Implementation of Microcontrollers in the Colorado Fashion Design and Merchandising Curriculum: An Exploratory Case Stud

This qualitative case study was an exploration of the opportunities for Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) teachers in Colorado to incorporate microcontrollers, such as the LilyPad Arduino into the fashion design and merchandising (FDM) curriculum. Career and Technical Education programs, like FCS, include connections to STEM, arts and information technology (IT) through the incorporation of more technology in the classrooms. To date, research has not discussed the connection of using microcontrollers in the FCS FDM curriculum, therefore, this study was completed to help fill that gap. The successful implementation of microcontrollers, such as the LilyPad Arduino, is reliant on many factors. Using three of the factors within The Hexagon Tool (i.e., resources, capacity, and evidence outcomes) research questions were developed to determine how microcontrollers could successfully be incorporated into the FDM curriculum. Participants in the case study included six teachers and the FCS program director. Data collection took place in a four-phase process which included a preinterest survey, a professional development workshop with a post survey, phone interviews, site visits, inperson interviews with FCS teachers and a school administrator overseeing the FCS FDM program and classroom observations. The major findings were categorized using the broad factors used from The Hexagon Tool: (a) resources: professional development, funding, and technology support; (b) capacity: personal epistemology and teacher's beliefs, and professional development, and (c) evidence outcomes: FCS FDM microcontroller unit of study, and creating intra/cross-curricular connections. While each of these themes plays an important role in the successful implementation of microcontrollers into the FDM curriculum, the data analysis indicated two themes having a dramatic impact on a teacher's ability to implement microcontrollers: funding and professional development. This study is just one step of the implementation process for incorporating microcontrollers into the Colorado Fashion Design and Merchandising curriculum. It will be up to the Colorado FCS program director and FDM teachers to press forward and create a process for state-wide implementation.