A place that provides hands-on opportunities that allow people to make, explore, create, put together, think, plan, and sometimes play.
Published in Chapter:
STEM Education for Girls: Perspectives of Teachers During a Makeathon
Rachel Ralph (Centre for Digital Media, Canada), Paula MacDowell (University of Saskatchewan, Canada), Yu-Ling Lee (Trinity Western University, Canada), and David Ng (University of British Columbia, Canada)
Copyright: © 2020
|Pages: 23
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-1177-0.ch004
Abstract
Makerspaces are common learning spaces providing hands-on opportunities for students to make, create, plan, and play. This chapter describes an equity-oriented (girls) makeathon day. Teacher and teacher candidate participants (n=15) acted as mentors for 22 girls creating wearable technologies, augmenting reality using old t-shirts, and creating a mobile app related to an issue that teen girls face today. The results of this case study focus on results from an adapted questionnaire (teacher efficacy and attitudes toward STEM [T-STEM]) and semi-structured interviews. Qualitative data of this case study research was analyzed through open-coding and triangulated with quantitative data and Mann-Whitney U tests. Participants identified the importance of technologies for their growth as educators and to create safe and supportive environments for girls. Participants highlighted the importance of professional development and support and how to create effective makerspaces. Continued research and opportunities need to be created to encourage diverse educational makeathon events.