Pedagogical approaches of maker educators in a school setting

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purpose of this exploratory study is to propose a pedagogical nexus for maker educators that is specific to making and tinkering in K–12 formal learning environments. The intent is to document the pedagogical approaches of practising teachers as they gain experience with making practices and principles. Based on the analysis of interview data from 24 self-identified maker educators, participants created opportunities and provided instructional support to engage students in making through the use of five approaches: Tool/Technique-Focused Making, Curriculum-Focused Making, Inquiry-Focused Making, Application-Focused Making and Interest-Focused Making. While differences in terms of the goal of the making activity existed within each approach, there were also commonalities across the approaches such as student outcomes and means of assessment. The authors discuss implications for the use of these pedagogical approaches of making and possibilities for future research.