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1. What is a makerspace?"A makerspace is a place where people come together to create and collaborate, to share resources, knowledge, and stuff" (Britton, 2012).It is a transformative learning space that promotes innovation, creativity, and collaboration. A space where community members can come to build, create, and problem-solve.
Each space is unique to a community and their needs. Every space will have different goals for their members. That is why when you begin your research process, you are going to hear a lot of different names. e.g. makerspace, hackerspace, Fablab, Tinkerspace, DIY lab, Tech Shop, etc. While many of these spaces have similar goals and names, it is very important to note the differences of each space and the services that they provide for their community when designing your own learning space. |
2. Why are they important?Makerspaces provide students exposure to design thinking and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) in a fun and interactive way. These spaces focus on problem and project based learning (PBL) in a collaborative environment and foster exploration and innovation without the fear of failure.
Makerspaces facilitate the ability for students to grow their expertise and empower them to critically think about their own education and the community around them. They expose students to new ideas and thinking patterns that will help them succeed in the future. And most importantly for educators and administrators, makerspaces help students to meet multiple standards of learning, e.g. CCSS, ISTE, AASL, etc., and aid them in their path to becoming 21st century learners. Needless to say, makerspaces are very important third places for students to go and grow! |
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3. What is Design Thinking?Design thinking is a creative cognitive approach that allows individuals the ability to design meaningful solutions. This process promotes teamwork, high order and creative thinking, and student responsibility for learning. These are critical skills for students to develop and allows them to examine the world through a "thinking outside the box" approach.
There are multiple models that educators use to facilitate this style of thinking. Standford University's D.School method consists of 5 steps: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test. Another popular method is IDEO's method which consist of 3 overlapping spaces of thought: Inspiration, Ideation, and Implementation. In the end, whatever method you implement for your community, just know that design thinking is very important for students to utilize in the classroom and beyond! |
4. Where did STEAM learning come from?While, STEM was originally used as a term to describe "science" professions by the National Science Foundation and Homeland Security. It was not until 2006 when the U.S. National Academies expressed concern for the decline in these areas and President George W. Bush introduced the American Competitiveness Initiative that STEM become a popular terminology to describe science, technology, engineering, and math in education. And more specifically, this initiative called for an increase in federal funding to support these fields and the training and education of our youth.
That same year, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, math AND art) was also being introduced by Georgette Yakman. The movement gained more attention in 2011, when the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) launched STEM to STEAM and the South Korean government (with the help of Yakman) adopted STEAM as a national education initiative. |
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5. What can you do now?You being on this website right now means you are trying to find answers to how to create a space like this.
Explore this website! Look at the different tabs above (Getting Started, Making the Case, RI Community, and Resources) and see what information is relevant to your community and begin to envision their needs. There are five essential tips and goals to getting these spaces going. Check them out in the slides to the left. |