Abstract:

The Maker culture is becoming increasingly influential in educational contexts worldwide. Maker education would be able to “disrupt” and increase traditional ways of learning (Dougherty, 2016; Martinez & Stager, 2013) interacting with the current digitally enhanced context.

Learning, in order to be meaningful, requires authentic and situated problems, based on processes of peer design, production, and discussion, and able to bridge the gap between real life and school (Dewey, 2004). The Maker approach meets the current demand for innovative thinkers and creators, as well as for a new way of teaching and learning future focused, project based and learner centred, where technology and handcraft combine to make students’ ideas, interests, and passions tangible. Spreading makerspaces and making in schools, especially for k-12, is currently a global educational goal (Crichton & Childs, 2016). But it represents at the same time a challenge, requiring a more defined process of implementation and design than informal makerspaces (Vongkulluksn et al., 2018). For this reason, making experiences are still scarcely widespread in schools and mainly introduced through extracurricular and short-term activities.

This contribution presents an ongoing project aimed at integrating the Maker education into primary school curriculum, following a longitudinal, interdisciplinary, and collaboratively approach. In particular, we want to detect the impact of this integration on pupils' self-efficacy, attitude towards STEM, and 21st century skills and to define possible assessment methods.

The project takes place at the Comprehensive Institute of Caldarola (MC), in Marche region, Italy. It involves a fifth-grade class, a fourth-grade class and a multi-grade class with fourth and fifth graders, for a total of 50 pupils. It started in January 2021 and is designed to last about a year, accompanying students until the next school year, which for some will mark the transition to lower secondary school.

We chose, as an integrating background, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), outlined by the UN (2015) in the 2030 Agenda. Specifically, we decided to select 8 goals and dedicate at least one month to each of them. For every goal, activities are designed to be carried out mainly in pairs or groups of three and to introduce new ways and tools of learning, while making connections to various disciplinary content.

The project started with a preliminary phase of discussion with teachers to align the project proposal to the levels and peculiarities of the classroom contexts. This was then followed by a phase of presentation and familiarization with some tools. Pupils were introduced to Educational Robotics using Lego We-Do 2.0 kits, and to 3D printing using 3D pens, experimenting with TinkerCAD, and watching a 3D printer in action.

The evolution of the examined variables is investigated qualitatively and quantitatively. Qualitative analysis is conducted through observation, students’ “logbooks”, and interviews with teachers. Quantitative analysis is instead based on the administration of two validated questionnaires.

The design process aims to progressively grant more and more autonomy to students, in order to bring out their interests and creativity and encourage trial-and-error strategy and remodelling.

Keywords:

Maker education, primary school, lower secondary school, self-efficacy, 21st century skills, STEM, curriculum development.