Designing, Creating, Building and Inventing = Makerspace

What is a Makerspace?
A makerspace is a DIY gathering place for students to design, create, build and invent.  There are many different tools or varying abilities for people to build on their craft.  Our district makerspace is located in the high school Media Center in which we have multiple supplies and tools to make. Our makerspace includes a Makerbot 3D printer, a 3D replicator, little bits, a Kano, Raspberry Pi's, Arduinos,  Makey Makeys, a recording area equipped with a green screen, as well as links to coding applications.

Purpose:
In the traditional classroom, we are asking students to find answers to questions, but in a makerspace the focus changes to the students asking the right question.  Students learn new skills through trial-and-error and perseverance to create something brand new.  It's all about the experience and learning and having something tangible and/or applicable to the real world when they are finished with their project.  We do not want the students just to make to make, but rather to create items that will go beyond the school and can solve real-world issues. Our focus for the students is to make something that can improve his or her life or someone else's whether that is an improvement on something that has already been created or inventing something themselves.

Process:
There are two different sets of skills learned in the process of making.  One is based on learning the tools themselves and the other relates to the problem-solving skills developed from making. Learning the tools themselves, such as how to run the 3D printer, can be taught through manuals, Youtube videos, or good ol' Google.  The other set of skills, which tend to be taught less in schools, are those which seem to be the most important - problem solving and diagnostic thinking.  These skills determine why something is not working, figuring out a creative solution, being meta-cognitive, and also managing stress and emotions while persevering to make something unique and useful.

Many students will start creating by mimicking others' work, using creations on Thingiverse, Youtube, or other DIY websites.  We feel this is an important part of the learning process, as students need to build confidence in risk taking while creating.   They first need to figure out how the hardware and software work.  Once they are comfortable in that step, then they start moving into creating items on their own.

Another important aspect of the makerspace was for us to have multiple ability levels of tools, software and hardware.  We have multiple levels of learners and we want everyone to find something of interest to them.  We have some simple items such as little bits and kano, but once users become comfortable, these simple tools can become complex with some imagination.  By also providing items such as Arduinos and Raspberry Pi's, students who already have a foundational understanding or programming, can create and keep moving forward.  Creating, building, problem solving and inventing are all skills we want our students to be able to do when they leave our district; therefore, providing them with a place and tools to develop these skills is an essential part in the creation of our makerspace.