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Setup of a Temporary Makerspace for Children at University: MAKER DAYS for Kids 2018

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Robotics in Education (RiE 2019)

Abstract

The maker movement has become a driving force for the new industrial revolution, whereby all learners should have the opportunity to engage. Makerspaces exist in different forms with different names and a variety of specializations. The MAKER DAYS for kids are a temporary open makerspace setting for children and teenagers with the goal to democratize STEAM education and social innovation and to empower young learners, especially girls, to shape their world. This publication presents the setup and results of a temporary makerspace at Graz University of Technology with more than 100 participants in four days in summer 2018 and discusses the role of new technologies as a trigger of making in education. Moreover, the MAKER DAYS implemented an innovative evaluation concept to document the participants’ activities in open and unstructured learning environments.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Overview of summer courses offered at the Graz University of Technology: www.tugraz.at/go/sommerkurse.

  2. 2.

    The authors’ weblog addressing basic computer science education: https://learninglab.tugraz.at/informatischegrundbildung/.

  3. 3.

    Webpage of the event: https://learninglab.tugraz.at/informatischegrundbildung/makerdays/.

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Acknowledgement

The event “MAKER DAYS for kids”, that took place from the 13th to the 18th of August 2018 at the Graz University of Technology has received funding from organizations, including Land Steiermark, WKO Steiermark, Federation of Styrian Industries, SFG and the Software and Data Council Styria. We would like to thank the TU Graz FabLab, the Institute of Software Technology, the non-profit society BIMS e.V., the Centre for Social Innovation in Vienna, and Salzburg Research for their great support.

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Correspondence to Maria Grandl .

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Grandl, M., Ebner, M., Strasser, A. (2020). Setup of a Temporary Makerspace for Children at University: MAKER DAYS for Kids 2018. In: Merdan, M., Lepuschitz, W., Koppensteiner, G., Balogh, R., Obdržálek, D. (eds) Robotics in Education. RiE 2019. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, vol 1023. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-26945-6_37

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