This Idea Lab will help participants understand how the maker mindset is intentionally cultivated through the learning environments, routines, relationships, and experiences educators design. Participants will experience a Universal Start as learners, name the maker mindsets they practiced, examine school-based examples, and draft a plan for using the routine in their own setting.
**Welcome, framing, and session purpose**
The session will begin by introducing the central idea that the maker mindset is cultivated by design, not simply learned through completing a project. Participants will be invited to think about how classroom routines, facilitation language, collaboration norms, and authentic audiences shape student behavior. The presenters will preview the session structure: experience first, name the dispositions, examine examples, and transfer to practice.
**Content and engagement:** Participants will respond to a quick opening question: “What do students need to practice before they begin a hands-on project?” Responses may be gathered verbally, on sticky notes, or through a digital word cloud.
**Universal Start experience as learners**
Participants will experience the Universal Start protocol firsthand. The facilitator will introduce three design rules: “Yes, and,” “make your fellow designer look good,” and “listen.” Participants will pair up and begin with a “What if?” prompt connected to a lesson, project, program, or learning experience they are already proud of. They will use possibility thinking to push the idea further without using “but” or immediately naming constraints.
**Content and engagement:** Participants will complete a peer-to-peer ideation round using “Yes, and” language. They will draw, list, or map ideas rather than only discussing them.
**Prototype or next-iteration sketch**
Participants will choose one idea generated by their partner and improve the next iteration. They will use prompts such as clearer, bolder, more relevant, and more student-centered to sketch or outline a stronger version of the idea. The focus will be on making the idea more meaningful, not perfect.
**Content and engagement:** Participants will create a quick artifact: a sketch, outline, concept map, or revised project idea. This gives attendees a concrete experience with using iteration and collaboration before discussing the maker mindset framework.
**Reflection on the Universal Start**
Participants will briefly reflect on what they practiced during the Universal Start. The facilitator will ask how the design rules influenced their thinking, how it felt to build on someone else’s idea, and what they noticed about risk, agency, collaboration, or revision. This reflection will bridge the activity to the maker mindset framework.
**Content and engagement:** Participants will share a quick example with a partner or table group, then name one behavior the Universal Start made possible.
**Maker Mindset framework**
The presenters will introduce the six maker mindsets: curiosity, agency, iteration, resilience, collaboration, and empathy. The session will emphasize that these mindsets are built through experiences, not equipment. Participants will consider how the Universal Start establishes the conditions for maker-centered learning before students begin a larger task.
**Content and engagement:** Participants will identify which maker mindset they practiced most during the Universal Start and which mindset they want to make more visible in their own classroom, library, makerspace, or professional learning setting.
**School-based implementation stories**
Presenters will share brief implementation stories from school-based contexts, including examples of authentic STEM challenges and maritime learning experiences. These examples will show how intentional structures such as shared language, authentic problems, prototype-and-revise cycles, student voice, partner connections, industry feedback, expos, and interdisciplinary learning help students practice the maker mindset in real settings.
**Content and engagement:** Participants will use a “notice and connect” prompt: “What conditions were intentionally designed in this example, and how could those conditions connect to a Universal Start in your setting?”
**Partnerships as a multiplier**
The session will explore how partnerships can expand the authenticity of maker-centered learning. Presenters will discuss how community partners, families, industry professionals, university collaborators, and public audiences can help students see purpose, receive feedback, explain their thinking, and connect projects to real people and places.
**Content and engagement:** Participants will identify one possible partner, audience, or community connection that could strengthen an existing project or activity.
**Action planning and closing reflection**
Participants will draft a Universal Start they can use in their own context. Their plan will include a place where the Universal Start could fit, a “What if?” or problem-based prompt, one collaboration norm, one maker mindset focus, and one reflection question. The session will close with participants completing the sentence: “I can use a Universal Start before ___ to help learners practice ___.”
**Content and engagement:** Participants will leave with a written action plan and share one commitment with a partner or table group.
Throughout the session, audience engagement will occur frequently through peer-to-peer discussion, hands-on ideation, sketching or mapping, quick reflection prompts, table conversations, and action planning. The session is designed so attendees experience the Universal Start as learners before adapting it as educators.
Attendees will leave with a draft Universal Start plan they can use to launch a future lesson, project, or maker activity. Their plan will include a student-facing “What if?” prompt, collaboration norms, facilitation language, a short ideation routine, reflection questions, and a connection to at least one maker mindset.
Making the Maker: A Means-to-an-Ends Approach to Nurturing the Maker Mindset in Elementary-Aged Children
Chu, S. L., Quek, F., Bhangaonkar, S., Ging, A. B., & Sridharamurthy, K. (2015). Making the maker: A means-to-an-ends approach to nurturing the maker mindset in elementary-aged children. International Journal of Child-Computer Interaction, 5, 11–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijcci.2015.08.002
This article looks at how maker activities can help children develop a maker mindset. The authors studied elementary-aged children using a storytelling-based making kit called Maker Theater. They explain that making should not only teach STEM skills, but should also help children believe they can make things, feel motivated to keep trying, and stay interested in creating. This source is useful because it identifies three important parts of the maker mindset: self-efficacy, motivation, and interest.
Maker-Centered Learning: Empowering Young People to Shape Their Worlds
Clapp, E. P., Ross, J., Ryan, J. O., & Tishman, S. (2016). Maker-centered learning: Empowering young people to shape their worlds. Jossey-Bass.
This book is a foundational resource for maker-centered learning. The authors focus on helping young people see themselves as people who can shape, change, and improve the world around them. Instead of focusing only on tools or technology, the book emphasizes student agency, creativity, design, and empowerment. It also introduces helpful teaching practices that encourage students to look closely, explore complexity, and find opportunities to improve designs.
Makification: Towards a Framework for Leveraging the Maker Movement in Formal Education
Cohen, J. D., Jones, W. M., Smith, S., & Calandra, B. (2017). Makification: Towards a framework for leveraging the maker movement in formal education. Journal of Educational Multimedia and Hypermedia, 26(3), 217–229. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1143094
This article explains how schools can bring the best parts of the maker movement into formal education. The authors call this process “makification.” They argue that maker education should not be just about adding tools like 3D printers or robotics kits. Instead, strong maker learning should include creation, iteration, sharing, and autonomy. This source is helpful for educators because it connects maker activities to classroom learning goals while still keeping the creativity and independence that make the maker movement powerful.
Making and Learning Together: Where the Makerspace Mindset Meets Platforms for Creativity
Culpepper, M. K., & Gauntlett, D. (2020). Making and learning together: Where the makerspace mindset meets platforms for creativity. Global Studies of Childhood, 10(3), 264–274. https://doi.org/10.1177/2043610620941868
This article describes the makerspace mindset as something bigger than a physical room full of tools. The authors explain that making can happen across many spaces, communities, and platforms. They focus on creativity, collaboration, sharing, and lifelong learning. This source is useful because it shows that the maker mindset is not limited to STEM labs or makerspaces; it can support creative thinking and connection in many different learning environments.
Towards a Stronger Conceptualization of the Maker Mindset: A Case Study of an Afterschool Program With Squishy Circuits
Kim, S. H., & Zimmerman, H. T. (2017). Towards a stronger conceptualization of the maker mindset: A case study of an afterschool program with Squishy Circuits. In Proceedings of the 7th Annual Conference on Creativity and Fabrication in Education (pp. 1–4). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3141798.3141815
This short study looks at how one learner developed a maker mindset during an afterschool program using Squishy Circuits. The authors studied motivation, interest, and self-efficacy, but they also looked at how the learner engaged with design, technology, collaboration, and play. One important finding is that learners may stay interested and motivated even when their confidence goes down. This makes the article useful for understanding that the maker mindset is complex and may develop differently for each student.
Unveiling Maker Mindsets: A Journey of Formation and Transformation Through Design Thinking-Making Pedagogy Within a Lesson Study Context
Li, J., Goei, S. L., & Huang, R. (2024). Unveiling maker mindsets: A journey of formation and transformation through design thinking-making pedagogy within a lesson study context. Frontiers in Education, 9, Article 1343492. https://doi.org/10.3389/feduc.2024.1343492
This recent article explores how elementary students develop maker mindsets through a structured design thinking and making process. The study followed three students during a three-month lesson study cycle. The authors found that students grew in areas such as thinking skills, confidence, and collaboration, although each student developed in different ways. This source is helpful because it shows how teachers can intentionally support the maker mindset through planning, feedback, teamwork, and guided design challenges.
The Promise of the Maker Movement for Education
Martin, L. (2015). The promise of the maker movement for education. Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research, 5(1), Article 4. https://doi.org/10.7771/2157-9288.1099
This article explains why the maker movement matters for education. Martin describes three key parts of the maker movement: digital tools, community support, and the maker mindset. The article connects making to hands-on learning, creativity, problem solving, and engineering education. This is a useful source for introducing the maker movement because it explains how making can support meaningful learning when students have opportunities to design, build, test, share, and improve their ideas.
Motivational Factors in Makerspaces: A Mixed Methods Study of Elementary School Students’ Situational Interest, Self-Efficacy, and Achievement Emotions
Vongkulluksn, V. W., Matewos, A. M., Sinatra, G. M., & Marsh, J. A. (2018). Motivational factors in makerspaces: A mixed methods study of elementary school students’ situational interest, self-efficacy, and achievement emotions. International Journal of STEM Education, 5, Article 43. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-018-0129-0
This study looks at how elementary students’ confidence, interest, excitement, and frustration changed during a makerspace course. The authors found that makerspaces can spark interest in STEM, but students may also feel frustrated when projects are difficult or do not work the first time. This source is useful because it reminds educators that the maker mindset needs support. Students benefit from help managing frustration, building confidence, and seeing mistakes as part of the design process.
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