Hackerspaces

and

Engineering

EducationC. K. Harnett

T. R. Tretter

University of Louisville

S. B. Philipp

Miami University of Ohio

Louisville’s

engineering students need more

hands-on experiences.

In late 2009, the LVL1 hackerspace started up in Louisville, Kentucky. http://lvl1.org

In 2011-2013 we supported 9 undergraduates in the engineering department as full-time interns working on their own projects at LVL1.

2008 survey: What is missing from the ECE curriculum?

The most popular student answer was “soldering.” What does it mean?

An electronics workshop at LVL1

LVL1 Main meetings are

tuesdays @ 8pm

LVL1 at a Tuesday night meeting

How can we bring engineering

students to this space?

We focused on an existing

semester internship, the “Co-op”

Speed School students reported being very

interested in LVL1, but that they had no time

or money for another activity.

The Co-op program is already a requirement.

Students do three semester-long internships in

14 semesters.

We presented a LVL1

‘makership’ opportunity to the

Intro to Co-op class

Do I need to know all about LVL1, Maker Faire, Arduino, etc already? (No)

Do I need to be an ECE major? (No)

What kinds of projects can I do for the makerspaceco-op????

“What kinds of projects

can I do there?”• Whitestar Transatlantic Balloon

• Renewable Energy

• Rocketeers

• Sumobots

• Power Wheels Racing

• Soundbuilders

• Make Food not War (food flinging hackathon)

• Game development group

• Louisville Smarter Cities

• Mind over Melon

Students proposed their own

project ideas: A system to recycle broken

solar cells into large solar arrays

A multi-player strategy computer game

A low-cost method to make waterproof housings for environmental sensors

An energy-efficient electric bicycle

A wearable game controller

A strain monitoring system for sewer pipes

A device to put a tool into the user’s hand at the flick of a wrist

An electronic chess set aware of its own configuration

An electric generator that was powered by body heat

Co-ops came from nearly all of

the engineering departmentsMech Eng:

“Pizza oven”

shrink wraps

broken solar cell

pieces into

working cells

Bioengineering: Wearable

thermal energy harvester

• Most students used some

aspect of electrical

engineering. This was probably

due to the nature of projects

at the hackerspace

• And weekly meetings with a

mentor from ECE

What was the effect on co-ops’

self efficacy, innovation, and

attitudes towards engineering? We interviewed the participants to find out more.

One tech mentor (me) and two education experts (Dr. Tretter and postdoc Stephanie Philipp).

We asked students what they planned to learn, and at the end, what they did learn. We asked open-ended questions about their attitudes.

The education team also recorded their own impressions. Labels, documentation all over the space, and the “failure board” made impressions about what LVL1 offered.

What was the effect on co-ops’

persistence, innovation, and

attitudes towards engineering? We interviewed the

participants to find out more. I was usually their tech mentor, my Co-PI and postdoc did interviews and I learned from them

The co-PIs recorded their own impressions, the text and the “failure board”

We asked students what they planned to learn, and at the end, what they did learn

One co-op’s progress

Projects at LVL1 typically use

modular design

Typical projects at LVL1 are made from modules (for example, Arduino boards)

There are open source hardware modules and code libraries to do small tasks. You don’t have to reinvent!

These modules enabled students to make fast progress on prototypes

But cutting/pasting is forbiddenin class. Students were sometimes surprised that it was OK to use modules.

Programmable Arduino board

CrispyTronics

Voltage Booster

PING Distance

Sensor Module

Common theme: The internship

helped develop a learning

orientation via failed prototypes

All students produced some kind of prototype

or initial design that was scrapped

A scrapped object is a learning opportunity

Students reported that if they could do it again,

they would plan more and build sooner.

Early, leaky sensor housings, and sealed ones made by a new process

Common theme: increased

self-efficacy after the co-op“If I can not get one thing done, I can find a

couple of other ways.”

“I have valuable experience at figuring out

how to answer my own questions.”

“I am more innovative now, and I can go to

Plan B. I’m good at researching and asking

the right questions.”

“I gained confidence in my own judgments

about how to solve problems on my own.”

Students credited “independence” and the support of LVL1 members for these gains

Common theme: Co-ops at all

levels were testing

themselves

“My strengths now are that I can drive myself to

find a solution. I was worried about the lack of a

straight path to a solution. It was not easy, but I

now know I can do it.”

“Having my own project can help me decide if I

really want to be an engineer.”

“[It’s] a chance to experience engineering to

decide if I like it.”

Early stage co-ops were also

testing whether they picked

the right field of study.

Next directions for this program Some students can not pass up

higher paying private company co-ops to work in the makerspace. Ask companies to sponsor their co-ops in makerspace projects?

Make the spaces more welcoming to women/minorities

Use more existing spaces. Do you have a space at your university? At a library? In your town? Check the Hackerspace Wiki. > 1000 active spaces

Expand to business and design departments; use makerspace co-ops to bring design thinking and entrepreneurship to the engineering curriculum

FirstBuild GE spinoff maker-

space by Louisville campus

Find your local space

at hackerspaces.org

Acknowledgments

LVL1.org

U of L Co-op office

Project mentors Thad Druffel & Mark McGinley

Everyone who’s keeping an eye on our kids, classes, pets, houseplants this week

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1136708.

Questions?

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