Strengthening the science-D&T interaction through simple maker-centred projects in a Singapore classroom

Abstract

Many schools are gaining interest in maker-centred teaching and learning practices aimed at promoting students’ interest in STEM. Design and Technology (D&T) is a subject that promotes a variety of thinking skills such as design thinking, inquiry, creativity, as well as values through design-and-make projects. Despite earlier calls to highlight the interaction between science and D&T in classroom practices, very few studies describe how students can be guided to showcase their understanding and creative use of physics through simple D&T projects. This article highlights a way such interaction can be achieved through a common lower secondary technical project—the pencil holder project, carried out during regular lower secondary D&T lessons with a class of 18 students in Singapore. Students in this study, who come from an academically low achieving group, were able to showcase their understanding and creative use of physics related to ‘forces and simple machines’ through their design sheets and prototypes. They were commended for their work by their peers and teachers, leading them to feel a sense of self-worth for their success in a STEM domain. A discussion by science and D&T teachers on the work produced by the students at the end of the project highlight how the science-D&T nexus can be further strengthened in a feasible manner in school pedagogical practices.