The Impact of the Integration of Makerspaces and Making Activities Into Engineering Design Education
The increasing presence of makerspaces in university campuses is encouraging engineering educators to incorporate making activities and projects into their curriculum to support formal and informal learning, foster multidisciplinary learning environments, promote collaborative learning, and help students develop critical skills such as teamwork, problem-solving, creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship, and the ability to use engineering tools. Despite the growing interest in makerspaces in engineering schools, there remains a considerable gap in the literature providing in-depth analysis of the incorporation of makerspaces and maker curricula into engineering schools and its impact on students’ learning. This dissertation contributes to filling that gap by exploring the integration of makerspaces into cornerstone engineering design courses. I start by introducing the Maker Movement and the theoretical framework for the research. I then address two main research questions in this dissertation: (1) Does the integration of making projects and activities into engineering design education create opportunities for authentic learning environments? (2) What is the impact of certain non-cognitive attributes on students’ learning in engineering design courses based on making projects and activities? Through a qualitative study of seven engineering students in two teams, I address the first research question by exploring how the integration of making projects and activities into a cornerstone engineering design course creates conditions that open possibilities for authentic learning of engineering design. I use grounded theory as the qualitative research methodology to explore the authenticity of students’ learning experiences. Drawing on 14 semi-structured interviews conducted throughout the semester, I discuss the authenticity of the learning environment and students’ experiences within it. I describe how situating formal design courses in a makerspace environment offers students an authentic design experience with opportunities to develop and practise authentic engineering skills and to solve problems that are similar to workplace problems, to develop their confidence in their design and problem-solving skills, and to expose them to multiple topics and disciplines. I also discuss the challenges students face as they complete their projects and the implications for engineering instructors who are interested in integrating making activities into their courses. To address the second question, I investigate the impact of certain non-cognitive attributes on students’ learning in engineering design courses centred on making projects and activities. I aggregate data from two engineering design courses — a first-year course and a second-year course — in fall 2018, winter 2019, and fall 2019. I use hierarchical regression to predict students’ learning outcomes using measures of three non-cognitive attributes: Big-Five personality traits, grit, and learning goal orientation. The learning outcomes considered in the study are students’ academic success, level of contribution to their projects, and project ownership. The results of the study include a discussion of how the Big-Five personality traits are associated with students’ learning outcomes in design courses based on making projects. The results also indicate that grit as a higher-order structure does not predict students’ academic success or performance in a socially situated learning environment that requires creativity and innovation. However, perseverance of effort, a subdimension of grit, is found to be a significant predictor of students’ academic success. Also, students’ adoption of a learning goal orientation positively predicts their academic success but has no impact on their level of contribution to their team’s project. Moreover, the results indicate that the personality traits of agreeableness and extraversion along with students’ adaptability to changes in life circumstances are associated with their development of intellectual and emotional ownership of their making projects. However, project ownership is not associated with students’ academic success or level of contribution to their team’s projects. Finally, I discuss the implications of the findings and results and provide recommendations for engineering educators who want to integrate makerspaces into their engineering courses.
Makerspaces, Engineering Design Education, Maker Movement, Grit
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa