Abstract

This study utilized qualitative research methods to investigate the experiences and learning outcomes of fifth-grade elementary school students engaged in making activities using analog materials and tools to solve open-ended problems. The students worked in groups to design a vehicle capable of traveling a distance of 1 meter with no restrictions on materials or structure. The study involved 23 students and their teachers, with data collected through student interviews, student artwork, classroom teacher observation journals, and teacher interviews. Transcribed interviews were categorized and interpreted for significance. The findings are categorized into problem-solving processes and the experiential semantics of open problem-maker activities.
 The subsequent findings highlight the significance of maker-based, unstructured problem-solving activities for elementary school students. Firstly, students encountered diverse transportation forms and engaged in problem-solving within unstructured activities that allowed for decision-making and choice. Secondly, their encounters with various symbols exhibited openness, complexity, realism, and continuity. Thirdly, students expressed a strong desire for learning through their engagement in tactile thinking and interaction with their environment.
 In conclusion, unstructured problem-solving activities foster student choice, reasoning, and communication and offer learning opportunities through failure. Moreover, learning is viewed as a continuous journey rather than a destination, with learners' individual differences and experiences significantly shaping new learning.

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