Maker Spaces at Community Colleges

California community colleges are adopting a maker space-based pedagogy, integrating the problem-solving, innovative thinking of creative work into their curricula. The California Council on Science and Technology's Maker Space Symposium brought together educators and academics to support implementation with the latest evidence-based findings. My role: listen to presentations, conduct interviews, and write up all my reportage. The format was a little unusual — not a structured article but also not a dry academic report. Thanks to valuable guidance from project editor Brie Lindsey, the result was a lively public-facing event rundown -- a narrative that captured the key academic points as well as the on-site experience.

Lee Martin, associate professor in the School of Education at UC Davis, studies  making in his mobile makerspace, the Beta Lab. Making has a cool “Burning Man meets science fair vibe,” he said, introducing his presentation, Promoting Equity, Complexity, and Centrality in Maker Spaces. 
(Photos: Paul Kirchner Studios)

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