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1. Making Makers: Tracing STEM Identity in Rural Communities

   Nixon, J. (January 2021, Journal of precollege engineering education research)

   null (Ed.)

   In this article, we describe efforts to reduce barriers of entry to pre-college engineering in a rural community by training local teens to become maker-mentors and staff a mobile makerspace in their community. Following Nasir and Cooks (2009), we bring a communities of practice frame to our inquiry, focusing on inbound and peripheral learning and identity trajectories as a mechanism for representing the maker-mentor experience (Wenger, 1998). Through a longitudinal case study, we traced the individual trajectories of five maker-mentors over two years. We found that maker-mentors who participated in mentorship training activities, collaborated with their peers on making projects, and co-facilitated events throughout the community were more likely to follow an inbound trajectory. Maker-mentors who participated in training activities and collaborative making projects, but only facilitated one or two of the twelve community events never moved beyond the periphery. We offer lessons learned from including a mentorship component in a pre-college maker program, an unusual design feature that afforded more opportunities to create inbound trajectories. A key affordance of the maker-mentor program was that it allowed teens to explore areas of making that were in line with their interests while still being a part of a larger community of practice. Understanding learning and identity trajectories will allow us to continually improve pre-college engineering programming and education opportunities that build on students’ funds of knowledge. 

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2. Building an Identity in the Makerspace

   Usinski, Danielle; Swenson, Jessica; Treadway, Emma; Plagge, Alyndra; Lape, Shea (June 2024, ASEE Annual Conference proceedings)

   The purpose of this complete research paper is to analyze the impacts of an open makerspace on the development of students’ engineering identities. This paper seeks to build upon current belonging analyses about makerspaces and shift the focus towards students’ engineering identities. Our team interviewed 17 first-year engineering students attending a small, private university located in the American southwest. During the interviews, they were asked to reflect on their experiences in classes and involvement in engineering related activities. Some of the interview questions are influenced by previous models of engineering identity. Our research team noticed a pattern of students spending personal time using the Makerspace in their engineering department. This is an open workshop where students have access to free supplies to do what we’ve called “make” which is the act of problem solving, designing, and building using the tools provided. The high rate at which this space is mentioned in tandem with the students’ successes during the two semesters exemplifies the impact it has on student retention rates. We noticed a trend that students who have strong engineering identities tend to spend time making in the Makerspace. Any mention of the Makerspace itself or any connective context pieces relating to activities of the Makerspace spoken by the group of students were collected by our research team. This paper will examine how heavy of an impact, if at all, the Makerspace has on the further development of a student's ability to recognize themselves as an engineer if they came into college with an initial interest in making. Our analysis suggests the Makerspace provides an opportunity for students to display performance when making. This in turn causes students to see themselves as engineers when they experience internal and external recognition from being in the Makerspace. The results of this analysis will aid in the creation of effective intervention methods universities can implement during the first year engineering curriculum to increase retention rates. 

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3. Do I Fit In? Examining Student Perceptions of Belonging and Comfort in University Makerspaces

   Kaat, Claire; Blair, Samuel; Linsey, Julie; Layton, Astrid (October 2023, 7th International Symposium on Academic Makerspaces (ISAM))

   The growing popularity of progressive education pedagogies combined with the continued rise of the maker movement has propelled knowledge and interest in makerspaces across education. As a result, makerspaces have become a common sight on college campuses around the world. These spaces offer students a unique opportunity to apply the hard and soft skills learned in the classroom to projects with real consequences. Students learn to take ownership of their work and experiment and iterate until they are proud of their results. Through this process they grow in design self-efficacy, innovation, and collaboration skills. Makerspaces are a powerful tool in the hands of university professors, but not all students benefit from them equally. Many students still face real or perceived barriers to entry caused in part by a lack of comfort and confidence in the space. This study seeks to examine students’ sense of belonging at a university makerspace and determine how gender, major, study locations, and classes affect this sense. Online surveys were distributed to students who used the makerspace in Fall 2022 and Spring 2023. Students answered a series of Likert style questions about how they feel in the space and statistical tests were used to determine correlation and significance of the results. It was found that sense of belonging in the space overall was high, but that females, non-mechanical engineering majors, and students who did not study in the space reported statistically lower sense of comfort. Suggestions are given to makerspace administrators of how to address and avoid these gaps in belonging and make the space more inclusive and welcoming to all students. 

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4. The Power of First Impressions: Exploring the Design Impact of 'Small Details' and Signage for First-time Makerspace Users

   Melo, M; Rodney, R (October 2023, International Journal of Academic Makerspaces and Making)

   The Maker Movement has highlighted the challenge of balancing inclusivity and traditional aesthetics in makerspaces. Despite the marketing of makerspaces as democratic and open, attracting diverse user groups remains a persistent issue. This research study focuses on an overlooked aspect of makerspace engagement—the decision students make at the makerspace threshold. By investigating the reasons behind students' choices to enter or turn away from makerspaces, this study aims to shed light on the complexities of makerspace design and its impact on inclusivity. The entrance of a makerspace serves as the site of inquiry, where students must make a quick decision that can have significant implications. This fleeting moment holds valuable, previously uncollected data, particularly from historically excluded communities. To address this issue, the study shifts the focus from individuals to the makerspace environment itself, examining its underlying values, ideologies, and design elements that may inadvertently undermine inclusivity. By critically evaluating these aspects, educators can identify the causes of tension and work towards creating a more equitable and inclusive makerspace environment. This study responds to the research question of why students from historically excluded communities turn away from the makerspace threshold. Through qualitative research informed by Grounded Theory principles, the study generates theories directly from the data, employing an inductive approach. Data collection methods include surveys, think-aloud reporting, and post-observation debriefing to gather comprehensive and nuanced insights into participants' perspectives and experiences. The study aims to uncover actionable approaches to designing makerspace environments that communicate a sense of welcome to first-time users from diverse communities. The paper focuses on one major finding related to first impressions at the makerspace threshold, specifically exploring the impact of small details, such as artifacts and signage, on creating an inclusive environment. By combining various data collection methods, this research program provides a comprehensive exploration of the topic, grounded in empirical evidence and reflective of participants' perspectives. The findings contribute to ongoing conversations on addressing underrepresentation in makerspaces and inform the development of inclusive makerspace design strategies. 

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5. Investigating Why Students Choose to Become Involved in a University Makerspace through a Mixed-methods Study

   Hilton, Ethan; Tomko, Megan; Newstetter, Wendy; Nagel, Robert; Linsey, Julie (July 2018, ASEE annual conference & exposition proceedings)

   Makerspaces have observed and speculated benefits for the students who frequent them. For example, previous studies have found that students who are involved in their campus’s makerspace tend to be more confident and less anxious when conducting engineering design tasks while gaining hands-on experience with machinery not obtained in their coursework. Recognizing the potential benefits of academic makerspaces, we aimed to capture what influences students to become involved in these spaces through a mixed-method study. A quantitative longitudinal study of students in a mechanical engineering program collected data on design self-efficacy, makerspace involvement, and user demographics through surveys conducted on freshmen, sophomores, and seniors. In this paper, the student responses from three semesters of freshmen level design classes are evaluated for involvement and self-efficacy based on whether or not a 3D modeling project requires the use of makerspace equipment. The study finds that students required to use the makerspace for the project were significantly more likely to become involved in the makerspace. These results inspired us to integrate a qualitative approach to examine how student involvement and exposure to the space are related. Using an in-depth phenomenologically based interviewing method, purposive sampling, and snowball sampling, six females, who have all made the conscious decision to engage in a university makerspace(s), participated in a three-series interview process. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed via emerging questions for categorical metrics and infographics of the student exposure and involvement in making and makerspaces. These findings are used to demonstrate 1) how students who do, or do not, seek out making activities may end up in the makerspace and 2) how student narratives resulting in high-makerspace involvement are impacted by prior experiences, classes, and friendships. 

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