CAREER: Theory and Pedagogy within University Makerspaces

随着设备能力的提高和成本的降低，制作空间继续变得越来越普遍，特别是在大学内部，制作空间为学生提供了动手培训和创造性的基于项目的体验的机会。然而，业务文化，包括人员配置做法和政策，有时会导致某些人，特别是妇女和有色人种不受欢迎。这是一个严重的问题，因为所有学习者都需要获得现代工具、基于问题的教学和现实世界的培训，以便未来的STEM劳动力充分参与现代经济中的美国人口。这个职业项目横跨三个不同的环境，有机会更深入地挖掘Makerspace内的教学研究以及学生与教职员工的互动。这一理解有助于开发教学和教学工具，以支持包容性的创业者环境，特别是学生参与创业者空间的最佳做法、创业者空间工作人员的聘用和培训做法、促进公平和包容性的政策以及专业发展做法。拟议的工作将通过在制造空间环境中创造更具包容性的做法来扩大对工程的参与。这项职业研究将使用扎根理论来开发和提出一个批判性的视角，专注于大学创作者空间内的互动和教育学。这种有目的的、明确的关注将重点放在大学教育领域，这对美国未来的竞争力至关重要；否则，高等教育中存在的结构性不平等，尤其是工程领域的不平等，将继续在教育环境和未来的劳动力中重演。研究指出了这些空间中个人之间互动的重要性，并表示这些可能与包容性/排他性环境有关。由于大多数学生进入这个空间是为了做功课，所以教学方法也很重要。该项目将以下列研究问题为指导：·大多数和边缘化的工程专业学生如何与大学创客空间内的创客空间工作人员互动？·大学创客空间中的教育学是什么样子？·互动和教学方法如何影响谁参与和不参与大学创客空间？这项研究的发现将开始填补关于大学创业者空间内的教学活动和互动如何为包容性环境做出贡献的知识空白。具体地说，在这项研究中创建的理论透镜可以协同地为教学工具和实践提供信息，这些工具和实践将受到课程、教学方法和评估方面的最佳实践的启发。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Makerspaces continue to become more common as equipment capabilities increase while cost decreases, and within universities in particular makerspaces provide opportunities for hands-on training and creative project-based experiences for students. However, the operational culture, including staffing practices and policies, sometimes results in makerspaces that are not welcoming to certain populations, specifically women and people of color. This is a serious problem because all learners need access to modern tools, problem-based pedagogies, and real-world training so that the future STEM workforce fully engages the US population in the modern economy. This CAREER project, across three diverse settings, is situated in the opportunity to dig deeper into research on pedagogies within makerspaces as well as student-staff interactions. This understanding can inform the development of pedagogical and instructional tools to support an inclusive makerspace environment, specifically best practices for student engagement in the makerspace, hiring and training practices for makerspace staff, policies to promote equity and inclusion, and professional development practices. The proposed work will broaden participation in engineering through the creation of more inclusive practices in makerspace environments. This CAREER research will use grounded theory to develop and propose a critical lens focused on interactions and pedagogy within university makerspaces. This purposeful and explicit focus on inclusion in university makerspaces is central to future US competitiveness; otherwise, the structural inequities that exist in higher education, specifically within engineering, will continue to be reproduced in educational environments and the future workforce. Research points to the importance of interactions between individuals in these spaces and suggests these could be linked to an inclusive/exclusive environment. Since most students enter the space for coursework, the pedagogy matters as well. This project will be guided by the following research questions: • How do majority and marginalized engineering students interact with makerspace staff within university makerspaces? • What does pedagogy look like in university makerspaces?• How do interactions and pedagogy impact who is and is not participating in university makerspaces? Findings from this study will begin to fill the void of knowledge about how pedagogical moves and interactions within university makerspaces can contribute to an inclusive environment. Specifically, the theoretical lens created in this study can synergistically inform instructional tools and practices that will be informed by best practices in curriculum, pedagogy and evaluation.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.