The Impact of the Integration of Makerspaces and Making Activities Into Engineering Design Education
type: CreativeWork
description: 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 st…
abstract: 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 st…
author: Jalal, Mohamed
language: en
keywords: Makerspaces, Engineering Design Education, Maker Movement, Grit
date published: 2021-01-25T14:29:14Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:39:36Z
provider: University of Ottawa
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Université d'Ottawa / University of Ottawa

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/10393/41710

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.20381/ruor-25932