An E-Textiles Workshop for Undergraduate Learning
Published in Proceedings of the Midwest Instruction and Computing Symposium 2026, 2026
E-textiles integrate various materials such as sensors and power sources directly into fabrics to enable detection and transmission of data. During our study, we conducted an interactive workshop with 12 participants designed to teach circuit design and sewing skills to undergraduates and increase their interest in these topics. Our participants were led through an activity where they used conductive thread and mechanical components to modify a regular fabric glove into an e-textile. During our study, students reported high interest in e-textiles and received high scores on a circuit design and sewing quiz after the activity. We found statistically significant increases in several measures, including participants' self-reported knowledge and enjoyment of circuit design and enjoyment of sewing. Using the data collected from our study, we plan to design a teaching module that could be deployed and evaluated in a classroom or extra-curricular setting to teach introductory electronics at an undergraduate level.
Recommended citation: Ethan R. Behrendt, Hunter M. McDaniel, and Emily M. Hastings. 2026. An E-Textiles Workshop for Undergraduate Learning. In Proceedings of the Midwest Instruction and Computing Symposium 2026.