Learning Circuitry Through Making

• In Event: Roundtable Session 2
  In Roundtable Session: Learning Environments With Elementary-Age Classrooms

Abstract

In this paper, we report the results of a maker-based program, designed and executed by a Children’s Museum in a mid-sized Midwestern City, and implemented in twelve third grade classrooms across four schools. Through the four-week program students explored basic circuitry, sound recording, and principles of music making. At the end of the program, students in the study demonstrated a greater understanding of the looping nature of a circuit, could identify the core components of a circuit with an emphasis on the central role of a battery, and could identify a more appropriate number of connections between the components. These findings demonstrate that relevant and important science content can be learned within the context of a hands-on, museum-based maker experience.

Authors

• Erica Rosenfeld Halverson, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Lawson Chris, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

• Ethan Fleuchaus, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

• Maria Bakker, University of Wisconsin - Madison

• Kailea Saplan, Pacific University Oregon