Towards Student-Driven Formative Assessment Practices across School and Afterschool Makerspaces

Abstract

This study presents a subset of findings from a larger qualitative study on maker educators' assessment practices in various pedagogical contexts, from school-based to afterschool makerspaces. This study focuses on insights gathered from veteran maker educators who have had more than 8 years of experience in maker education. The general consensus on practice is that formative embedded assessment is more appropriate than conventional grading practices for tracking students' growth and learning in makerspaces, but there needs to be a larger push towards active student participation and engagement in the assessment process, in order to generate the most authentic and holistic form of assessment for highly interdisciplinary and unique maker journeys that each student takes.