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StanfordFabLearn'sPauloBliksteinOntheEfficacyofMakerEd:It'sAboutProcess,NotProducts|EdSurgeNews

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StanfordFabLearn'sPauloBliksteinOntheEfficacyofMakerEd:It'sAboutProcess,NotProducts|EdSurgeNews

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StanfordFabLearn'sPauloBliksteinOntheEfficacyofMakerEd:It's
AboutProcess,NotProducts

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StanfordFabLearn'sPauloBliksteinOntheEfficacyofMakerEd:It'sAboutProcess,NotProducts|EdSurgeNews

ImageCredit:charlestaylor/Shutterstock

ByPatrciaGomesMay26,2016
Thisarticleisinourguide:
What'sNextforMakerEducation
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StanfordFabLearn'sPauloBliksteinOntheEfficacyofMakerEd:It'sAboutProcess,NotProducts|EdSurgeNews

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ThefirsttimethatStanfordassistantprofessorPauloBliksteinstudiedtheimpactofmakeractivitiesonstudents'learningwaybackintheearly2000s
theMakermovementwasn'tknownassuchyet.Therewereresearchersoutthereinterestedwhowereintheconcept,especiallyatMIT,buttherewasn't
acommonlanguagetodiscussitspedagogicalprinciplesandthecostoftechnologywasstillabarriertoexperimentationinclassrooms.
Thereismathinmusic,forexample,butlearningmusicdoesn'tnecessarilyincreasemathscores.
Backthen,BliksteinwasbusyorganizingMakerworkshopsforlowincomestudentsinHelipolis,oneoflargestand,atthattime,mostviolentBrazilian
slums.Withcuttingedgetechnologiessuchasrobotickitsandelectroniccircuits,aswellassimplematerialslikecardboardandribbons,hechallengedthe
kidstosolverealworldproblems.Ina2011TEDxtalk,heshared,"Theystarttolookattechnologynotassomethingmagical,butassomethingthatcan
beusedtoimprovethelifeofothers."
Fastforwardto2016inPaloAlto,CA,6,500milesnorthofSaoPaulo.BliksteinisnowthedirectorofFabLearn,aprogramthatengagesacommunityof
educatorsindisseminatingbestpracticesandresourcesaroundhowtointegratetheprinciplesofMakeredintoformalK12learning.Hehasalsobecome
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StanfordFabLearn'sPauloBliksteinOntheEfficacyofMakerEd:It'sAboutProcess,NotProducts|EdSurgeNews

anadvocateforequityanddiversityintheMakermovement,studyingwhatworksanddoesn'tworkintheprojectbasedlearningapproach.
InaninterviewwithEdSurge,BliksteintalksaboutefficacyintheMakermovement.Hearguesthatsuccessdependsonwhatisbeingmeasured,that
assessmentsshouldfocusontheprocessandnotproducts,andthatschooldistrictshavefinallyembracedthepedagogyofmakerspaces.Theproblem
now,headds,istoprovethattheyarescalableandsustainable.

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StanfordFabLearn'sPauloBliksteinOntheEfficacyofMakerEd:It'sAboutProcess,NotProducts|EdSurgeNews

PauloBlikstein
Howdowemeasuresuccessinamakerspace?
Thefirstthingtodoisdefinewhatsuccessmeans.Ifitmeanshighertestscores,thenweneedonekindofmeasurement.Ifsuccessmeansengagingmore
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StanfordFabLearn'sPauloBliksteinOntheEfficacyofMakerEd:It'sAboutProcess,NotProducts|EdSurgeNews

kidsinSTEMdisciplines,weneedadifferentmetric.Andifsuccessinsteadmeansthatkidsarehappieratschoolandwanttospendmoretimethere,we
needyetathirdmeasurementtool.
However,therearesomemetricsthatarerecipesforfailure.Oneofthemistorelytoomuchontestscores.Thereismathinmusic,forexample,but
learningmusicdoesn'tnecessarilyincreasemathscores.
What'sabetterformofassessmentthantestscores?
Thekindsofassessmentsthatwehaverightnowarenotveryadequateformakeractivitiesbecausetheymeasureproduct,andnotprocess.
Testsaregoodforpreandpostmeasurementswegiveatestatthebeginning,anotherattheendandseehowmuchstudentshaveimproved.That'swhat
wecallaproductbased,outcomebasedassessment.However,mostofthelearningthathappensinmakerspacestakesplaceintheprocess.
So,howcanwemeasureprocess?
Ourtakeawayisapplicabletoallclassrooms:buildmomentsofreflectionintoyourhandsonactivities.
Wehavebeenbuildingaresearchmethodologycalled"multimodallearninganalytics."Thisisadatacollectiontechniquethatuseseyetracking,gesture
tracking,biosensing,logfileanalysis,clickchainanalysis,andvisualanalysis.Wecollectallthisdatatofindinterestingpatternsinhowkidslearn.
Weusethistechniquebecauseit'shardtodetectalotofthesepatterns,evenwithcarefulobservation.Imagineifyouhavearoomwith20studentsand
youwanttoobservewhateachindividualchildisdoingstepbystep.Withouttechnology,itwouldverylaborintensive.
Youmentionedeyetrackers,gesturetrackers.Notallteacherwillhaveaccesstothistechnologyintheirclassrooms...
We'vedoneacoupleofstudies,theresultsofwhichcanhelpteachers.
Forexample,weanalyzedstudentsinhandsonactivities,likebuildingarobot,andconcludedthatkidswhoaremoreactivetheonesinwhomwe
detectedmorehandmovementsandgesturestendtolearnmore,whichiswhatweexpected.Butweweresurprisedtofindthatanevenbetterpredictor
oflearningwasnothowmuchstudentsweremoving,buthowmanytimestheyalternatedbetweenbeingactiveandbeingpassiveinanactivity.
Ourtakeawayisapplicabletoallclassrooms:buildmomentsofreflectionintoyourhandsonactivities.
Anyotherrecommendationabouthandsonactivities?
Inanotherstudy,wehadstudentsworkinginpairsonmakeractivities.Weidentifiedoneasthe"driver"oftheactivityincontrolofthecomputer,the
keyboard,etc.andtheotherasthe"passenger."
The20152016FabLearnFellowshavejustwritten,MeaningfulMaking:ProjectsandInspirationsforFabLabsandMakerspaces.Learnmoreabouttheprogramorapplyto
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StanfordFabLearn'sPauloBliksteinOntheEfficacyofMakerEd:It'sAboutProcess,NotProducts|EdSurgeNews

bea2016FabLearnFellow.

WepairedlowandhighGPAstudentsindifferenttypesofgrouppairsofhighGPAstudents,pairsoflowGPAstudentsandpairswithoneofeach.
WhenwehadapairoftwohighGPAstudents,ofcoursetheyperformedwell.WhenwehadapairoflowGPAstudents,theytendednottoperformwell.
ButwhenwepairedahighGPAstudentwithalowGPAstudent,andmixeduptherolesdriverandpassenger,wefoundsomethingunexpected.The
groupsthathadthelowGPAstudentasthedriverperformedalmostaswellasthegroupsoftwohighGPAstudents.ThegroupsinwhichthehighGPA
studentwasthedriverandthelowGPAwasthepassengerperformedalmostaspoorlyasthegroupsoftwolowGPAstudents.
Themessagetoteachersis:whenyouarecreatinggroupsinamakerspace,tryhavingthe"weaker"studentbeincontrolofthecomputer,Legos,robotic
kit,etc.withthehelpofa"strongerstudent.
Whatarethemostcommonmisconceptionsaroundmakeractivities?
Ourmainfindingwasthateventhoughkidsaroundtheworldareveryfamiliarwithtechnology,mostdon'tuseittocreateproductsinthe
physicalworldbuttoconsumetheminthedigitalone.
Inthefirstlargescaleexperimentinmakerspaces,wesurveyedmorethan1,085studentsfromsixthtotwelfthgradesintheUS,MexicoandAustralia,
andFinland.OurworkwassponsoredbytheNationalScienceFoundation,andwillbepublishedthisOctoberintheJournalofEngineeringEducation.
Wewerelookingatcareerchoice,familiaritywithtechnologyandotheraspects.Ourmainfindingwasthateventhoughkidsaroundtheworldarevery
familiarwithtechnology,mostdon'tuseittocreateproductsinthephysicalworldbuttoconsumetheminthedigitalone.Theyplaygamesanduse
Facebook,butonly30%usetechnologytocreatethingsinthedigitalworldsuchasvideos,music,orablog.Andonlyabout15%ofthestudent
surveyedusetechnologytocreatephysicalproducts,suchasanelectroniccircuitoralittlerobot.
It'sasiftheyaregoingtothekitchentoeat,buttheyarenotcooking.
Right.Theyjustgotothekitchenandheatthefoodinthemicrowave,buttheydon'tlearnhowtocooktheirownfood.Becausethosekidsarenotfamiliar
withmakertechnology,theyneedalotofhelp.Withoutit,theygeteasilydiscouragedandruntheriskofconfirmingthestereotypestheyalreadyhave
aboutthemselves:"Ican'tdothisI'mnotgoodatengineering."
Whenyouaretalktoschooldistricts,doyoustillhavetoconvincethemthatprojectbasedlearning,constructivismandmakingaregood
pedagogicalapproaches?
Thediscussionhasbeenlessandlessaboutthevalueoftheactivitiesandmoreabouthowtoscaleandsustainthem.That'sgreatnewsbecausewehave
lessresistancetotheideaofMakerEd.Butwestillhavetobuildcarefulmodelsofimplementationsothatwecansurvivethehype.
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