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To better grasp the issue of underrepresentation in makerspaces, it's crucial to closely examine the environment where these problems arise. A spatial enumeration of a makerspace, which is a complete listing of items within a collection or environment, extends such an evaluation. By responding to this overarching research question, “why do students from underrepresented communities turn away at the threshold of a makerspace,” this article provides findings from the frost phase of a five-year, qualitative research program. Specifically, this paper presents the sensory features (sight, sound, smell) that comprise a university makerspace. The process and findings from enumerating a makerspace offer vital insights into how STEM-focused environments convey inclusivity. Seventeen makerspace leaders from a university network were asked to discern what a typical makerspace looks, sounds, and smells like. The findings from this study provide information professionals with entry points to analyze their makerspace from a DEI standpoint.
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Description framework of makerspaces: Examining the relationship between spatial arrangement and diverse user populations
Abstract As makerspaces continue to proliferate in academic and public libraries, researchers and educators are increasingly concerned with ensuring these STEM‐rich learning environments are inclusive to historically marginalized student communities. This article offers a new framework, the Description Framework of Makerspaces, to outline the relationship between the spatial qualities of makerspaces and the user population it attracts. This study represents the first phase of a 5‐year research program dedicated to analyzing the everyday life information seeking practices that students (un)intentionally make when deciding to engage with a STEMrich learning environment such as a makerspace. Using constructivist grounded framework to analyze interview data from 17 academic makerspace leaders, we theorize 2 propositions from the main findings: (a) the act of defining a makerspace is difficult and in tension with several imaginings of a makerspace: imagined, ideal, and experienced and (b) a makerspace is significantly composed of affective features that are often unarticulated and abstract. By conceptualizing makerspaces as environments that are configured by both physical and affective characteristics, we reveal insights regarding a baseline conceptualization of the features of a conventional academic makerspace and the design decisions that makerspace leaders make and are confronted with.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1942930
- PAR ID:
- 10399705
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology
- Volume:
- 74
- Issue:
- 5
- ISSN:
- 2330-1635
- Format(s):
- Medium: X Size: p. 506-516
- Size(s):
- p. 506-516
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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