Undergraduate Students Becoming Engineers: The Affordances of University-Based Makerspaces

Jana Bouwma-Gearhart, Yoon Ha Choi, Cindy A. Lenhart, Idalis Villanueva, Louis S. Nadelson and Estefany Soto
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Jana Bouwma-Gearhart: College of Education, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
Yoon Ha Choi: College of Education, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
Cindy A. Lenhart: College of Education, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USA
Idalis Villanueva: Department of Engineering Education, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
Louis S. Nadelson: College of Education, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR 72035, USA
Estefany Soto: College of Education, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR 72035, USA

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-25

Abstract: In the last decade, postsecondary institutions have seen a notable increase in makerspaces on their campuses and the integration of these spaces into engineering programs. Yet research into the efficacy of university-based makerspaces is sparse. We contribute to this nascent body of research in reporting on findings from a phenomenological study on the perceptions of faculty, staff, and students concerning six university-based makerspaces in the United States. We discuss the findings using a framework of heterogeneous engineering (integration of the social and technical aspects of engineering practice). Various physical, climate, and programmatic features of makerspaces were read as affordances for students’ development of engineering practices and their continued participation and persistence in engineering. We discuss the potential of makerspaces in helping students develop knowledge, skills, and proclivities that may support their attending to especially wicked societal problems, such as issues of sustainability. We offer implications for makerspace administrators, engineering program leaders, faculty, and staff, as well as those developing and delivering professional development for faculty and staff, to better incorporate makerspaces into the university engineering curriculum.

Keywords: makerspaces; postsecondary education; engineering education; heterogeneous engineering; affordances (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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