The Success of the Maker Movement
Everywhere you look on teacher oriented websites and journals, you see the maker movement. This year, I decided to create a makerspace in my own classroom. Here is how it worked.
I started by asking questions:
- What would my students make? I teach marketing, not science. It seems that every website or article focuses on STEM ideas.
- What would I put in the space? What type of resources would my students want or need?
- How would my students react?
I decided to create cards with ideas for the students to look over and choose a project theme. For instance, a student could choose a card saying “make a gift” or “make a cellphone case” and that would be the theme of the project. From these two examples, you can see that some themes were more specific and some were very general. The end result of the project will be to create a product, along with a written document answering questions directly related to our marketing concepts. Students can work as individuals or in pairs (they must try both ways) and complete four projects per quarter. I implemented this project with second year students first and plan to introduce first year students during the second semester.
Because I teach marketing, the students have to describe the rationale as to why someone would buy their “product” and how they would market it. Students must create a feature and benefit chart and marketing mix. I created a rubric and set of guidelines so students had an idea what I expected from the written portion of the project, but the product portion is free for them to design as they wish. However, the written portion requires some explanation of the product and encourages students to stay on track.
After I created the note cards with themes, I gathered random materials that I thought might be useful. I also told the students to make a list if they needed additional items, or to bring items from home. I saved plastic containers, toilet paper rolls, and bottle caps. I found people to donate ribbon, pipe cleaner, and various size wooden blocks and rods. I added glues, markers, and colored paper. It was hard to anticipate what they might want.
After the completion of our first project day, I consider the space a huge success. All students chose to work in pairs. They worked diligently, discussing ideas and took the rubric into account making decisions. They were excited, they talked about all the concepts we have worked on in the past and I was impressed with both the products and the written reports. The students were happy to be out of their seats and using their creativity. They have already asked when they get to use the space again.
Wendy Robichaud, Ed.D., Marketing Instructor, Oxford Hills Technical School, Maine