Current Projects
Nayah-Irú
Nayah-Irú is a research project which seeks to investigate how youth engage in critical data literacy through an alternate reality game set in virtual worlds. It is currently being implemented in five alternative schools in Uruguay in partnership with different stakeholders related to informal education and critical data literacy.
#MIPARTE
MIPARTE (Maximizando la Inteligencia con Participación, Acción y Reflexión con Tierra y Educación) is a youth research conference where Uruguayan learners and educators present their youth participatory research projects.
The MIPARTE conference took place on December 8 in collaboration with Dr. Ricardo Martínez, Pennsylvania State University, the Ministry of Education and Culture in Uruguay, and the Universidad Tecnológica.
LatinX Games
This research project is exploring how LatinX youth negotiate and make meaning of cultural elements in video games. The project involves a research study about Mulaka, a Mexican game that depicts the Tarahumara people, and the development of a curriculum in LatinX games for high-school students.
YPAR through Speculative Game Design
I am currently leading a series of game jams in the state of Iowa where I blend human-centered design, machine learning, and critical data literacies. In these workshops, youth engage in speculative civic literacies to address problems in their communities where they design narrative games.
TechThrive
The primary objective of TechTHRIVE is to establish Iowa State as a national leader in promoting and enabling a rural innovation economy through research on cutting-edge technologies and STEM educational initiatives.
I am currently co-developing a series of place-based workshops and curricula for youth in rural Iowa.