Interdisciplinary Computing and the Emergence of Boundary Objects: A Case-Study of Dance and Technology

Abstract

Many educational interventions involving computer science and engineering have created interdisciplinary educational experiences to contextualize the learning. These efforts have begun to help diversify computing and engineering by encouraging young people who are underrepresented in these fields to consider them from a different perspective. Computing projects in these environments are often collaborative and require students with varying backgrounds and perspectives to work together. We propose that the coordination between the participants is facilitated in the presence of their differences through the computational artifacts they create, which serve as boundary objects. Furthermore, integrating art into these interventions promotes abstract thinking, enabling the boundary objects to flow more seamlessly between weakly and strongly structured implementations and interpretations. We examine this proposition within a case study of a dance and technology workshop. We highlight how students and leaders negotiated and accepted differences within their perspectives and interpretations of the dances they created.