Design and Making: Tools, Applications, and Strategies to Foster Student-Led Creativity and Innovation (LA)

Design and Making: Tools, Applications, and Strategies to Foster Student-Led Creativity and Innovation (LA)

When applied to the K-12 classroom, principles of making, design, and coding offer educators the opportunity to build multidisciplinary, hands-on experiences that empower students to direct their own learning in creative and collaborative ways. More schools are exploring and investing in makerspaces, design thinking, digital fabrication, coding, and robotics as modern day tools to spark student innovation. And, teachers from all disciplines are looking to effectively and meaningfully use design and making in their existing curriculum.

How are schools with successful making and design programs using these spaces creatively, and with collaboration amongst teachers and students? This intensive 3-day program will explore that question through hands-on activities, allowing participants to experience the potential of making and design in the classroom, to work with a variety of tools, and to get feedback on their own making and design projects. Particular attention will be paid to ways that curricular leaders can coach and support teachers in doing this work.

Learning Outcomes:

• Learn ways to transform a makerspace from a room with lots of materials into an innovative school-wide learning environment;

• Understand how making and design can foster the growth of students as independent learners, and experience principles of meaningful making/design projects;

• Develop practical skills to develop their own projects in areas such as design thinking, multidisciplinary making projects, problem-based learning, coding and robotics, digital fabrication, etc.

• Develop teacher-ready strategies to make effective use of a maker/design space;

• Explore schoolwide practices and cultural norms that support meaningful making and design;

• Work in a makerspace environment with access to appropriate tools and materials.

This program is ideal for K-12 teachers and administrators looking for a deep dive into making and design strategies. It is ideal for:

• Directors/Coordinators of STEM, makerspaces, and entrepreneurship programs;

• Administrators and curriculum leaders charged with curricular/pedagogical innovation;

• Teachers looking to deepen their expertise in making and design pedagogy;

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