Capturing the Spark: Using Choice-Based Assessment to Measure the Impact of Making

• In Event: Poster Session 18
  In Poster Session: Informal Learning Environments Research Poster Session

Abstract

Many institutions of learning embrace making as an engaging way to learn. We attempt to measure the short-term consequences of making, not through traditional tests of knowledge, but through assessments of what children choose to learn after a period of making. A cross-over design used two activities with 9-13 year olds learning about spinning tops. One was to build a top. The other was a video-based activity in which children chose which clips to watch about tops-related science. The study was replicated under controlled classroom conditions (N=121), as well as a free-choice, informal learning setting (N=114). Analyses found site differences, but more importantly, found that making can trigger increased exploration of learning resources. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Authors

• Doris B. Chin, Stanford University

• Luke David Conlin, Stanford University

• Kristen Pilner Blair, Stanford University

• Daniel L. Schwartz, Stanford University