Making Connections: Understanding How Students Enact Interdisciplinary Linkages in Computational Making for Learning Science in the Classroom

In computational Making, Makers integrate areas like electronics and 3D fabrication with computation. When used for learning formal subjects like science, computational Making adds not only interdisciplinary content but also embodied, hands-on interaction that supports conceptual understanding. However, integrating these different areas to advance a Making-for-learning activity is non-trivial. While research has explored student engagement in Making, we lack an understanding of how students link knowledge across disciplines during these activities. This study investigates whether and how 5th and 6th-grade students in a public school create interdisciplinary linkages in computational Making activities for science learning. Drawing from 340 hours of classroom video data, we analyzed student connections across science, Making, and computing to understand how and in what contexts they emerged. Our findings reveal how hands-on experimentation and embodied metaphors contribute to disciplinary integration. We discuss implications for the design of computational Making activities to better support interdisciplinary learning in the classroom.