Work in Progress: Exploration of Student Learning in Online Maker Communities
- Conference
- Location
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Virtual Conference
- Publication Date
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July 26, 2021
- Start Date
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July 26, 2021
- End Date
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July 19, 2022
- Conference Session
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Teaching In and Through Design, Maker Spaces, and Open-ended Problems
- Tagged Division
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Educational Research and Methods
- Tagged Topic
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Diversity
- Page Count
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11
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--38157
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/38157
- Download Count
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242
Paper Authors
Danielle M. Saracino Georgia Institute of Technology
Danielle Saracino is a M.S. graduate student in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology under the guidance of Dr. Julie Linsey. Her B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering is also from the Georgia Institute of Technology where she began conducting research and interned with BAE Systems and Pratt and Whitney. Danielle's research interests are how academic makerspaces support student learning and how this compares across various communities.
Kelly M. Sadel James Madison University
Melissa Wood Aleman James Madison University
Dr. Melissa Aleman (Ph.D. University of Iowa) is Professor of Communication Studies at James Madison University and has published research using qualitative interviewing, ethnographic and rhetorical methods to examine communication in diverse contexts. She is particularly interested in multidisciplinary studies of communication, culture, and learning in makerspaces, as well as broadening participation of women and underrepresented minority students and faculty in STEM fields.
Robert L. Nagel James Madison University
Dr. Robert Nagel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering at James Madison University. Dr. Nagel joined James Madison University after completing his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at Oregon State University. Nagel teaches and performs research related to engineering design. Specifically, through research, Nagel explores how design interventions commonly used to teach design influence student learning.
Julie S. Linsey Georgia Institute of Technology
Dr. Julie S. Linsey is an Associate Professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technological. Dr. Linsey received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at The University of Texas. Her research area is design cognition including systematic methods and tools for innovative design with a particular focus on concept generation and design-by-analogy. Her research seeks to understand designers’ cognitive processes with the goal of creating better tools and approaches to enhance engineering design. She has authored over 150 technical publications including over forty journal papers, and ten book chapters.
Abstract
Over the past decade, practices related to online learning have become increasingly varied and legitimated. Whether it be formal e-learning in K-12 or at colleges and universities or casual perusing of the internet, many people have found communities online to support their own endeavors. Recently, due to the Covid-19 pandemic most colleges and universities have been forced to shift partly or entirely to remote learning due to campus closures. Further, even in cases in which a campus is open, many universities have limited access to their makerspace due to social distancing and capacity requirements. In response, this Work in Progress study investigates how online making communities and resources are supporting student learning through making. Through in-depth phenomenologically-based interviews conducted both before and during the pandemic, this study offers rich insights into how students are learning from and engaging in online maker communities/resources as a central part of their development as a maker. Through qualitative data analysis, we develop a model for how students are learning online. These findings show the role digital spaces play in developing competent, inspired makers.
Saracino, D. M., & Sadel, K. M., & Aleman, M. W., & Nagel, R. L., & Linsey, J. S. (2021, July), Work in Progress: Exploration of Student Learning in Online Maker Communities Paper presented at 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference. 10.18260/1-2--38157
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