This paper, based on the contributions of researchers in maker movement as one of the most important modern educational innovations in the last decade, explained the promising prospects of makerspace for K-12 Education, and identified what key direct drivers of change that should be considered when exploring possible futures of makerspaces as an…

The emergence of immersive VR technology in K-12 educational spaces has created a need for research examining the affordances and constraints of this technology for student learning. The current study uses a case-study methodology to illustrate K-12 secondary science teachers' perceived affordances and constraints of using immersive VR tools to…

The purpose of this exploratory study is to propose a pedagogical nexus for maker educators that is specific to making and tinkering in K-12 formal learning environments. The intent is to document the pedagogical approaches of practising teachers as they gain experience with making practices and principles. Based on the analysis of interview data…

To encourage the creative design, hands-on, and problem-solving abilities of K-12 students, many countries have begun to set up makerspaces and promote maker education in schools. To help primary and secondary schools better implement maker education, this study explored the core competencies of teachers striving to engage or better practice maker…

This qualitative research involved the development of 12 weeks of twice-weekly virtual maker professional learning (PL) sessions for K-12 and post-secondary educators at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The sessions were developed by four researchers from a maker lab in Ontario, Canada that moved entirely online in March 2020. The research…

The current study explores how teachers' behaviors and environmental factors influenced the use of a K-12 makerspace. Teachers attended professional learning sessions, developed a makerspace, and created curricular units aimed at teaching students design thinking stages and principles. Given the longitudinal (4 years) nature of this study within…

This literature review identifies the content and scope of empirical academic research on making, makerspaces, and fablabs. Using an overview approach, 150 peer reviewed studies were analyzed using expanded activity theory as a framework to examine how researchers have explored various components in a makerspace (subjects, tools, community, rules,…

Despite widespread efforts to promote Open Educational Resources (OER) in German K-12 education, their adoption remains relatively low. Previous research has identified common enablers and barriers to OER adoption (i.e., OER (re)use, adaptation, and creation) from an international and intercultural perspective while a hierarchy of such predictors…

Integrated STEM labs and makerspaces have become increasingly common in P-16 schools, higher education residence halls, libraries, and community centers. Although these collaborative learning spaces provide increased access to cross-cutting science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) practices, they pose inherent safety risks that are…

Why do some innovations in policy or practice take off, while others fizzle out? Social scientists and policy experts have grappled with this question for decades, studying the diffusion of new ideas and examining how and why states, organizations, and institutions adopt innovations to their policies or practices. In recent years, states have…

Despite growing interest in the educational benefits of integrating making into formal educational contexts, few studies have examined professional development (PD) models for assisting K-12 teachers in doing so. Through the design and implementation of a unique PD experience, this qualitative case study examined the perspectives of eight teachers…

The maker movement has sparked interest from stakeholders in K12 educational institutions based on its emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) content areas. However, the interest has not yet culminated in clearly defined best practices for K12 student or teacher learning. This systematic review of literature aims to analyze…

In 2005, Dale Dougherty and O'Reilly Media founded "Make Magazine," and coined the term Makerspace, which is broadly defined as a community workspace where people come together to solve problems using materials and tools they might otherwise not have access to (Dougherty, 2012). Recently, schools have allocated funding and resources into…

The vast majority of U.S. teachers supplement their officially adopted curriculum materials with unofficial materials. Despite this, the body of supplementation-relevant literature tends not to focus on supplementation specifically, so lacks cohesion, and sometimes fails to capture all aspects the phenomenon. I systematically review…

Why is maker education a suitable approach for giving learners the 21st century skills they need to cope with the digital transformation? This article provides an answer and represents a defense of maker education in the field of educational science. Taking a human-media-machine interaction model as the basis for discussion, this article…