Maker-Centered Learning

Acknowledgments ix

List of Tables and Figures xiii

Foreword xix

Introduction 1

What is a Maker? And What is Maker-Centered Learning? 4

A Road Map to the Journey Ahead 8

1 Exploring the Benefits of Maker-Centered Learning 15

Learning from Maker Educators and Thought Leaders 17

Identifying the Real Benefits of Maker-Centered Learning 18

Understanding the Primary Outcomes of Maker-Centered Learning: Developing Agency and Building Character 19

Understanding the Secondary Outcomes of Maker-Centered Learning: Cultivating Discipline-Specific and Maker-Specific Knowledge and Skills 35

Recapping the Real Benefits of Maker-Centered Learning 39

2 Teaching and Learning in the Maker-Centered Classroom 43

Maker-Centered Roots and Connections 45

Who (and What) Are the Teachers in the Maker-Centered Classroom? 51

Students as Teachers 51

Teachers in the Community 55

Online Knowledge Sourcing 56

Tools and Materials as Teachers 57

What Does Teaching Look Like in the Maker-Centered Classroom? 59

Facilitating Student Collaboration 60

Encouraging Co-inspiration and Co-critique 63

Redirecting Authority and the Ethics of Knowledge Sharing 70

What Does Learning Look Like in the Maker-Centered Classroom? 73

Figuring It Out 74

What Does the Maker-Centered Classroom Look Like? 77

Tools and Materials 78

Storage and Visibility 80

Specific and Flexible Spaces 83

3 Developing a Sense of Maker Empowerment 85

What Is Agency? 89

Choice, Intention, and Action 89

Scope: Agency and the Complex Web of Interrelated Actions 91

Locus: Participating in Agentic Action 94

Agency and Maker Empowerment 98

Empowerment and Social Justice 101

Empowerment in Education 103

4 Developing a Sensitivity to Design 109

Developing a Sensitivity to Design in a Consumer-Driven World 111

The Hidden Mechanics of Stuff 112

Living in the Throes of a Throwaway Culture 114

What Is a Sensitivity to Design? 116

How Are Students Sensitive (or Not) to Design? 120

Seeing the Designed World as Malleable 122

5 Maker-Centered Teaching and Learning in Action 127

A Framework for Maker Empowerment 128

Looking Closely 130

Exploring Complexity 133

Finding Opportunity 136

Tools and Techniques for Supporting Maker-Centered Thinking and Learning 141

Dispositional Development and Thinking Routines 142

Developing Thinking Routines to Support a Sensitivity to Design 142

Conclusion 155

Maker-Centered Learning: Challenges and Puzzles 157

Considering the Ethical Dimensions of Maker-Centered Learning 158

Equity and Access in the Maker-Centered Classroom 159

Supporting and Sustaining Maker-Centered Practice 162

Looking Ahead: The Future of Maker-Centered Learning 163

Imagine If. 166

Afterword 169

Appendix A: Overview of Interview Participants 173

Appendix B: Thinking Routines 175

Notes 185

References 195

Index 203

About the Authors 223