Making for One Another: Design-based Making and Positive Youth Development

William A. Nickley, Sébastien Proulx, Elizabeth B.-N. Sanders, Lauren McInroy, Susan Melsop

This study explores integrating design-based making within Positive Youth Development (PYD) frameworks to expand design’s role beyond established educational contexts. While PYD programs have traditionally utilized arts- and sciences-based making, this research introduces design-based making as an approach that aligns with core PYD goals of fostering competence, confidence, connection, character, caring, and contribution (6Cs). The research details a six-week pilot program, Improve Our Club!, where 26 youths engaged in design-based making activities such as problem identification, sketching, and prototyping. Thematic analysis of youth design artifacts and presentations reveals that design-based making promotes expressions of the 6Cs and fosters self-efficacies connected to the activity of design. Using a novel network emergence mapping technique, the study illustrates how design-based making facilitated an emergent network of contributions among participants. Findings highlight how design-based making afforded youth opportunities to express contribution, providing evidence that the current 6Cs model does not account for the nature of design-based making, which essentially differs from arts-based and science-based making. This research shows how integrating design practices into youth development programs expands the relevancy of design as it fosters personal growth and social engagement and empowers youth to actively shape their own worlds beyond traditional educational contexts.