Abstract
In this study, the authors researched, designed, and implemented maker education opportunities into teacher candidate training, specifically in elementary mathematics and science methods courses. To investigate the impacts of active learning and maker education models in the teacher education program, the researchers observed, interacted with, and asked teacher candidates (1) which instructional design practices were helpful, (2) what they learned (i.e., knowledge gained, effective pedagogies, and teaching methods) and (3) what were the impacts of these learning opportunities in the context of learning to teach mathematics and other STEM subjects? The Maker Ed workshops involved creating opportunities for teacher candidates to gain experience of how to make, exploring ways to incorporate making in a variety of contexts and then extending this learning to their own pedagogy. To better prepare students for the workforce and everyday living, life skills, transferable skills, and workforce competencies need to be taught through student-centered and activating instructional practices.
TopIntroduction
Active learning
Industry as well as political and educational leaders rally behind initiatives that support students in developing workforce competencies by promoting more meaningful learning through problem solving and collaboration skills (Allina, 2018). According to Hughes (2017), students need these life (i.e., transferable) skills “to develop and apply for successful learning, living and working” (p. 102). To foster these goals, higher-education has been shifting from lecture-based instructional practices to an active and deeper learning model. This shift is especially evident at faculties of education where teacher candidates increasingly expect their instructors to model pedagogies that they can implement in their own instructional and professional practices. For instance, such pedagogies include the four levels of inquiry (Banchi & Bell, 2008) and the “multiple cycles of design” that can “contextualize the learning in STEM” to make abstract concepts more meaningful and engaging (Blikstein, 2013, p. 18). These pedagogies are referred to as Maker Education.
According to Hartikainen et al. (2019), the pressure for hands-on and active maker-learning has “risen from the needs of students and working life, as well as from the broader economic and political changes” (p. 1). Further, student-centered and engaging instructional practices that actively involve students in the learning process have been associated with an increase in academic achievement (Hartikainen et al., 2019) and with the development of life skills and workforce competencies (Ito & Kawazoe, 2015). Based on the need for active learning in higher education, it becomes imperative to provide teacher candidates with the opportunity to actively engage in learning maker education skills; these will enhance candidates’ preparedness for teaching in the 21st century through learning that is experiential, hands-on, exploratory, inquiry-based, problem-based, student-centered, and collaborative.
Maker education incorporates several STEM and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) initiatives, such as interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary learning that enable process-oriented and product-oriented practices, as well as interest-driven learning (Sheridan et al., 2014; Somerville, 2016) to solve problems (Cohen et al., 2017; Halverson & Sheridan, 2014; Martin, 2015). In a transdisciplinary space, students can transfer their knowledge across a discipline, allowing them to creatively solve a problem in another context both in the classroom and out-of-school (Liao, 2016). Further, discourses that are relevant to specific pedagogies that support teachers’ and students’ engagement in making components (i.e., coding, designing, and modelling) are central to the sustainability of making in education (Bullock & Sator, 2017).
This research focuses on the integration of maker education into teacher candidate training and pedagogy. In this study, the authors researched, designed, and implemented maker education opportunities in teacher education, specifically in mathematics and science courses at a university in Canada.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Makerspaces: A space where kids, adults and innovators can engage in collaborative projects using low, high or no technology while being creative. Makerspaces can be in a school, library, or an out-of-school facility where people can make, explore, and share ideas and resources.
Computational Thinking: CT allows students to think recursively, decompose a problem into discrete, finite parts, and develop creative solutions in a series of logical steps (i.e., algorithms).
Maker Education: Students can plan, design, make, test and redesign projects through experiential, hands-on, exploratory, inquiry-based, problem-based, student-centered, and collaborative learning. Maker Education can utilize a variety of tools such as physical (e.g., trimmers and cutters), digital physical (e.g., laser cutters), and digital computational tools (e.g., 3-D modeling software tools).
Critical Making: Involves the integration of physical making, conceptual exploration, and critical reflection by connecting students’ lived experiences to tools and technologies.
Computational Participation: Students learn through coding to create a design/product; to collaborate, share ideas and resources with others; to remix, improve and redesign a prototype; and to use digital tangibles (i.e., micro-controllers and sensors) with programming tools and technologies.
STEM: Educational approach to teaching and learning that promotes the integration of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.
STEAM: The integration of the Arts and STEM subjects through the design process to develop creativity, innovation, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.