“I played a song with the help of a magic banana”: assessing short-term making events

• Published in: Information and learning science 2021-07, Vol.122 (3/4), p.246-269
• Main Authors: Nixon, Jessie, Halverson, Erica, Stoiber, Andy, Garbacz, Andy
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Design; Designers; Educational Environment; Educational Practices; Emotional Response; Experiential Learning; Family Programs; High School Students; Informal Education; Learning Activities; Learning Experience; Libraries; Makerspaces; Methods; Museums; Numbers; Observation; Program Effectiveness; Program Length; Psychological Patterns; Rural Areas; School Community Programs; Self Efficacy; Self evaluation; STEM Education; Student Attitudes; Student Experience; Student Participation; Teaching Methods; Technology Education
• ISSN: 2398-5348; 2398-5356
• DOI: 10.1108/ILS-08-2020-0184

Purpose The purpose of this study is to understand how learners describe their experiences with short-term, introductory maker experiences and to test a method for assessing learners’ experiences authentic to short-term learning. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected written responses from participants at a two-day event, STEM Center Learning Days. Through an analysis of 707 unique instances of learner responses to participation in drop-in maker activities, they examined how participants describe their short-term learning experiences. Findings The authors found that although some activities appear to onlookers to create passive experiences for learners, these seemingly passive moments have a significant impact on learners. In addition, some learners described themselves as working in tandem with tools to make something work and other learners viewed the tools as working autonomously. They found that the assessment method allowed them to gain an understanding of how learners describe their experiences offering important implications for understanding short-term learning events. Originality/value The findings provide researchers studying short-term learning in its natural setting a new method to understand how learners make sense of their individual experience. Further, designers of short-term learning experiences may gain insights into their unique activities and indications of where additional guidance and scaffolds will improve small learning moments.