By: Inas Essa
You may remember the broken bridge that you created while still a child to carry a huge truck, till it came into pieces. You might have tried another one, with better construction to be more solid; once, twice and more. To be more aware and confident with your construction, you might have used your senses to explore the physical properties of materials, took things apart then put them together to figure out how things work.
Whether it worked or not, this is not the point; the idea of constructing such designs with simple tools and having this mindset of creating are what lie behind very important concepts in science learning: tinkering and making.
Play and Developing Learning Skills
Playing has never been useless even if it seemed so for some people; through this process, children learn much more than adults think. This play develops several skills on which children’s future and more complicated knowledge is constructed.
When children face problems while playing and tinkering with their tools, they ask questions about what went wrong, make plans, and test their ideas to solve the problem and work on improving that in the future. That is exactly what scientists and engineers use in their work and research; trying to develop solutions, even with limited materials, time, and funds.
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Tinkering and Making in STEM
In Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education, tinkering and making have been coined to explain the early stages of designing.
Tinkering refers to a process through which children figure out how materials and tools, even very simple, work. When things do not work, children are encouraged to try another strategy or use different materials or tools. To be more precise, tinkering is a more developed form of play; it is play merged with inquiry, which enables kids to be more aware of working with different materials, developing ideas, and building new skills.
On the other hand, making refers to that prompt to make something that helps in solving a problem by using the materials available, along with creativity and imagination. In other words, tinkering is about using stuff, while making is about using stuff to make something that could be followed by a more complicated step; engineering, which is about using stuff to make things that do and execute missions and tasks.
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The Maker Education
Besides typical formal education, maker education is an approach to learning that focuses students’ interests and directs them to the awareness of design. This kind of education is based on the “Making” mindset, which involves the constant desire to learn and develop skills.
Although in tinkering kids may play with materials and tools on their own in a safe environment, making involves monitoring from facilitators and science communicators to provide children with hints and advice. While design is a more advanced step in which educators provide children and youth with instruction to come up with concrete designs.
Speaking of which, there are three common ways students explore design in the classroom:
- Fabrication (3D printing, laser cutting, etc.)
- Programming (coding, computer-based modeling, etc.)
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Benefits of Hands-On Learning
Besides the previously mentioned benefits of tinkering and making in helping children develop important skills, such hands-on education allows them to expand their learning through interactive, open-ended, student-driven, multidisciplinary experiences. This also leads to better academic outcomes by allowing learners to create and discover on their own. Additionally, maker education generates many more benefits, including:
Retention
This approach of hands-on learning helps increase information retention as it better engages both sides of the brain. This leads to stronger neural connections and the ability to store more information.
Attentiveness
Learners’ attentiveness gets improved by hands-on experience as the interest generated by creating and moving rather than sitting behind a desk allows them to care more about their project. Therefore, they become more excited and willing to learn new concepts.
Experimentation
This type of education allows learners to experiment, explore new areas rather than learning from a lecture, and they can learn better about their strengths and weaknesses through trial and error.
Functions Employed in Tinkering and Making
Through this process of tinkering and making, children develop and apply several skills in math and science. They become more aware of using and strengthening important executive function skills, such as planning, organizing information, persisting, thinking flexibly, and solving problems.
Taken together, these skills are important in school and in life as implementing these challenges helps prepare children to solve the problems of the future. These skills include:
- Making observational drawings.
- Measuring and recording findings.
- Using art and construction materials (e.g., wire, tape, clay, scissors, cardboard).
- Handling real tools (e.g., screwdrivers, low temperature glue guns, timers).
The more time children have to practice these skills, the more confident they would feel in applying them during the design stage.
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Materials Used in a Maker Space
In the place where children can tinker, create, explore, and make discoveries, some materials and tools are required, but not limited to:
- Child-size safety goggles.
- Child-safe cardboard cutters.
- Rulers, paintbrushes, scissors, and tweezers.
- Funnels, measuring cups, trays, magnets, and balance scales.
Additionally, some things to build with, like:
- Drinking straws and pipe cleaners.
- Wooden spools, plastic cups, paper plates, and chopsticks.
And some electronics and technology tools like:
- Batteries and battery holder.
- Flashlight bulbs and LEDs.
- Kits for beginning circuitry, on/off switches, and buzzers
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Reflection is Crucial
After getting immersed in tinkering and making, there is one more important step in maker education: reflection. This is fundamental in modern STEM education for many reasons.
First, it can reveal learning outcomes and what children understand about their experiences and what was most meaningful and memorable for them. Reflection can also extend the initial learning through hands-on activity to support the creation of a richer and more meaningful representation of the experience.
The Process, not the Final Product
Children engaged in open-ended tinkering and making experiences practice skills they will use throughout their lifetime. The end product of tinkering and making experiences is not as important as the process.
As children grow, their ability to use tools, collaborate with others, observe, and communicate their knowledge and experience will continue to develop and generate great outcomes.
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