Making. The Educational Movement.
Teaching Impacts
Interdisciplinary collaboration
Collaboration across disciplines
Self-directed learning
Student-led projects
Varied participation levels
Product over process concern
Lack of time
"Challenges to implementing making in schools include lack of time, lack of resources, lack of teacher preparation, and incompatibility with standards and testing." (Hsu, Baldwin, & Yu-Hui Ching, 2017, p. 506)
Environmental design considerations
Space design factors
Complexity
Coherence
Mystery
Legibility
The work Required for a maker space
"The four predictor variables used in this study (complexity, coherence, legibility, and mystery) are based on Kaplan and Kaplan's (1989) preference matrix" (Hynes & Hynes, 2018, p. 873).
"The opportunity of the Maker Movement for higher education is to reinvigorate education with more interdisciplinary, experiential, self-directed and innovative learning" (Hynes & Hynes, 2018, p. 871).
Learning Impacts
Student preferences
Environmental preferences
Tidy spcaes
Less complex layouts
Initial excitement generated
Varied engagement levels
"Without careful implementation, the maker movement has the potential to exacerbate, rather than bridge, inequities in STEM education." (Hsu, Baldwin, & Yu-Hui Ching, 2017, p. 531)
Hand-on experimentation
Persistence through challenges
Gender differences
Gender-based preferences
"Images 1 and 2 were rated much lower for preference by female students than male students" (Hynes & Hynes, 2018, p. 877).
Discipline-specific preferences
Engineering vs other majors
"complexity does not have as deleterious an effect on preference for the engineering students as it does for the other majors" (Hynes & Hynes, 2018, p. 878).
"The results of this study indicate that there are significant differences in environmental preferences between genders and disciplines" (Hynes & Hynes, 2018, p. 878).
Financial Considerations
Investment in spaces
Initial investment
Space requirements
"Some critics argue that the Maker Movement has been commercialized and co-opted, focusing too much on expensive gadgets rather than the core philosophy of accessible, hands-on learning for all"(Vossoughi et al., 2016)
Equipment costs
Initial investment
Equipment updates & maintenance
"The financial investment in these spaces can be considerable, and sustaining and supporting continued student participation is critical to their success" (Hynes & Hynes, 2018, p. 871).
Lack of resources
What is the Maker movement?
Culturally responsive pedagogy
"Making pedagogies that promote social interaction and welcome youth within a space can be supportive for newcomers to engage in making and tinkering" (Wardrip & Ryoo, 2020, p. 514).
Teacher Training & Professional Development
Understanding makerspace pedagogy
Workshops on makerspace pedagogy
Technology and equipment training
Hands-on technology training sessions
Facilitating interdisciplinary projects
Collaborative planning for interdisciplinary projects
Adapting curriculum for makerspace integration
Ongoing support and mentoring
Integration of Learning Outcomes
Creativity fostering
Hands-on experience
Expanding human expression
Practical skills development
Problem-solving skills
Computational thinking
Innovation support
Innovation mindset
STEM engagement
21st-century skills
"These spaces are designed to emulate the self-directed, interdisciplinary, and innovative nature of the Maker Movement" (Hynes & Hynes, 2018, p. 871).
"Buechley et al. (2008) found that through e-textiles activities—in which CS (coding with Arduino Lilypad) was incorporated into activities that girls were already engaged with (sewing)—interest in the activities of a male-dominated field (CS) could be piqued, with a desire to do and learn more with computer coding" (Wardrip & Ryoo, 2020, p. 511).
Incompatibility with standards?
Limited long term evidence
"While making activities generate excitement and interest, there is little evidence to date about their long-term impacts on learning or on sustained participation in STEM activities." (Hsu, Baldwin, & Yu-Hui Ching, 2017, p. 506)
Deeper concept engagement needed