Thank you for visiting our Design Squad Maker video. This project explores how to support upper elementary school children’s sustained engagement and participation in engineering design projects across out-of-school settings (digital, museums and makerspaces, home). Following a summative evaluation at eight sites across the country later this spring, the Design Squad Maker toolkit will be available on PBS LearningMedia, NYSCI.org, and informalscience.org by early summer. The Design Squad Maker app is now available for free download from the Apple App and Google Play stores. 

After watching our video, we look forward to hearing your thoughts on how you might envision using and/or adapting Design Squad Maker for your site. In addition, we hope you will share successful strategies for sustaining children’s interest and engaging parents and caregivers in the engineering design process. If you have any questions, please let us know.

Thank you!

The Design Squad Maker Team

Hi Mary,

The Design Squad Maker app seems well-designed and well-targeted to upper elementary students. I am wondering if you have also developed guidelines for potential facilitators in makerspaces or other facilitators. Have you examined use by individual families or groups of families?  I would think there would be a lot of interest among families looking for home-based learning tools 

Hi David: Thanks for your comment and glad you thought that the Design Squad Maker app was well-designed and well-targeted to our age group. The app is an integral part of the program in museums and maker spaces as well as in homes. Study findings showed that children found the app helpful with keeping them on track as it reminded them what the steps of the design process. In addition, being able to write down notes, take photos, and look back at personal progress was also noted as very helpful. The app is now available for free download in the Apple App Store and in the Google Play Store. In June, we will publish the Design Squad Maker Toolkit, which features a comprehensive facilitators' guide that offers suggestions for integrating the app into engineering design workshops for children and families, and for using the app to continue designing at home. We will share the URL for the Design Squad Maker Toolkit over the next week, though it will not be available for free download until next month. 

I love this idea and I have downloaded the app to explore it a bit. I really appreciate the emphasis on sketching when brainstorming! 

Hi Lizzy. How did you like the app. I don't know if you saw our response to David above. Just in case, I will repeat it: the app is an integral part of the program in museums and maker spaces as well as in homes. Study findings showed that children found the app helpful with keeping them on track as it reminded them what the steps of the design process. In addition, being able to write down notes, take photos, and look back at personal progress was also noted as very helpful. In June, we will publish the Design Squad Maker Toolkit, which features a comprehensive educator's guide that offers suggestions for integrating the app into engineering design workshops for children and families, and for using the app to continue designing at home. We will share the URL for the Design Squad Maker Toolkit over the next week, though it will not be available for free download until next month. 

Thanks so much for sharing the Design Squad Maker video, app, and in the near future, toolkit! This is very exciting work. I am curious about your next steps with this project beyond releasing the Toolkit? What would you love to see happen in the future with the app and toolkit, in an ideal world? Excited to learn more!

Thanks for sharing your video and materials. I am wondering about what NGSS content you are emphasizing? I ask as I love the Design Squad Maker materials that foster the engineered design of materials, but it is not clear which NGSS standards or performance expectations might be the target learning goals or assessed. Thanks for more information.

I like empowering kids (and families) to solve their own problems through engineering. Are you venturing into K-12 spaces/PD at all, or sticking with informal contexts?

Very cool. I would have loved something like this when my kids were small. Excellent project and congratulations on your success.