Assignment 1 part B - Literature Search on Makerspaces

 Part B - Literature Search on Makerspaces

Makerspaces are an increasingly popular way of introducing STEAM to a school community and have seemingly endless books, websites, blogs, etc. to teach how-to, sell products, discuss the various aspects of, etc. 

Before I get into the literature, first, check out this video explaining what a Makerspace is:

Now, here are some other resources that I have found useful to this point on the general concept of makerspaces in schools:

Brejcha, L. (2018). Makerspaces in School: A Month-by-Month Schoolwide Model for Building Meaningful Makerspaces (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003236351

As the title suggests, Makerspaces in School is a month by month breakdown of how to create makerspaces in schools that work.  Logistics, project ideas, planning documents, etc. are all in this easy to read online document.  The intention is to give teachers or makerspace coordinators an idea of how to move forward with a makerspace beginning before school starts in September.  We are already midway through the year, however, and I feel as though this is equally useful to me now as it would have been in August.  Found on the UBC library website.  

Tucker-Raymond, E., & Gravel, B.E. (2019). STEM Literacies in Makerspaces: Implications for Learning, Teaching, and Research (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351256728

This document/book found on the UBC library website offers an interesting set of case studies in professional, adult and school makerspace environments.  “It is a contribution to theories about learning through making and to recognizing and supporting literacy practices in making spaces.” An interesting study, though potentially not as useful for setting up a makerspace as it is for considering why it is valuable to do so in a school environment.

https://guides.library.ubc.ca/c.php?g=489091&p=3374969

Making and Makerspaces guide at the UBC library is a series of resources that have been collected by the UBC library for the purposes of helping others learn about or set up their own makerspace.  It has a list of kits and books available at the library, educational technology, articles and other resources.  For anyone not near UBC some of these resources may be hard to access, however they make for an excellent resource for librarians aspiring to build a collection of books and other resources for their own makerspace.  

http://www.makerspaceforeducation.com/makerspace.html

Makerspace for education is a website that shows teachers, students and other makerspace stakeholders how to put together a makerspace, gives tutorials on various STEM tools and technology, talks about the different philosophies or what they call “mechanisms” of makerspaces.  

https://library-nd.libguides.com/programming/STEAM

A very useful guide put out by North Dakota Library for resources, how-to’s, products, open-source software etc.  This is a goldmine of information.  I will be looking further into the specific sources available on this site as I move through this project.