Distributed debugging with electronic textiles: understanding high school student pairs' problem-solving strategies, practices, and perspectives on repairing physical computing projects

Background and Context: Debugging is a challenging yet understudied practice within recent collaborative K-12 physical computing contexts. We examined think-aloud interviews and reflections of seven high school student pairs who debugged researcher-designed buggy electronic textile projects. Objective: We asked: (1) What strategies did student pairs employ as they debugged e-textile projects? (2) How did interactions between people, tools, and representations shape debugging approaches? (3) How did students reflect on this debugging experience in relation to their learning in the e-textile unit? Method: We qualitatively analyzed eight think-aloud videos (similar to 45 min each) and student reflections (similar to 15 min twice). Findings: Debugging required iteratively problem-solving across multiple modes, employing system-level , and a mix of collaborative and individual strategies. All students attributed various gains to this activity, including problem-solving-related practices and positive stances toward collaboration. Implications: Our analysis expands debugging research to include K-12 physical computing contextand highlights the potential of similar debugging activities as intentional learning experiences.