CAREER: Theory and Pedagogy within University Makerspaces

随着设备能力的增加和成本的降低，创客空间继续变得越来越普遍，特别是在大学内，创客空间为学生提供了动手培训和创造性项目体验的机会。然而，运营文化，包括人员配置做法和政策，有时会导致创客空间不受某些人群的欢迎，特别是女性和有色人种。这是一个严重的问题，因为所有的学习者都需要获得现代工具，基于问题的知识和现实世界的培训，以便未来的STEM劳动力充分参与现代经济中的美国人口。这个职业生涯项目，在三个不同的设置，是在机会，深入挖掘研究内makerspaces以及学生与员工的互动。 这种理解可以为教学和教学工具的开发提供信息，以支持包容性的创客空间环境，特别是学生参与创客空间的最佳实践，创客空间工作人员的招聘和培训实践，促进公平和包容的政策以及专业发展实践。拟议的工作将通过在创客空间环境中创建更具包容性的实践来扩大对工程的参与。 这项职业生涯研究将使用扎根理论来开发和提出一个关键的透镜，专注于大学创客空间内的互动和教学法。这种对大学创客空间包容性的有目的和明确的关注是美国未来竞争力的核心;否则，高等教育中存在的结构性不平等，特别是在工程领域，将继续在教育环境和未来的劳动力中重现。 研究指出，这些空间中的个人之间的互动非常重要，并表明这些互动可能与包容/排斥的环境有关。由于大多数学生进入课程空间，教学法也很重要。该项目将以以下研究问题为指导：·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的？互动和教学如何影响谁是和不参与大学创客空间？这项研究的结果将开始填补有关大学创客空间内的教学活动和互动如何有助于包容性环境的知识空白。 具体而言，本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，这些工具和实践将通过课程，教学法和评估中的最佳实践提供信息。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。

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.