All of us at UTeach Maker would like to thank you for taking the time to view our video. This video provides a snapshot of our current efforts to engage preservice STEM teachers in meaningful, authentic, and relevant maker centered learning activities as they explore how making can improve education. We are particularly interested in your views on the following questions:

1. What does "making" mean to you?

2. What is something that you have made that was important to you and why?

3. What are your thoughts about incorporating making into STEM education?

Additional information about UTeach Maker can be found on our website, https://maker.uteach.utexas.edu and see the recent article on  Elements of Making in The Science Teacher. Thank you again for taking time to contribute your thoughts. 

Hi Shelly -- Nicely phrased all the way through. The variety of voices resonates powerfully for me. The diversity that your team showcases speaks to why I think material engagement (aka: making) matters to learning (not only STEM learning). Hands-on = minds-in, but more than that, based on what we're learning at Texas State, it seems that "incorporating making" is fundamental to the basic embodiment of knowing in practice, as engagement in and with the world (both formally and, crucially, in-formally). In other words, without 'making', there is no learning/knowing. Thanks for the ongoing conversation — let's keep it going! 

This is a really great introduction to your Maker program. The micro-credentialing element is a wonderful idea, and the inclusion of opportunities for challenging yet creative moments throughout the learning process for students models the act of making in itself. Giving them the chance to fail, become more confident, and reflect on their learning blends elements of the makers mindset with the qualities of a teacher's mindset. Both are crucial as early career educators take on the rigors of the classroom. Well done! 

This is such a delightful video, as I think integrating the maker learning approach into pre-service teacher programs is so important. I like the micro-credentialing element, too. I’ve been teaching making in pre-service librarian education, and I can totally see a synergistic collaboration between teachers and librarians who are well equipped with making skills and knowledge during their pre-service education.

Great video and so good to know that there are efforts underway to incorporate maker education into pre-service teacher education! Can you share a little more about your approach to teaching teachers about making? I am particularly interested in how you help teachers think about integrating making into formal and informal STEM programs and how to use making with different student populations. The IDEAS project, which I am contributing to, is investigating how making can be used to help foster the development of STEM career interests and social skills among middle school students on the autism spectrum. The program has been quite successful and our next step will be to figure out how to help pre-service and in-service teachers learn about this approach and how to implement it. Any suggestions you can offer would be greatly appreciated!

Hi Babette, thanks for you question. Our primary approach is learning through doing. We follow a cohort model where the preservice and inservice teachers work together over the course of a year or more. We meet monthly to engage in maker PD and we also have optional weekend workshops. In terms of integrating into the classroom, this was one of our largest challenges initially. Thus, we developed a set of tools to help. First of all, we developed an Elements of Making matrix to help unpack various ways to scaffold for student populations with different levels of expertise. We also developed a lesson planning guide and we do one on one and collaborative planning conferences. You can check out some of the lesson that have been developed in our maker lesson bank. We will be adding more at the end of this semester.

We have recently started working with colleagues at St. Edwards University here in Austin to discuss differentiation of maker spaces and activities for students with special needs.  We hope to continue our learning in this area so any resources you have to share would be very welcome.

I agree with the other posters - what an important approach to training pre-service teachers! I love the idea of micro-credentialing and would love to hear how you have structured that and what lessons you've learned along the way. Thanks!

As a Artrenpreneur and Maker in Austin, and UT Alum, so happy the next generations are being given the tools and opportunities to forge their way as Maker's. Great job Dr. Rodriguez and Maker teams! 

As a showcase facilitator, I've looked at and commented on a variety of videos - and I have to say that this discussion is one of the best I've seen so far.  I like the way the probing questions have led the presenter to describe progressively more details about the UTeach Maker program and to share additional resources.  There is no question that working with pre-service teachers is important, as they are the future of education.  Have you been able to observe teachers who have been through the UTeach Maker program use the resources you have developed to help them move their making practice into the classroom?  Do you (or they) find that process is more challenging for particular subject areas or age groups?

Thanks for sharing this video! I love seeing integrations here of high- and low-tech maker practices and materials (sewing and computing, for example). I can imagine that while teachers may want to incorporate making into their classrooms, class time and cost of materials could be major hurdles. What are some suggestions you give your UTeach Maker pre-service teachers for handling this in their future practice? Perhaps some of your strategies would be useful for those who want to bring making activities to in-service teachers as well!

Thanks for sharing your great video!  I liked how you highlighted the voice and experiences of students as participants in making. I had a couple of questions about your project:

1) Is it a single maker space, or are you working with a collection of spaces? Is (are) the space(s) connected with a school? How are students recruited to participate in the spaces? Is it in the context of a UT course? 

2) I liked the connection to micro-credentialing as a way of thinking about both achievement and assessment. Can you talk a little about how the micro-credentialing process works for these students? Does it measure their making process? Their products? Both? Does it capture collaboration?

Thanks again for sharing your cool work!

- Erica 

Hi Shelly,

What a great project and a very inspiring video, thank you for sharing! At my university's school of education we have a makerspace that pre-service and in-service teachers participate in, both to learn about making itself and to think about bringing making to classrooms. I notice sophisticated wood-working tools in your video --what is the range of making experiences you have the UTEACH makers go through and how did you decide on these particular experiences? Did the makers have input in what (and the reasons for) they wanted to do?

Thanks!

Edna

Hi, Edna!

Thanks for your post. This is Jill Marshall, Co-PI on our Noyce grant, taking over for Shelly.

The makers absolutely have input into what they want to make, as well as how they might use making in their pre-service and in-service classrooms. The targeted assignments in our pre-service classes give very broad constraints be do not mandate the use of any particular tools. For example, in my Physics by Inquiry class, students have an assignment to "Make something that they could use or would like to have that involves electric circuits or optics, in some way." Those are the two topics for the fall course. Students have made everything from Christmas sweaters, electric New Years cards and a Hanukah menorah to a cell phone charger, a mirror with programmable lighting run by a Raspberry Pi, and a stuffed toy with an embedded audio module which played my student's heartbeat for her baby boy. Since circuits was one of the topics, the equipment tended in that direction, but one student also sculpted a tree-stump lamp with LED-lit mushrooms, that involved woodworking tools.

In Shelly's Step 1 class (first course in the UTeach (uteach.utexas.edu) preservice secondary STEM teacher preparation sequence, students make something to represent their journey as a teacher for the final project. Some digital tools (Makey Makey) are modeled and made available, but they make everything from cakes to weavings.

Shelly orchestrates events for the students in the micro-credential program to learn to use particular tools, such as a laser cutter, based on common technologies that might be of use in the classroom, but the projects for our makers are generally very open-ended.

The questions coming through this discussion board are excellent! It's been such a fun experience working with this program and I love that this discussion board is asking good questions. The UTeach Maker program, from my perspective, includes the Maker mindset at its core by continuing to evolve, take risks, and foster a culture Making and drive towards greater innovation in education. To that, I wonder how we can push a little further to break down more of the silos across STEM and into the humanities? 

I'm excited to see how the leadership components can be used to grow making on campuses where UTeach Makers are placed. It can be a huge challenge to re-create the culture that this program has created, so I'm very excited they will have support! 

Oren Connell

UTeach Maker Mentor

Maker Technology Coach, Austin TX

Thank you for your post, Oren, and THANK YOU for your constant support of our UTeach Makers!  You ask a great question about breaking down the silos between disciplines. UTeach is  committed to interdisciplinary STEM education, manifest in its commitment to project based instruction. UTeach Maker is a strong step toward bringing the arts into our work; in a recent paper I argue that making is situated at the intersection of Art, Crafts, Engineering, and Math/Science, but uniquely characterized by its community. How to build a connection to the humanities more broadly without becoming 'generic' (losing our strong focus on STEM content) is a challenge as we evolve. But, as you say, that accepting challenges and continuing to evolve are at the core of the Maker mindset!

Just wanted to echo what Oren and others have mentioned: the questions and responses in this discussion board have been both insightful and thought provoking.

For this year's cohort, all of my mentees were graduates of the UTeach program who were  also practicing teachers that returned to earn their Maker credentials. The fact that they took on this extra commitment - on top of their regular teaching load - speaks volumes, both in terms of the benefit they see in integrating maker education into their practice, as well as the recognition of the value the UTeach Maker provides. 

It was inspiring to see each Maker face and overcome the inherent challenges when making in the classroom, (especially in this age of high-stakes testing) like integrating new technologies, access to resources, planning with teachers from other content areas, and assessment. 

With regards to the silo mentality of STEM and the Humanities: from my perspective, part of the success of the UTeach Maker approach is that it makes a deliberate effort to encourage Makers to connect her or his own creative interests with constructivist/constructionist methods. 

For example, this year one the Makers turned her passion of video gaming into an incredible "cosplay" maker project that exemplified the idea of "meaningful making." 

While fun and lighthearted in nature, the project gave her the confidence to identify as a "maker" since throughout her own iterative process she worked with a variety of new tools, materials, and techniques while also facing setbacks and successes. During her showcase, it was remarkable to hear how the experiences during the project directly influenced how she worked with students in the classroom.

Patrick
UTeach Maker Mentor

Shelly,

Your leadership in education is both inspirational and effective!  Thank you for everything you do for students who plan to be educators!

Glenda- I will second Jason's comments. Shelly is on travel right now- out representing us and drumming up more support for UTeach Maker. The program had its genesis when she introduced the Maker project into Step 1, our recruitment and intro course for UTeach secondary STEM teacher preparation. She has worked tirelessly, with Jason's phenomenal support. She often says that she never thought of herself as a "Maker", but she has certainly made this program!