Informal Science Evidence Wiki : Informal Science. Introduction Educational “maker spaces” have emerged as a promising strategy for engaging the general public in STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math) through exposure to tools, materials, technologies, and expert facilitators. Maker spaces are uniquely suited to address four needs facing education today: competence, knowledge, intelligence, and self-instruction. They can inspire participants to articulate a problem, engage in creative problem-solving, seek information and support, and draw upon a wide array of general and content-specific skills and knowledge. Facilitation in maker spaces tends to encourage participants to respond dynamically to what they discover, to learn from their mistakes as well as accomplishments, and master new skills in an environment which emphasizes process and product over content (Making Meaning, 2013).
Maker spaces typically blend aspects of traditional laboratories, workshops, and interactive exhibits. Makerspaces Measuring learning 1. Sources: Education: Join our Library Makerspace Webinar! Grassroots fabrication in makerspaces: the importance of culture, context & relationships - STEPS. On Thursday 10th April 2014, the Grassroots Innovations project organised a half-day World Café workshop in Copenhagen on the topic of grassroots fabrication in makerspaces. It formed one session within a wider conference exploring an ‘Innovative Civil Society’ and hosted by the international Living Knowledge network of science shops. Makerspaces are one of the case studies in our project Grassroots Innovation: historical and comparative perspectives, led by STEPS researcher Adrian Smith. Research Briefing 23 (pdf) provides a summary report of participant discussions from that session.
Over 30 participants with varied experiences of makerspaces contributed to the discussion. From the Grassroots Innovations website: The key message from the World Café, in our view, is that providing facilities, tools, and even technical assistance and training is only one aspect to creating a makerspace. WCER : Projects : Learning in the Making: Studying and Designing Makerspaces. Makerspaces are emerging, informal sites for creative production in art, science, and engineering where people of all ages blend digital and physical technologies to explore ideas, learn technical skills, and create new products. This proposed study will take an ethnographic and design-based approach in order to understand how and what people learn from their participation in makerspaces, and also to explore how features of these environments can be leveraged to create designed learning experiences.
To this end, the researchers conduct ethnographic case studies of makerspaces that have been identified as rich learning sites to understand the learning arrangements and processes that emerge in these spaces and investigate how technologies are learned and used. Through collaboration with one of these sites, the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh’s MAKESHOP, the researchers will design a series of learning experiences that will build on MAKESHOP’s activities. Why Do Makerspaces Belong in Libraries? | UNBOUND. Makerspaces are a hot topic now. In addition to talking with several public and academic librarians that are considering integrating such spaces, I also oversaw a student’s independent study about several case studies of established makerspaces at area libraries.
One question that arises repeatedly whenever a community considers launching a makerspace is “Why do it in the library?” My answer: Why not? The question of including a makerspace in a library seems to be predicated on misconceptions about what a library is and what people do there. People will argue that makerspaces, which are about exploring new skills and often involve an array of digital and mechanical tools, are noisy and messy. Libraries are sometimes perceived to be quiet spaces, conjuring up the stereotypical old lady librarian shushing people. Yet libraries everywhere have been smashing such stereotypes for years. By Associate Professor Laura Saunders.