EnvironMINT – Conditions for Successful Collaboration Between Children, Parents, Schools and FabLabs for Sustainable STEM-Related Maker Activities

[Gelingensbedingungen für eine erfolgreiche Zusammenarbeit von Kindern, Eltern, Schulen und Fab Labs für nachhaltige MINT-bezogene Maker-Aktivitäten]

Principal Investigators: Rolf Becker, Stephan Kröner

Staff: Marios Mouratidis, Kathrin Smolarczyk, Sophie Uhing
Period: 2022-2025
Funding: Federal Ministry of Education and Research

URL: www.environmint.de

 Abstract:

The joint project EnvironMINT of the Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg, University of Siegen and Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences investigates the requirements and conditions for a successful collaboration of schools and Fab Labs with children, parents and peers for self-determined, sustainable and creative Making as a form of holistic STEM. In order to unite the complex interplay of formal, informal and non-formal education in Making, a design case study as well as design thinking on the one hand and methods of empirical educational research such as interview studies and field experiments with pre-post control group design on the other hand will be used in a participatory and iterative research and development process. The findings are transferred into an integrative and scalable concept that exploits the potential of Making for STEM education from multiple perspectives, focuses on the active learner, and successfully integrates the topic of sustainability: Firstly, explorative studies with children, parents, teachers and Makers provide initial insights into the requirements of the stakeholders as well as the ideas and wishes of the participants with regard to maker activities. Here, the focus is particularly on girls and children with a low socioeconomic status. Secondly, in the design phase, the results of the preliminary studies as well as the participatory design activities are incorporated into the concept development. In the appropriation phase, the concept developed is finally tested and evaluated in practice several times in different contexts. In particular, the transferability to different contexts will be explored, such as schools with and without connection to Fab Labs and Makerspaces.