STEM Literacy Practices in Adult Makerspaces: Implications for Learning

• In Event: Poster Session 2
  In Poster Session: Lifelong Learning Trajectories: Connections Between Hobbyists and Makers

Abstract

We describe literacies as they relate to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and Arts fields at two different adult makerspaces. Artisan’s Asylum is a 40,000 square foot multi-shop makerspace with hundreds of members and DGF Technologies was a small engineering and rapid prototyping firm with nine employees. We identify four major literacy practices in making: a) identifying, organizing, and integrating information across sources, b) posing and solving problems, c) creating and traversing representations, and d) communicating with others, including receiving help or feedback. Results show that these literacy practices were enacted differently due to different organizational structures at each site yet were undergirded by many of the same values found in maker communities across the world.

Authors

• Eli Tucker-Raymond, TERC

• Brian E. Gravel, Tufts University

• Kaitlin Kohberger, Tufts University

• Kyle Browne, Lesley University