Learning from the Maker Community: Advancing the Maker Movement

制造被描述为下一代创新和自己动手。制造者是一群新兴的富有想象力的发明家，他们重视修补、黑客攻击、重新制作和创造技术文物。创客空间是这些创作者聚集在社区相互学习和创造的地方。有些人认为，制造者运动可能会导致制造业工作技能发展的复兴，并重塑工程教育。制作社区是多样化的，包括在博物馆/图书馆环境中的非正式学习；在社区空间中的制作；大学制作空间；从事制作的工程和科学研究人员；以及从事制作的教育研究人员。为了收获为美国制造业制造的好处，有必要了解制造的好处以及如何推进制造者运动。这个项目将提供确定未来决策方向所需的初始基线数据。该项目的目标是开发、启动和分析一项关于美国各地决策活动的调查。为了利用那些已经活跃在制作者运动中的人所获得的知识，各利益攸关方必须相互学习。拟议的调查将用于从广泛的Maker社区收集信息，以了解制造意味着什么。根据调查结果，将创建一份书面报告并广泛分享，其中强调制造商运动的状况，以及不同的制造商细分市场如何认为制造商运动可以得到最好的支持。本报告将记录工科学校和其他学校如何使用Makerspace，以及Makerspace的感知价值(例如，教学价值、对多样性的贡献和对保留的贡献)。Maker调查报告的结果将作为对Maker运动的新研究调查以及其他数据收集和分析的潜在基线。

Making has been described as the next generation of innovation and do-it-yourself. Makers are an emergent group of imaginative inventors who value tinkering, hacking, re-making, and creating of technical artifacts. Makerspaces are places where these Makers gather in communities to learn from each other and create. There are some who believe that the Maker Movement can potentially lead to a resurgence of manufacturing job skills development as well as reshape engineering education. The Making community is diverse, encompassing informal learning in museum/library settings; Making in community spaces; university Makerspaces; engineering and science researchers who engage in Making; and education researchers who engage in Making. In order to reap the benefits of Making for the US manufacturing industry, it is necessary to understand the benefits of Making and how to advance the Maker Movement. This project will provide the initial baseline data needed to identify future directions in Making.The goal of this project is to develop, launch, and analyze a survey on Making activities across the US. In an effort to leverage the knowledge acquired by those already active in the Maker Movement it is imperative that the various stakeholders learn from each other. The proposed survey will be used to gather information from the broad Maker Community to understand what Making means. Based on findings from the survey, a written report will be created and widely shared that highlights the state of the Maker Movement and how diverse Maker segments believe the Maker Movement can be best supported. This report will document how engineering schools and others are using Makerspaces and the perceived value of housing a Makerspace (e.g., pedagogical value, contribution to diversity, and contribution to retention. Findings from the Maker Survey report will serve as a potential baseline for new research inquiries into the Maker Movement and additional data collection and analysis.