Makerspaces As Learning Environments by Breanne K. Litts
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Making learning: Makerspaces as learning environments By Breanne K. Litts A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Curriculum and Instruction) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison 2015 Date of final oral examination: 11/25/2014 This dissertation is approved by the following members of the Final Oral Committee: Erica R. Halverson, Associate Professor, Curriculum and Instruction Richard R. Halverson, Professor, Education Leadership and Policy Analysis Matthew Berland, Assistant Professor, Curriculum and Instruction Catherine Compton-Lily, Associate Professor, Curriculum and Instruction Kimberly Sheridan, Associate Professor, Educational Psychology, GMU UMI Number: 3672348 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI 3672348 Published by ProQuest LLC (2015). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 - 1346 Copyright © by Breanne K. Litts 2015 All rights reserved. i Abstract The maker movement is fundamentally changing the way educators and educational researchers envision teaching and learning. This movement contends making — an active process of building, designing, and innovating with tools and materials to produce shareable artifacts — is a naturally rich and authentic learning trajectory (Martinez & Stager, 2013). Makerspaces are places where making happens in community. I craft my dissertation to explore these two defining characteristics of makerspaces through a comparative case study (Stake, 1995) and a design experiment (Brown, 1992). In the comparative case study, I investigate three youth makerspaces as learning environments and the communities within as learning communities. I employ the design experiment to examine making as an activity that demonstrates learning. With these two complementary studies, I seek to answer the question: how is learning demonstrated in makerspaces? I ground my study in the convergences of new literacies and constructionist learning theories. From the intersections of these two learning theories, I develop an activity-identity-community framework, which I use as my analytic frame. My goal is threefold: 1) to compare three types of youth makerspaces (museum, afterschool, and mobile/library), highlighting design affordances and constraints of each; 2) to build a comprehensive understanding of how experienced young makers approach and complete activities in makerspaces, and 3) to realize implications for design and assessment of makerspace-inspired learning environments (e.g., classroom making activities). Findings expand the limited empirical research connecting making and learning by directly informing our understanding of youth makerspaces as learning environments and assessment of making activities — two key gaps identified earlier this year at the National Research Meeting on ii Learning and Making. I discuss implications for practitioners and designers of informal learning environments, the emerging field of making in education, and learning scientists more broadly. iii Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................................... V INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 1 MAKERSPACES ........................................................................................................................................ 3 COMMUNITY, SPACE, TOOLS .................................................................................................................... 5 THIRD PLACE ............................................................................................................................................. 7 CURRENT RESEARCH ON MAKING, MAKERSPACES, AND LEARNING ................................ 8 MAKING LEARNING ................................................................................................................................... 8 MAKERSPACES AS LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS ....................................................................................... 11 OVERVIEW .............................................................................................................................................. 12 THEORETICAL FRAME ....................................................................................................................... 14 CONSTRUCTIONISM ............................................................................................................................ 15 THE ART OF LEARNING ........................................................................................................................... 16 CONSTRUCTIONIST PERSPECTIVE ........................................................................................................... 17 CONSTRUCTIONISM AND LEARNING ....................................................................................................... 21 MULTILITERACIES .............................................................................................................................. 26 MULTIMODAL ......................................................................................................................................... 27 GLOBAL & LOCAL .................................................................................................................................. 28 BRIDGING CONTEXTS ............................................................................................................................. 29 DISCOURSE .............................................................................................................................................. 30 MULTILITERACIES AND LEARNING ......................................................................................................... 31 CONVERGENCES: CONNECTING MAKING AND LEARNING .................................................. 40 LEARNING AS BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS .............................................................................................. 41 MAKING AS A WAY TO LEARN ............................................................................................................... 44 EXTERNAL ARTIFACTS ARE EVIDENCE OF LEARNING ........................................................................... 48 CONNECTING THEORY TO DESIGN: A FRAMEWORK .............................................................................. 50 YOUTH MAKERSPACES AS LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS ........................................................ 54 METHOD .................................................................................................................................................. 56 SITE SELECTION ...................................................................................................................................... 58 PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA ................................................................................................................ 59 DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................... 60 FINDINGS ................................................................................................................................................. 64 MAKESHOP .............................................................................................................................................. 64 ASSEMBLE ............................................................................................................................................... 75 MILLVALE ............................................................................................................................................... 86 CROSS-SITE: ACTIVITIES ......................................................................................................................... 99 CROSS-SITE: IDENTITY .......................................................................................................................... 106 CROSS-SITE: COMMUNITY .................................................................................................................... 110 FOUR FEATURES OF YOUTH MAKERSPACES ........................................................................... 115 MAKING STRUCTURE: ACTIVITY SCALE .............................................................................................. 115 MAKING RESOURCES: TOOLS & MATERIALS ....................................................................................... 117 MAKER IDENTITY: EQUIPPING FACILITATORS ..................................................................................... 119 ETHOS: COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIPS ................................................................................................... 120 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................ 121 iv MAKING LEARNING IN