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 MAKING DESIGN THINKING TANGIBLE WHAT SCHOOLS CAN LEARN FROM THE MAKERS MOVEMENT William Hooi Centre for Research & Applied Learning in Sciences Science Centre Singapore 29 May 2013 

WHAT SCHOOLS SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE MAKERS MOVEMENT 

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 EVOLUTION OF ‘HOMEBREW’ TECHNOLOGY + PEOPLE = THE PC REVOLUTION Intel 8800 Altair 8800 Homebrew Computer Club Apple I 

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 REVOLUTION OF ‘GLOBEBREW’ TECHNOLOGY + PEOPLE = FAB REVOLUTION Arduino Low-cost 3D Printer Hackerspace – NYC Resistor Cupca ke RepRap ‘Darwin’ Makerbot ‘Cupcake’ ‘Portabe e’ (First hackerspace – Berlin c-base) 

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 THE ‘MAKE’ THAT STARTED IT ALL.. MAKER MOVEMENT: THE NEW GLOBAL HOMEBREW 

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 WHY IT IS IMPORTANT FOR ‘SOME’ NATION “DON’T BE BORED, MAKE SOMETHING” – Joey Hudy (14yr) "I want us all to think about new and creative ways to engage young people in science and engineering, whether it's science festivals, robotics competitions, fairs that encourage young people to create and build and invent—to be MAKERS of things, not just consumers of things.” -Barack Obama 

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 DOES SINGAPORE HAVE THE CULTURE FOR CREATIVITY? MAKER MOVEMENT IS INHERENTLY COUNTERCULTURE "Look at structured societies like Singapore where bad behavior is not tolerated [and] you are extremely punished..” “Where are the creative people? Where are the great artists? Where are the great musicians? Where are the great writers?” -Steve Wozniak Interview with BBC 2011 

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 SNAPSHOT OF SG MAKER SCENE KAMPUNG MAKERSPACE: SUSTAINABILITY LIVING LAB 

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 SNAPSHOT OF SG MAKER SCENE ZOUK OF GEEKDOM : SINGAPORE HACKERSPACE 

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 SNAPSHOT OF SG MAKER SCENE 3D PRINTING COMMUNITY 

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 SNAPSHOT OF SG MAKER SCENE CARDBOARD CRAZY: BUTTERNMILK STUDIOS 

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 SNAPSHOT OF SG MAKER SCENE FANDOM/POP-CULTURE: COSTUME-PLAY COMMUNITY 

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 SNAPSHOT OF SG MAKER SCENE CRAFTER CROWD: PRINTMAKERS 

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 OBSERVATIONS INVENTIVE PRACTICES: MAKING, TINKERING & ENGINEERING •  HANDS-ON MAKING / DIY •  COMMUNITY / COLLABORATION •  PEER TO PEER / OPEN LEARNING •  MEDIATED BY TECHNOLOGY / SOCIAL MEDIA •  OPEN SOURCE / SHARING CULTURE •  PARTICIPATORY •  INTRINSICALLY REWARDING •  INSPIRING 

WHAT SCHOOLS CAN LEARN FROM THE MAKERS MOVEMENT 

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 KEY IDEAS OF MAKING •  EDUCATION IS LIFE ITSELF (JOHN DEWEY) •  ENVIRONMENT IS THE THIRD TEACHER (REGGIO EMILIA APPROACH) • CONSTRUCTIONISM (SEYMOUR PAPERT) “learning as a reconstruction rather than as a transmission of knowledge” 

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 WAYS OF KNOWING •  MAKING (Active construction of a product in mind when interacting with tools & materials) •  TINKERING (Disposition to solve problems through experience, experimentation & discovery) •  ENGINEERING (Extracting principles linking intuition to formal science involving measurement, explanation and prediction/planning) 

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 AN IDEA OF TODAY’S SCIENCE CLASSROOM OH NO! CURRENT SCIENCE INVOLVES MEMORIZATION & CHECKLIST? •  TEACHING OF FACTS AND PROCEDURES: •  Observe something and/or do research •  Construct a hypothesis •  Make a prediction •  Test your hypothesis •  Analyze the result of experiment •  Determine if hypothesis is correct • MEMORIZE, DRILLS, WORKSHEETS, TESTS 

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 HOW SCIENTIST WORK.. ..WHILE SCHOOL FAVOURS ‘CLEAN’ DISCONNECTED PROBLEMS WITH CLEAR, UNAMBIGUOUS STEP-BY-STEP SOLUTION •  FOLLOW HUNCHES •  ITERATE •  MAKE MISTAKES •  RE-THINK •  START OVER •  ARGUE •  SLEEP ON IT •  COLLABORATE •  HAVE A CUP OF TEA Source: Martinez & Stager, 2013 “ TINKERING IS CLOSER TO THE WAY REAL SCIENTISTS, MATHEMATICIANS, AND ENGINEERS SOLVE PROBLEMS” (Latour, 1987) 

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 DESIGN THINKING WELL-INTENTION SUPPORT IN SCHOOL: •  STEP-BY-STEP ASSISTANCE, TOOLS, AND TRICKS TO ORGANIZE STUDENTS’ THOUGHTS AND GET THEM TO FINISH A PRODUCT AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE •  VERY HOT & FASHIONABLE TOPIC IN EDUCATION •  IS THE ACTIVITY AUTHENTIC OR CONTRIVED? •  DESIGNING IS A DELIBERATE TINKERING PROCESS RESULT: ‘GOOD’ STUDENTS, WELL-TRAINED BUT DO THEY REALLY KNOW THEIR STUFF? Source: Martinez & Stager, 2013 

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 DESIGN THINKING MODELS Learning is not linear, often messy and iterative 

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 THINK, MAKE, IMPROVE Source: Martinez & Stager, 2013 THINK MAKE IMPROVE Brainstorming Talking it out Predicting Gathering materials Identifying expertise Deciding who to work with Setting Goals Sketching Outlining Flowcharting Researching Planning Pay Build Tinker Create Program Experiment Construct Test strategies Observe others Borrow code Share code Document process Repair Conduct research Discuss with peers Look at problem from another perspective Use different materials Change one variable Play with it Find similar project Ask an expert Get some fresh air Sleep on it 

HOW SCHOOLS CAN SUPPORT THE MAKERS MOVEMENT 

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 1. ENCOURAGE MAKING.. START A MAKERSPACE IN SCHOOL • CONVERT/COMPLEMENT EXISTING PROGRAMMES & RESOURCES (ICT & SCIENCE LABS/D&T WORKSHOPS/ ART STUDIOS) nycmakery disruption department hackidemia 

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 2. STAY AHEAD, PLAN FOR.. GAME CHANGING TECHNOLOGIES DIGITAL FABRICATION PHYSICAL COMPUTING PROGRAMMING 3D printer MaKey MaKey/ Arduino Raspberry Pi 

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 3. FOSTER A CULTURE OF.. HANDS-ON LEARNING BY DOING/MAKING Raspberry Pi DIY analytical spectroscopy Leyden jar aluminium-air battery paper-carbon microphone measuring speed of light Arduino water quality tester 

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 4. JOIN THE LOCAL MAKERS.. BE PART OF THE SINGAPORE MAKERS MOVEMENT Raspberry Pi 

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 5. EMBRACE THE MAKER CULTURE.. “GET OUT THERE AND MAKE SOMETHING” Raspberry Pi -quote from SuperAwesome Sylvia (11 yrs old) “It is impossible to teach 21st century learners if you have not learned this century” -Gary Stager 

ANY QUESTIONS? THANK YOU [email protected]