Articles
The Trouble with Doing Well Why do kids who are doing well for the first times in their lives suddenly sabatoge their success?
Motivation
How can we increase young people’s motivation? This one-page handout summarizes interesting research findings on motivation.
The Computer Clubhouse: Technological Fluency in the Inner City in High Technology and Low-Income Communities, MIT Press, 1998.
“Mike Lee never cared much for school…” I co-wrote this paper with Mitchel Resnick and Stina Cooke to explain the guiding principles of the Computer Clubhouse program. The paper is illustrated by Mike Lee, one of the first Clubhouse participants.
Transforming Questions into Conversations
ASTC Newsletter, September-October 1998
How do we respond to children’s questions? This article looks at questions kids were emailing to our science museum, and suggests how to respond in a way that furthers children’s curiosity.
Whirling in the Wind
, Exploratorium website, November 1996
Advice from a whirligig maker. I co-wrote this article with children’s book author John Coy .
More Articles
The following articles aren’t currently available online, so I’m listing them separately.
Learning to Stand Up for What’s Right
Daughters, January/February 2004
The story of a turning point in my life–when, as a shy eight-year old, I made a decision to write a letter to my teacher. This piece was selected to appear in Raising Our Daughters, a collection of articles used in parenting discussion groups.
A Different Relationship to Computers
New Moon Network, 1999
Instead of trying to get girls to use computers like boys do, I think we should encourage girls to rethink the role of computer technology.