Is There a Role for a Library-Based Makerspace in a Liberal Arts School?

George MeadowsProfessor, College of EducationUniversity of Mary Washington

The University of Mary Washington:

▪ “The University of Mary Washington is a public university in Virginia that focuses on undergraduate education in the liberal arts and sciences. The core of its main campus of roughly 4,000 mostly residential students in Fredericksburg, Virginia, is the College of Arts and Sciences, which offers degrees in various liberal arts disciplines.” Wikipedia

▪ The University does have a College of Education and a College of Business but it is seen and self-identified as primarily a Liberal Arts school.

The University of Mary Washington: Teaching and Technology

▪ The Division of Teaching and Learning Technologies (DTLT)▪ “We help faculty develop skills with digital tools including, but not limited to, Domain of One’s Own,

Canvas, Knight Lab tools, UMW Blogs, Google Apps, WordPress, Scholar’s Lab tools, and digital media of all kinds. These tools, when integrated effectively and responsibly, can improve student agency and enhance the learning environment/experience. DTLT is committed to working with faculty and academic units in order to build the digital capacity and agency, not only of the students, but of the faculty as well.”

Division of Teaching and Learning Technologies website

▪ DTLT also focuses on such concepts as Digital Pedagogy, Digital Identity, and the role played by Social Media in teaching and learning.

The ThinkLab: A Library-based Makerspace at UMWPlanning

▪ As a Science Educator I had always been concerned about the problem of the “Missing E (Engineering)” in STEM education. The appearance of the Next Generation Science Standards, with a strong emphasis on the role of engineering in science education provided the needed motivation to address that issue. I’d been reading a good bit about 3D printing and makerspaces and decided that might provide a good context for bringing engineering into my science education classes.

▪ I shared some of these ideas with Tim Owens, then an Instructional Technologist with the Division of Teaching and Learning Technologies, and we decided to develop a makerspace on campus.

▪ At that time, the University was looking for faculty who might want to develop and teach a Freshmen Seminar course. These were to be low-enrollment classes that would provide an opportunity for first-year students to work with faculty on specialized topics. Tim and I designed such a course, to be called “Makerbots and Mashups”, to be taught in a makerspace and focus on building “things.” The COE had recently purchased a Makerbot Thingomatic kit (an early 3D printer.)

▪ Tim and I presented our ideas at the UMW Faculty Academy (Spring 2012.) The University Librarian, Rosemary Arneson, was in the audience and enthusiastically offered not only her help in teaching the course, but also a space in the Library for the proposed makerspace – the Thinklab.

The ThinkLab: A Library-based Makerspace at UMWBuilding

▪ The ThinkLab was developed as a collaborative effort by the College of Education, the Simpson Library, and the Division of Teaching and Learning Technologies.

▪ COE (George Meadows) – 3D printers, scanners, tools, and materials

▪ Simpson Library (Rosemary Arneson) – room, furniture, shelves

▪ DTLT (Tim Owens) – tools, materials, whiteboard wall paint

▪ No budget - all funding came from the three collaborating groups.

▪ No course releases or release time for the three “directors.”

The ThinkLab

The ThinkLab: Tools and Materials

▪ 3D printers▪ Makerbot Thingomatic

▪ Makerbot Replicator

▪ Dremel

▪ 3D scanners▪ Makerbot Digitizer

▪ Xbox Kinect

▪ Hummingbird Boards

▪ Arduinos

The ThinkLab: Tools and Materials

▪ Soldering Kits

▪ Circuit Components (LED’s, motors, sensors, wire)

▪ Basic hand tools (wrenches, saws, miter boxes, hammers, glue guns)

▪ “Stuff” (duct tape, zip ties, brads, rivets, string, rubber bands….)

▪ Building materials (cardboard, foamcore, acetate, plastic recyclables)

▪ Software▪ 3D design software – Tinkercad, Meshmixer, Blender, SketchUp, ReconstructMe

The ThinkLab: A Library-based Makerspace at UMWInitial Uses

▪ ThinkLab-based courses▪ Freshmen Seminar (FSEM), Makerbots and Mashups – taught for six semesters, the course emphasized

learning and using makerspaces skills (3D design and printing, electronics and soldering, use of basic hand tools, robotics, e-textiles.)

▪ How Things Work, an Interdisciplinary Sciences course. Course emphasis was using makerspace tools and ideas to develop activities focused on environmental problems. Projects ranged from building conductivity meters to designing and building floating wetlands.

▪ Courses using ThinkLab as needed▪ Science Inquiry, an elementary Science Methods course. The ThinkLab was used for classes on engineering

and design process skills/activities

▪ Reconstructing Pompeii, a course in the Classics Department. The Thinklab was used for classes on 3D design/printing/scanning of relevant artifacts and costumed students (goddess Nike, a Centurion)

▪ Introduction to Computer Science. This course used ThinkLab materials such as Arduinos, soldering stations, and circuit components as students developed physical computing devices.

▪ Theatre course. Students posed for 3D scans to demonstrate characters.

The ThinkLab: A Library-based Makerspace at UMWInitial Uses

▪ Other▪ Individual student projects. Students who had taken the FSEM course were allowed continued

access to the ThinkLab and its tools and materials. Projects included:

▪ COSPLAY costumes

▪ Fashion Design

▪ Theatre set design

▪ Self-scans for holiday gifts

▪ E-textile projects such as LED dog collars and tiaras

▪ Jeans repair (using sewing machines)

ThinkLab Projects

Students working on Reconstructing PompeiiClass projects.

Student with FloatingWetlands project.

Computer Science ClassProject –Light/Temp/HumidityMeter

Changes

▪ Makerbots and Mashups FSEM course was discontinued. The course was discontinued when the University changed its emphasis for First Year Seminars to acquiring and developing more Liberal Arts-related skills (research, writing, speaking.)

▪ Rosemary Arneson developed a new Digital Studies elective to replace the M&M course, taught in the ThinkLab, but demands on her time only allow it to be taught intermittently.

▪ Tim Owens left the University. His replacement at DTLT had a full schedule of other tasks, more closely aligned with DTLT’s mission.

▪ Development of COE Makerspace provided new location for Education-related makerspace courses and activities. Many of these activities and workshops are related to funding and grants provided for K-12 makerspace activities and take up much of my (Meadows) time. Many of the College of Arts and Sciences related projects that might have been centered in the ThinkLab are now taking place in the COE Makerspace.

Makerspaces at UMW

▪ ThinkLab▪ Largely managed by UMW Librarian with some library staff support.

▪ Still used by some classes.

▪ College of Education Makerspace▪ Managed by one faculty member, funded through grants, awards, and alumni donations

▪ Training site for COE students in use of makerspace materials, tools, and techniques. This reflects growing number of K-12 makerspaces (many located in school libraries)

▪ Training site for K-12 teachers/staff in use of makerspaces

▪ Site for Makerspaces in Schools project, providing materials and support for K-12 school makerspaces as well as makerspaces in local educational institutions (public libraries, environmental organizations, juvenile detention centers.)

▪ Site for student projects for courses in Business, Biology, Classics (many linked to grants funding.)

Closing Thoughts

▪ A Library-based makerspace can be developed through efforts of individual faculty and staff but should not become dependent on that situation. Faculty and staff leave or assume new responsibilities.▪ Need institutional recognition/support. I think this is especially important for smaller

schools where faculty and staff time is limited and funds are not always available.

▪ Need some way to convey idea that makerspaces provide great teaching opportunities for Liberal Arts as well as other areas such as the Sciences and Business.

▪ Need a regular stream of students (as was supplied by FSEM M&M course taught every semester.) Many of the students who took the course returned to work on their own projects and they often brought friends.

▪ A more focused, discipline-based makerspace may develop and flourish – but it may do so at the expense of the Library-based makerspace.

Closing Thoughts

▪ New technology and new materials that can be used in makerspaces are continuing to appear. ▪ New 3D printing filaments now allow desktop printing in filament that can be as much as

90% copper. Iron and Bronze filament are also available. I recently received a grant to work with faculty in the Classics Department to investigate the use of 3D design and printing in reproducing artifacts. Using metals for this rather than plastic provides for much more authentic teaching tools.

▪ New 3D printing technology makes use of paste extruders to print intricate pottery and sculpture using a clay slurry as the medium.

▪ New 3D scanners such as the Structure Sensor provide high quality, portable scanning. This scanner attaches to an iPad. The file produced by this scanner can be 3D printed or uploaded to a site such as SketchFab so that an animated, manipulatible object can be embedded in a website. http://jamesmonroe3d.umwhistory.org/waistcoat-and-breeches/

▪ This provides a whole new way to think about what you can check out from the library…