Preservice and Early Career Teachers' Preconceptions and Misconceptions About Making in Education

Abstract

This qualitative study examined preservice and early career teachers' preconceptions and misconceptions about making in education. Eighty-two preservice and early career teachers participated in brief, one-time maker workshops, then wrote reflections on their experiences. Using constant comparative analysis, researchers uncovered two common misconceptions held by the participants. The first was that making in education consisted of hands-on activities designed to achieve specific content learning objectives. The second was that making was largely dependent on the use of advanced manufacturing tools, such as three-dimensional (3D) printers. Such misconceptions could negatively impact the potential of making in education. Recommendations for resolving these misconceptions are presented, along with recommendations for future research.

Keywords:

• preservice teachers
• teacher education
• making
• misconceptions

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jonathan D. Cohen

Dr. Jonathan D. Cohen is an assistant professor in the Learning Technologies Division of the College of Education and Human Development at Georgia State University. His research focuses on understanding how constructionist environments impact learning, and on studying the teaching infrastructure needed to support the development of constructionist learning environments. He established the first maker learning classroom at Georgia State University, which hosts learners ranging from middle school to the doctoral level. He is currently serving a 3-year term as a chair of the Teacher Education Council of the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education. Please address correspondence regarding this article to Jonathan D. Cohen, College of Education and Human Development, Georgia State University, 30 Pryor Street, Atlanta, GA 30303, USA. E-mail: [email protected].

W. Monty Jones

Dr. W. Monty Jones has presented nationally and internationally on the topics of teacher learning, technology integration, virtual teaching, and digital fabrication. The program director for the School of Education's Certificate in Online Teaching for K–12 Educators as well as the MEd in curriculum and instruction's instructional technology track, he has worked with several cohorts of teachers from local school divisions to create infrastructures to effectively deliver online instruction to students. He has also developed multidivision cohorts through a partnership with the Virginia Society for Technology in Education (VSTE).

Shaunna Smith

Dr. Shaunna Smith is an assistant professor of educational technology in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Texas State University. Her research interests focus on technology integration strategies within K–12 and postsecondary learning environments. As a former secondary art and technology teacher, she is particularly interested in exploring how the hands-on use of design-based technologies (e.g., making and makerspaces, digital fabrication, 3D modeling and printing, computer programming, and robotics) can impact multidisciplinary learning that transcends traditional content contexts. Through her mobile makerspace initiative, The MAKE Lab, she is currently researching how recurring experiences with these design-based technologies impact visual spatial skills, self-efficacy, and positive attitudes toward failure (e.g., persistence in the face of obstacles; reconceptualization of failure as a paradigm for creative learning) with teachers and K–12 students. These concepts are also part of her research as co-director of Bobcat Made, which is a collaborative university makerspace.