Exploring the Movement of “Maker Culture” in

EducationAnn-Louise Davidson PhD

Giuliana Cucinelli PhD David Price Nadia Naffi Ivan Ruby

Tristan Matheson Nathalie Duponsel

Margarida Romero PhD Roland van Oostveen PhD

Evan Light PhD

Context• Learning to code in schools (Dredge, 2014; Lucas, 2015; Romero,

2015)

• 21st century competencies (Conference Board of Canada, 2001; World Economic Forum, 2016)

• Co-creative activities for 21st century kids (Romero & Vallerand, 2016): collaboration, creativity, problem solving, computational thinking, critical thinking

• Push from STEM to STEAM to STEAMED

• Popularity of makerspaces

• Experiential learning

Literature• Proof of concept (Abaya, Basa, Sy, Abad, & Dadios, 2014; Amir, Siddiqui,

Ahmed, & Chowdhry, 2014; Graven & Samuelsen, 2013; Hamidi, et al., 2014; Lamine & Abid, 2014; Nguyen, et al., 2015; Nikhade, 2015; Paramanathan et al., 2014; Pereira, Fernandes, & Sequeira, 2014; Sahani, Rout, Sharan, & Dutta, 2014; Sandeep, Gopal, Naveen, Amudhan, & Kumar, 2015; Sundaram et al., 2013; Sivaranjani & Sumathi, 2015; Vamsikrishna, Kumar, Hussain, & Naidu, 2015; Vujovic & Maksimovic, 2014)

• Schools (Cohen, Jones, Smith, & Calandra, 2016; Pringle, 2016; Romero, Davidson, Cucinelli, Ouellet, & Arthur, 2016;Silcoff, 2016; Sheridan et al., 2014; Somanath, Morrison, Hughes, Sharlin, & Sousa, 2016; Stager, 2013,)

• “Maker” movement (Andersson, 2015; Burker, 2015; Charny, 2012; Fox, Ulgado, & Rosner, 2015; Harris & Cooper, 2015; Haug, 2014; Sheridan et al., 2014)

• Social Innovation (Joyce, 2015; Nathan, 2015; Szczys, 2015; Taylor, Hurley, & Connolly, 2016)

Activity Theory

Outcome

Tools

Division of labor

Subject

Community

Object

Activity theory -Engeström

Rules

Vygotsky: ZPD

The zone of proximal development is the gap between two levels of development

a b

a: where the learner is (able to accomplish without any help) b: where the learner could be (cannot accomplish alone)

ZPD: able to accomplish with the help of a more knowledgeable other

Objectives1) Study the collaborative learning processes within digital "making" workshops demonstrated by learners from secondary school, college (CEGEP) and university;

2) Analyze learner perceptions of digital "making" workshops to better understand their experiences and challenges in converting academic knowledge into digital fabrication and problem-solving skills; 3) Develop a course for an institute of digital "making" to assist educators with integrating tiny and affordable technologies into educational experiences that engage learners as participants and problem-solvers using the emerging Internet of Things (IoT).

• Collaborative action-research tools and techniques

• Informal interviews

• Semi-structured interviews

• Observations

Methodology

Participants• Students from elementary, secondary, CEGEP

(college) and university

• Community members (7 to 77)

• Community centres

• Libraries

• Makerspaces

Findings1. Advantages and pitfalls

of collaborative problem-solving

2. Insight on the basic knowledge needed to engage in digital “making”

3. Vignettes on collaborative learning processes that underlie digital “making”

4. Elements of a typology for 21st century skills to innovate, tinker and engage in maker culture

1. Advantages and pitfalls of collaborative problem-solving:

•Feeling of group safety •Feeling safe to make

errors •Feeling interdependent •Feeling challenged •Changing group

dynamics

2. Insight on the basic knowledge needed to engage in digital “making” •analyzing problem •determining desired

outcomes and needed inputs and outputs

•sequencing required processing

•prototyping •diagnosing failures

3. Vignettes on collaborative learning processes that underlie digital “making” •Mini Maker Faire •Maker Jams •Prototyping workshops •Arcade Tables •3D Printer •Accessibility challenge

Maker FaireDiscovering Experimenting

Maker JamsDeveloping basic maker skills Building a community of makers

PrototypingCollaborating Testing

Arcade TablesMultidisciplinary challenge Development of perception ofself-efficacy

3D PrinterScaffolding Team work Complex challenge

Accessibility ChallengeFrom ideas to reality

4. Elements of a typology for 21st century skills to innovate, tinker and engage in maker culture

Technical skills

Foundational skills

Social skills

Personal management skills

Conclusion

• Shift from passive consumers of commercial resources to active contributors of information and participation in the production of objects

• Conditions required for risk-taking in education (to tinker and innovate)

• 21st century skills