was director of the NSF-funded Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education (CAEE), a national research center that was funded from 2003-2010. Dr. Atman is the author or co-author on over 115 archival publications. She has been invited to give many keynote addresses, including a Distinguished Lecture at the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) 2014 Annual Conference. Dr. Atman joined the UW in 1998 after seven years on the faculty at the University of Pittsburgh. Her research focuses on engineering education pedagogy, engineering design learning, assessing the consideration of context in engineering design, and understanding undergraduate engineering student pathways. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the ASEE. She was the recipient of the 2002 ASEE Chester F. Carlson Award for Innovation in Engineering Education and the 2009 UW David B.
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