2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

In this Research to Practice paper, we present two cycles of a design-based research study that aims to engage early childhood participants, specifically those in Pre-K and K, in computing and engineering learning through bespoke, playful technologies. The study we present here is part of a larger project in which we are developing learning technologies and associated curricula to introduce young people to developmentally appropriate computing principles grounded in engineering design by creating tangible physical computing artifacts. In this paper, we will report on the first two cycles of our design-based research project, which aimed at 1) creating developmentally appropriate tangible prototypes to introduce young users to computing, engineering and maker literacies; and 2) playtesting the technologies to inform improvements in design, durability, and developmental appropriateness based on children’s interactions with the technologies; and 3) testing wraparound activities to use the technologies in an informal learning setting.