Makerspaces are increasingly present in K-12 schools and these spaces have
the potential to be transformative for mathematics education. However, this rich promise
of makerspaces to be transformative for education assumes that teachers will be able to
successfully integrate these spaces into their instruction. Teachers who lack the
specialized knowledge for such integration, which we refer to as MakerPACK, are
unlikely to use makerspaces to their full potential. This mixed-methods research project
investigates teacher learning of makerspace technologies through the lens of mathematics
curriculum and tasks within the context of a graduate course. Emerging results suggest
that while exposing practicing teachers to these makerspace technologies through guided
explorations had an overall positive impact on teachers’ perceptions of the role of
technology in mathematics teaching, their attitudes and beliefs about technology
integration were often mediated by their beliefs about mathematics teaching and learning.
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Developing TPACK for makerspaces to support mathematics teaching and learning
In this project, we investigate how teachers develop the skills and knowledge to integrate
makerspace technologies into mathematics lessons. Makerspaces are physical spaces that
encourage creative design that often include emerging technologies such as 3D fabrication,
coding, and robotics, and are being increasingly used to enhance mathematics instruction.
Research suggests that for teachers to integrate any new technology into instruction, they must
develop a specialized technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK), but little is known
about how teachers develop TPACK for makerspace technology. We present emerging findings
investigating how practicing mathematics teachers developed TPACK for makerspaces during a
graduate technology course. Results suggest that despite similar experiences in the course,
teachers varied significantly in their development of TPACK and integration of technology.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1852846
- PAR ID:
- 10168684
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the Forty-Second Annual Meeting of the North American Chapter of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Conference Paper:
- The DOI is not currently available.
