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…

In March of 2020, the world encountered the COVID-19 pivot, an abrupt transition from in-person interactions to a socially distanced world. Within schools of engineering, this pivot meant a switch out of collaborative environments, including academic makerspaces. This research investigates how engineering faculty pivoted their instruction to…

In 2016, the CCC Maker initiative provided the California Community Colleges with an influx of resources and energy designed to foster maker-centered learning (MCL). These hands-on practices have the potential to support the broader CCC mission by providing opportunities for engaged, empowering, and collaborative learning for the system's diverse…

In response to the maker movement, administrators are adding 3D printers, laser cutters, vinyl cutters, and other computer-controlled machinery into school-based makerspaces at a rapid rate. These digital fabrication tools can potentially engage students in hands-on learning across all subject areas. However, adding these extra tools into schools…

Fluorescence microscopy is a useful tool that allows students to learn the principles of fluorescence visually in chemical and biological fields. However, fluorescence equipment has high purchase and maintenance costs and thus may not be available in educational institutions or insufficiently funded laboratories. In this study, a microscope stage…

My dissertation is a qualitative design-based research study that explores Singaporean elementary school students' documentation and reflection practices in a maker learning environment. In this work, I build upon literature from Constructionism, Metacognition, and formative assessment methods. I investigate the following research questions…

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 integration of making activities in classrooms provides a crucial opportunity for all students to gain equitable participation access to learning activities. However, for making to be incorporated into more classrooms, teachers must be adequately prepared with relevant knowledge and skills. This study is the first to compare the science…

Online educational marketplaces such as TeachersPayTeachers.com (TPT) have become popular among teachers, but the quality of materials offered is inconsistent. This descriptive study explored quality indicators for site materials. Examining a sample of TPT's 100 best-selling 11th-grade U.S. history activities, we compared overall quality scores…

This study seeks to understand the relationship between research data management (RDM) services framed in the data curation life cycle and the production of open data. An electronic questionnaire was distributed to US researchers and RDM specialists, and the results were analyzed using Chi-Square tests for association. The data curation life cycle…

In recent years, many museums across the country have established or invested resources to implement maker programs or makerspaces for their visitors. These programs and spaces serve a variety of organizational and/or programmatic goals, but fundamentally they serve as sites of learning. Yet, despite these growing efforts, the field knows…

The aim of this study was (1) to describe challenges prospective teachers perceive during project work in a pedagogical makerspace and coping strategies they develop to deal with the challenges, (2) to analyse the development of prospective teachers' TPACK and attitudes towards the use of ICT in class. Challenges regarding project work and coping…

Computer science teaching standards for grades K-8 have been implemented in nearly all U.S. states, and the core subject area teachers (e.g., math, science, English, social studies) have been asked to integrate these standards into their instruction. Thus, it is important that K-8 pre-service teachers of all subjects are both prepared and…

Background: STEM participation is often associated with the disenfranchisement of historically marginalized individuals. Disrupting these standing injustices to establish "rightful presence" with equitable opportunity, access, and cultural standing to shape and pursue STEM endeavors in ways that are inclusive of individuals' identities…

Graphic design students no longer need to attend institutions of higher education (IHE) to gain entry-level skills for a variety of design related areas with the rise of new learning platforms like YouTube, edX, etc. A recent series of studies found that 70% of respondents (working designers) reported learning their craft online. This study…