October 08, 2023

STEM Everyday #254 | The 3 Modes of Making | feat. Matt Zigler

25 minutes

Matt Zigler is a teacher, artist, and maker. He is currently the Bullis Innovation and Technology Lab (BITlab) Coordinator at Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland, where he works with students and teachers to bring design thinking and the Maker process into traditional content area classes, teach Maker related classes, and oversees a state of the art Makerspace and Fab Lab. Matt has presented on how to design and build a Makerspace that meets the needs of specific schools, how to create a culture of Making and innovation, and how to develop Maker programming for all levels of ability, K-12.

The Maker movement has been an excellent opportunity for people to become producers rather than just consumers, and schools are recognizing the value of offering students the tools, materials, and skills necessary to design sophisticated and meaningful projects. But teaching technical skills should not be the end goal: At its best, a Maker education teaches students to think and act in creative ways that can be applied to difficult challenges in all areas of life.

Matt's book Three Modes of Making (release date Dec 23/Jan 24) provides a framework for Maker courses in upper grades that teach students creative-process skills through three key Maker modes: Imitation, Modification, and Innovation.

On this episode, we discuss the three Maker modes and their associated skill sets to provide educators with ideas for helping students be creatively purposeful.

Matt's class also created The Wheelchair Stroller project, and his students ended up all over the news, including NBC Washington and the CBS Evening News!
Listen to more ideas from Matt on Ep 211

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