Maker Education: AlignED with new standards

next generation science standards

"The maker movement has the opportunity to transform education by inviting students to be something other than consumers of education. They can become makers and creators of their own educational lives, moving from being directed to do something to becoming self-directed and independent learners. Increasingly, they can take advantage of new tools for creative expression and for exploring the real world around them." - Dale Dougherty, 2012

Principles of making

• Everyone is a Maker; Everyone is a Learner
• Make something that matters
• Hands-on, student-centered projects
• Immersive and deeply participatory
• Make, reflect, document, and share

Making and the science and engineering practices

• Asking Questions and Defining Problems
• Developing and using Models
• Using mathematics and computational thinking
• Engaging in argument from evidence
• Obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information

Making and the cross cutting concepts

• Cause and Effect
• Scale, Proportion, and Quantity
• Systems and System Models

Making and the disciplinary core ideas

• Physical Sciences - Forces and Motion / Energy and Motion
• Life Sciences - Structure and Function
• Earth and Space Sciences - Plate Tectonics / Human Impact on Earth Systems
• Engineering, Technology and Applications - Defining engineering problems / Developing possible solutions / Optimizing the Design Solution

Making and maker education align with all three dimensions of the Next Generation Science Standards. Students take on meaningful projects focused on the scientific and engineering knowledge and practices. These standards focus on the depth and coherence of content and practices rather then a breath of information.

Maker Education: Aligning with new standards

Common Core

"Although the Common Core and the Maker Movement grew from two very different places... both reflect of a larger shift in how we think about teaching and learning, one that recognizes that rote testing isn't going to prepare kids for the dynamic world ahead that will ask them to adapt to new technology and problems fast than we have ever had to." - Kathleen Costanza, 2014

Making aligned with common core

• Promotes problem solving and critical thinking
• Making as collaborative, performance-based activity
• Application to real-world technologies and problems and disciplinary core ideas
• Rigorous college and career focus

Making aligned with next generation

• "Learning by doing" science and engineering:
• Design, build, iterate, and present
• Asking questions and defining problems
• Analyzing and interpreting data

Making and maker education align with new standards such as Common Core and the Next Generation Science standards. These standards focus on disciplinary core ideas and practices, including an increased focus on the depth and coherence of content and overall academic rigor in order to prepare students for career, college, and lifelong learning. Making and, in particular makerspaces allow learners to dive into challenges and problems presented in a meaningful context one that is content-rich and student-centered. This coupling of theory and practice with real-time understanding that is naturally differentiated fosters deep participatory learning that is collaborative and relevant to today's 21st Century learner.