Where is this Ship Going?

Insights from Early Stages of Infrastructuring Maker Education

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21240/constr/2025/55.X

Keywords:

Design-based implementation research, infrastructuring, maker education, policy-makers

Abstract

Integrating maker education into formal schooling systems presents significant challenges due to entrenched educational infrastructures that resist change. This study explores the early stages of infrastructuring maker education through a design-based implementation research (DBIR) approach with a municipal partner. Despite the municipality’s enthusiasm, evidenced by their investments in maker spaces and future plans to expand these efforts, foundational questions emerged regarding the purpose and disciplinary integration of maker education. The onboarding process revealed the need for iterative dialogue, visual tools, and concrete examples to bridge conceptual gaps and align visions. This journey underscores the importance of fostering shared understanding and direction in early stages of the infrastructure process. The findings contribute to the growing literature on infrastructuring for educational change, offering theoretical and practical insights into fostering sustainable, constructionist learning in schools.

References

Blikstein, P. (2018). Maker movement in education: History and prospects. In De Vries, M. J. (Ed.), Handbook of Technology Education (pp. 419-437). Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-44687-5_33

Chinn, C. A., & Sherin, B. L. (2014). Microgenetic methods. In R. K. Sawyer (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences (2nd ed., pp. 171–190). Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139519526.012

Fishman, B. J., Penuel, W. R., Allen, A-R., Cheng, B. H., & Sabelli, N. (2013). Design-based implementation research: An emerging model for transforming the relationship of research and practice. National Society for the Study of Education, 112(2), 136-156. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/016146811311501415

Godhe, A.-L., Patrik, L., & Neil, S. (2019). Making sense of making: critical issues in the integration of maker education into schools. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 1-12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1475939X.2019.1610040

Korhonen, T., Kangas, K., & Salo, L.(Eds) (2023). Invention Pedagogy–The Finnish Approach to Maker Education. Taylor & Francis. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003287360

Papert, S. (1997). Why school reform is impossible. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 6(4), 417-427. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327809jls0604_5

Penuel, W. R. (2019). Infrastructuring as a practice of design-based research for supporting and studying equitable implementation and sustainability of innovations. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 28(4-5), 659-677. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/10508406.2018.1552151

Riikonen, S. M., Kangas, K., Kokko, S., Korhonen, T., Hakkarainen, K., & Seitamaa-Hakkarainen, P. (2020). The development of pedagogical infrastructures in three cycles of maker-centered learning projects. Design and Technology Education, 25(2), 29-49.

Valente, J. A., & Blikstein, P. (2019). Maker Education: Where is the knowledge construction?. Constructivist Foundations, 14(3), 252-262.

Downloads

Published

24-06-2025

Conference Proceedings Volume

Section

Poster

How to Cite

Where is this Ship Going? Insights from Early Stages of Infrastructuring Maker Education. (2025). Constructionism Conference Proceedings, 8, 511-514. https://doi.org/10.21240/constr/2025/55.X