school of information and library science
Wednesdays, 1:25-3:55PM
instructor: dr. maggie melo | e-mail: [email protected]
COURSE OVERVIEW
Despite the increasing popularity of makerspaces across the U.S., there still remains little formal preparation or classroom training for burgeoning information professionals to design and run makerspaces. This course seeks to narrow that gap with a curriculum dedicated to making, makerspaces, and the information professional. In this course, students will critically engage with the conceptualization of the makerspace in a “T-shaped” manner. Vertically, students will develop a deeply practical, critical, and theoretical understanding of the makerspace and its remarkable adoption rate in libraries and communities across the U.S.; horizontally, students will develop a wide-range of technical skills in areas such as fabrication (laser cutting, 3D printing, and sewing), circuitry (paper circuits, electronic textiles, and soldering), reality (XR: AR/VR/MR), and micro-computing. At the end of the course, students will have engaged with a variety of topics including how to staff a makerspace, equity and inclusion, and ways to navigate ethical issues.
COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Despite the increasing popularity of makerspaces across the U.S., there still remains little formal preparation or classroom training for burgeoning information professionals to design and run makerspaces. This course seeks to narrow that gap with a curriculum dedicated to making, makerspaces, and the information professional. In this course, students will critically engage with the conceptualization of the makerspace in a “T-shaped” manner. Vertically, students will develop a deeply practical, critical, and theoretical understanding of the makerspace and its remarkable adoption rate in libraries and communities across the U.S.; horizontally, students will develop a wide-range of technical skills in areas such as fabrication (laser cutting, 3D printing, and sewing), circuitry (paper circuits, electronic textiles, and soldering), reality (XR: AR/VR/MR), and micro-computing. At the end of the course, students will have engaged with a variety of topics including how to staff a makerspace, equity and inclusion, and ways to navigate ethical issues.
COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES
- Develop a theoretical, reflective, and practical understanding of makerspaces and their evolving role in universities and communities.
- Identify the ethical implications associated with STEM-rich environments such as makerspaces and the technologies therein.
- Articulate the affordances and limitations of the maker movement phenomenon through critical inquiry and analysis.
- Develop skills and familiarity with a range of technologies conventionally found in makerspaces through a series of flash projects.
- Define key terms such as maker, makerspace, maker movement, and develop an understanding of how these terms vary across cultures, communities, and regions.
- Identify ways to devise makerspace environments that are locally situated, dynamic, and founded on values of equity and inclusion.
- Engage in a pro-help, pro-question ethos throughout the course.
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