Final Vision Project: Learner Considerations

Maker activities provide authentic
opportunities for collaboration

"Makerspaces support multidisciplinary, individual, and collaborative learning through iterative error- and risk-tolerant tinkering, offering multiple points of entry including repairing items, building robots, and creating. We saw a direct relationship between developing maker competencies and the willingness to learn new tools." (Davidson and Price, 2017).

Why have Maker Spaces and STEAM projects created such a buzz in elementary and high schools across North America? What is their value to us as parents and teachers in British Columbia? How do these science, technology, engineering, art and math projects benefit students?

What is Maker Culture?

"Maker culture embodies do-it-yourself tinkering using tiny, affordable open-source computers, electronics, and recycled items to further sustainability, equity, social innovation, democratization of innovation, and community building. Makers engage in self-directed experiential learning through risk-tolerant, persistent problem solving in interdependent communities tackling complex, socially relevant problems." (Davidson and Price, 2017). Maker culture or Maker Spaces and STEAM are intertwined, and for the purposes of their connection to curriculum, are considered the same.

Although these STEAM activities are fun and engaging for students at school, I would like to inform parents and teachers of their deeper value. These activities can be designed to intentionally meet the curricular goals in both the BC Curriculum and our North Vancouver School District's strategic planning and visioning. It is no 'fluke' that our new curriculum has provided learning outcomes that encompasses STEAM activities.

Let’s take a look at the BC Curriculum…

The Core Competencies include several skills identified as essential for learner success. BC students are expected to reflect on their own development of these skills and give specific examples connecting their learning to the competencies. STEAM activities naturally provide authentic opportunities for students to practice collaboration, critical and creative thinking as well as personal and social understanding.

Core Competencies: BC Ministry of Education

Another curricular area Applied Design, Skills and Technology (ADST) naturally encompasses Maker and STEAM activities.  The Big Ideas directly connect to the Core Competencies. Both curricular areas include the same key words: knowledge, skills, technology, communication, ideas, purpose, joy, thinking, understanding, identity, and purpose.

ADST Big Ideas: BC Ministry of Education

Looking deeper into the intended curricular competencies of ADST, there are even more connections to deeper learning with STEAM or Maker activities. The ADST Curricular Competencies are loaded with skills that are necessary to be life-long learners.

Some of the key applied design and applied skills include: generating ideas and adding to others' ideas, gathering peer feedback, incorporating new ideas into a design, using materials safely, extending capabilities, reflecting on one's ability to work in a group, and telling others of their design story. All of these fit under the 'umbrella' of Communication, Thinking, and Personal and Social Skills from the Core Competencies.

There are also obvious curricular connections within the academic subjects of Science, Math and Art in all grades from Kindergarten to Grade 12.

Equity and access to STEAM activities continues to be an issue. Schools with healthy economic backing supply an assortment of digital technologies for students while other schools simply can't afford the 'extras.' The broad definition of Maker Space or Maker Culture can encompass hands on activities that develop skills even without the digital component. For example, 'Breaker Spaces' where students take apart broken products can learn about how they are made, or play hands on games that use the concepts of coding.

How about my School District Strategic Plan and Visioning Statements…

On our NVSD website it is easy to find our District's Vision, Values and Goals. The first sentence under Strategic Plan states, "The North Vancouver School District provides world-class instruction and a rich diversity of engaging programs to inspire success for every student and bring communities together to learn, share and grow."

NVSD Vision, Values, and Goals

Specifically, listed under Goals, the NVSD states Student-centered Education, Innovative Instruction and Mental Health and Well Being as three of the six goals of our school district. Each of these has been proven to be embedded in student learning during STEAM activities.

  Here is what the research says…

There is an overwhelming volume of research that supports the implementation of STEAM and Maker Spaces. Increased engagement, collaboration skills, and problem solving skills are benefits one would expect. Interestingly, participants in STEAM workshops developed an increased sense of wellness and strong sense of community. Some research also states that participants develop a growth mindset and confidence.

Curiosity Commons has published an article titled Makerspaces: The Benefits. The site describes many benefits and also points out that the actual product is irrelevant. “What is made may not matter at all; it can still influence the thought process, vision, and ability to connect of a learning maker." (Curiosity Commons).

The National Inventors Hall of Fame Journal has also published What are the Benefits of a Makerspace? Learning to take failure in stride, hands-on learning, opportunities for innovation, and developing a wide range of 21st learning skills are some of the claims stated in the article.

The Resilient Educator published the article Benefits of Teaching STEAM Lessons on their website. They list collaboration, developing creative and critical thinking, and hands on experience as benefits, as well as encouraging girls in STEAM.

In the Learning Landscapes Journal titled: Does Your School Have the Maker Fever? An Experiential Learning Approach to Developing Maker Competencies, authors and researchers Davidson and Price conclude in their study that, "Our analysis suggested key themes of initiative, playful learning, authentic adaptation, interdependence, and over resourcing. These themes can be developed into “maker competencies” to meet 21st century needs." (Davidson and Price, 2017).

Maker Spaces and STEAM activities have many overlaps within the BC Curriculum and our NVSD goals and vision. Not only are activities engaging and fun, but prove to develop resiliency and social emotional benefits.

My final project is meant to educate parents and teachers of the value and deeper intent of these activities. Perhaps with increased awareness and support from parents and teachers we can advocate for more equitable funding for digital resources in 'have not' schools like mine.

After all, all students, regardless of their parent's income, deserve a "world class instruction and a rich diversity of engaging programs." (NVSD website).

References

BC Ministry of Education. (n.d.). Applied Design, skills and technologies. Building Student Success - B.C. Curriculum. Retrieved November 12, 2022, from https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/curriculum/adst

Curriculum. (n.d.). Retrieved November 6, 2022, from https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/

Davidson, A.-L., & Price, D. W. (2018). Does your school have the maker fever? an experiential learning approach to developing maker competencies. LEARNing Landscapes, 11(1), 103–120. https://doi.org/10.36510/learnland.v11i1.926

Fingal, J. (2022, October 27). How curiosity, creativity and Student Agency unlock student learning. ISTE. Retrieved November 13, 2022, from https://www.iste.org/explore/education-leadership/how-curiosity-creativity-and-student-agency-unlock-student-learning

Makerspaces: The Benefits. curiositycommons. (2016, April 25). Retrieved November 13, 2022, from https://curiositycommons.wordpress.com/makerspaces-the-benefits/

Nadelson, L. S. (2021). Makerspaces for rethinking teaching and learning in K–12 education: Introduction to research on makerspaces in K–12 education special issue. The Journal of Educational Research, 114(2), 105–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2021.1914937

Student Centered Education. Strategic plan 2021-2031 - north vancouver school district. (n.d.). Retrieved November 12, 2022, from https://www.sd44.ca/Board/StrategicPlan/Pages/default.aspx#/=

The benefits of Teaching Steam Lessons: Resilient educator. ResilientEducator.com. (2020, December 10). Retrieved November 13, 2022, from https://resilienteducator.com/classroom-resources/benefits-of-teaching-steam/

Vongkulluksn, V. W., Matewos, A. M., Sinatra, G. M., & Marsh, J. A. (2018). Motivational factors in makerspaces: A mixed methods study of elementary school students’ situational interest, self-efficacy, and achievement emotions. International Journal of STEM Education, 5(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-018-0129-0

Key Elements in My Vision for Teaching in the 21st Century

    When I was first asked to think of key words that shape my teaching and direction of learning, I created a word cloud. Integral words included: engagement, curiosity, inquiry, collaboration and educational balance. With this in mind, how do I move forward in my growth as an educator? What is this going to look like in my classroom? How will this look when I become a teacher-librarian?

As I transition into the final phase of this course I believe the key elements for my final project are:

1. Balancing Digital Literacy in My Classroom

2. STEAM in My Classroom and Beyond

3. Connecting ADST Curriculum With Our New Assessment Language

Balancing Digital Literacy in My Classroom

In How Curiosity, Creativity, and Student Agency Unlock Student Learning, the author Jerry Fingal states, “Unfortunately, many educators still use technology in ways that are just a substitute for analog learning, he said, citing a few examples: “We take textbooks and scan them and then we have digital textbooks. Instead of boring lectures, we have boring lectures that are recorded on video. Those are not strategic uses of technology for learning because they are passive, not active.” (ISTE, October 2022).

My goal is to move from passive use of computers and ipads to active use. This is going to be tricky in that I have very little access to our school devices. On Friday, it was my allotted time to use the computers and four teachers came into my room before the bell. One teacher pulled 6 laptops for her class, another took 2, and the others asked for 4 each. I had to justify my use of them and ask for some back so that my students could each use one.

I’ll be honest, I teach primary students and logging on is still a challenge, but they are getting more independent and capable each time we use them. Our classroom use of the devices has been mostly passive. We use the laptops to read on Epic (while I work one on one with my most struggling readers), and to post work to their Scholantis Portfolios. I still have not tried using the Spheros but will before the end of this school term. Keeping in mind that parents of my students this year have been very clear that they do not want their children online very much at school. There are lots of great resources online that focus on digital literacy skills that I can use to direct teach to the whole class on my computer projected large scale.

 

STEAM in My Classroom and Beyond

STEAM (Science. Technology. Engineering. Art. Math) in the classroom is what I am most excited about right now. I have put together a STEAM trolley (cart) with an assortment of bins with challenges and supplies. Some of the activities can be done with a whole class at once, others done in small groups or as an individual. I have included several activities that touch on each of the STEAM subject areas on the trolley. I have also tried to include activities that are low cost or use materials that are free and can be recycled.

On Friday afternoon, I challenged my students to make a marble maze from their pizza box from the hot lunch program. This STEAM challenge is not included on the cart but I will write it as a lesson and include it because our school has pizza lunch once a month and so all classes could easily do it. Building the maze was a challenging task for grade three students. I usually teach older students so I had forgotten how hard it is to cut cardboard with small scissors. Luckily I had a stash of adult size scissors they could use. It took a surprisingly long time to plan, cut and tape pieces. Although students were fully engaged the entire time, no one finished. However, the student's excitement helped them persevere through their challenges.

I am looking forward to finishing the mazes on Monday and then testing them with marbles. I am most curious to see how their reflections, self-assessment and improvements to their design develop throughout this week.

On a completely different open-ended learning task, I challenged my students to create 'monster eyes' on Halloween. What a fun activity! Student engagement was high and the creativity soared. My grade three students also helped their kindergarten buddies make 'an open-ended' paper monster. This collaborative activity was also successful. The discussions were rich with questions, problem solving and choice. The open ended nature meant that every project was successful as there was no 'right way' to make it. 

Connecting ADST Curricular Big Ideas With Our New Assessment Language

Our school district is implementing new language in assessment next year. My staff had a workshop introducing the incoming assessment structures last week. I am excited to start connecting the assessment language of ADST Big Ideas from the BC Ministry of Education, and reworking it to fit the new rubrics using the Curricular Competencies. I think this will be of great benefit to my entire staff. There are few Big Ideas in ADST for Kindergarten through Grade 7 so it is a manageable task for me to complete as part of my STEAM Trolley (which can be borrowed by teachers in the school). I do think it is important to have the curricular competencies embedded in the learning outcomes and assessment of the STEAM activities. Teachers using the kits can use the rubric language as comments on student report cards or adapt them for their own maker projects.

Kathleen McClaskey, CEO and chief learning officer of Empower the Learner and author of the book Make Learning Personal, shared seven elements of learner agency that help move educators from a teacher-centered environment to a student-centered environment and, ultimately, to a learner-driven environment. These are: voice, choice, engagement, motivation, ownership, purpose, and self-efficacy. Read more in the ISTE October 22 journal.

McClaskey writes, “Personalized learning is not what is done to the learner or about tailoring the learning. It is about helping each learner to identify and develop the skills they need to support and enhance their own learning so that agency and self-advocacy can be realized.” Maker activities or STEAM challenges are empowering for students and touch on each of the seven elements that McClaskey lists in a student-centered environment.

My Vision for Teaching in the 21st Century

My future vision extends beyond my classroom. Hopefully I will soon be in a library. I can recreate a STEAM Trolley complete with self-assessment and teacher assessment rubrics for students with the newest language. At this point, I think my final presentation will be a slide show that includes photos, videos and rational of students working through the STEAM trolley challenges. This presentation can be presented to my current staff and then my new staff when my position changes. I am hoping this bundle of student-centered activities is a helpful resource for colleagues. It is likely that my new school will have more resources and so I can include more coding activities as part of the STEAM Trolley.

 I am excited to share and help my fellow teachers.

Resources

About Us. Empower the Learner. (2021, August 29). Retrieved November 6, 2022, from https://empowerthelearner.com/about/

Curriculum. (n.d.). Retrieved November 6, 2022, from https://curriculum.gov.bc.ca/

Fingal, J. (2022, October 27). How curiosity, creativity and Student Agency unlock student learning. ISTE. Retrieved November 6, 2022, from https://www.iste.org/explore/education-leadership/how-curiosity-creativity-and-student-agency-unlock-student-learning

 Sarah D. Sparks, O. 30. (2020, December 17). Make learning personal. Make Learning Personal. Retrieved November 6, 2022, from http://kathleenmcclaskey.com/