Exploring Potentials and Challenges to Develop Twenty-First Century Skills and Computational Thinking in K-12 Maker Education

Megumi Iwata,Jari Laru,Kati Pitkänen,Kati Mäkitalo

doi:10.3389/feduc.2020.00087

Abstract

Interests in Maker Education have been increasing among K-12 educators. In this study, we focused on one of the contexts of Maker Education, digital fabrication activities, at a makerspace in Finland. We aimed to explore: 1) the potentials and the factors to develop twenty-first century skills and computational thinking practices through digital fabrication activities, and 2) challenges of utilizing digital fabrication in K-12 Maker Education. We examined perspectives of teachers and facilitators who have roles to support pupils in Maker Education. We presented three cases of school visits (3-5 days), where the pupils (7th-9th grades) created tangible artefacts with digital fabrication facilities at the makerspace. We collected data through participants’ observation, informal interviews and focus group interviews with teachers and facilitators. For data analysis, we employed theory-driven and data-driven approaches. The results showed that digital fabrication activities can provide learning opportunities for twenty-first century skills and computational thinking practices. The teachers and the facilitators discussed the six factors of digital fabrication activities which influenced pupils’ learning. However, the result also indicated the possibility that the teachers and the facilitators might not be familiar with the concepts of computational thinking. Also, different perspectives between the teachers and the facilitators towards the structure of the current activities surfaced. By identifying potentials and challenges of the current practices, the study has implications to advance Maker Education to be better integrated into K-12 school contexts.

Highlights

Making is described as “a class of activities focused on designing, building, modifying, and/or repurposing material objects, for playing or useful ends, oriented toward making a ‘product’ of some sort that can be used, interact with, or demonstrated” (Martin, 2015, p. 31). Katterfeldt (2013, p. 139–141) describes the maker culture phenomenon is built upon a long-run do-it-yourself (DIY) culture where people have been expressing themselves by designing and creating things by themselves. Martin (2015, p. 35) explains that maker mindset includes playful, growth-oriented, failure-positive, and collaborative values, beliefs, and dispositions that are shared in the community
We especially focus on twenty-first century skills and computational thinking (CT); (2) to explore challenges of utilizing digital fabrication activities in K-12 education
We answer to our three research questions: (1) To what extent are twenty-first century skills recognized in digital fabrication activities? (2) To what extent are CT practices recognized in digital fabrication activities? (3) What are teachers’ and facilitators’ conceptions of the factors which influence pupils’ learning of twenty-first century skills and CT practices in digital fabrication activities?

Summary

Introduction

Making is described as “a class of activities focused on designing, building, modifying, and/or repurposing material objects, for playing or useful ends, oriented toward making a ‘product’ of some sort that can be used, interact with, or demonstrated” (Martin, 2015, p. 31). Katterfeldt (2013, p. 139–141) describes the maker culture phenomenon is built upon a long-run do-it-yourself (DIY) culture where people have been expressing themselves by designing and creating things by themselves. Martin (2015, p. 35) explains that maker mindset includes playful, growth-oriented, failure-positive, and collaborative values, beliefs, and dispositions that are shared in the community. Making is described as “a class of activities focused on designing, building, modifying, and/or repurposing material objects, for playing or useful ends, oriented toward making a ‘product’ of some sort that can be used, interact with, or demonstrated” 139–141) describes the maker culture phenomenon is built upon a long-run do-it-yourself (DIY) culture where people have been expressing themselves by designing and creating things by themselves. Potentials and Challenges in Maker Education by digital technologies 32) and involves both traditional crafts and digital technologies in manufacturing and designing Digital fabrication activity can be used as one of the contexts of Maker Education

Methods

Results

Conclusion