Abstract
Innovations in engineering education are undergoing a noticeable transformation. Higher education institutions are practicing distance education, remote laboratories, studio pedagogies and several other approaches in order to increase their students’ retention, success, and preparedness for the job market. In engineering education, maker spaces have become popular in the last ten years in universities as well as community colleges, high schools and community innovation hubs. A large number of engineering colleges have allocated significant spaces, and at some universities entire buildings, as maker spaces to be used for curricular and extracurricular activities. Success stories of these types of spaces are well documented. This paper describes the core activities and programs held at Tennessee Tech University’s maker space called ‘iMakerSpace.’ Accomplishments include several innovative workforce development activities. The impact and effectiveness of the iMakerSpace, presented through workforce innovations and survey statistics, is a unique contribution to this paper. In addition, the modification of operations under COVID-19 pandemic restrictions has resulted in changes that may be carried out post-pandemic.
Highlights
Maker Spaces (MSs) are physical spaces located in community settings or educational institutions for group collaboration and social learning on innovative and technological projects [1,2]
This paper describes several innovations and best practices observed and documented at an MS located at Tennessee Tech University during the COVID-19 outbreak years
The The purpose of the survey was to gauge the level of use and effectiveness of the iMakerSpace by students, faculty and alumni
Summary
Maker Spaces (MSs) are physical spaces located in community settings or educational institutions for group collaboration and social learning on innovative and technological projects [1,2]. MSs are becoming increasingly popular worldwide due to the high potential for fostering essential skills needed for innovation and advancing creativity [2,3] They are collaborative environments inside a university, school, library or dedicated public or private facility for learning, exploring, making and sharing, that use high-tech to no tech tools [1,4]. They are accessible to students, the public and entrepreneurs. These spaces are equipped with a variety of maker equipment including 3D printers, laser cutters, Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machines, soldering stations, hand tools etc.
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