Maker Literacies Program Shows Experiential Learning Opportunities

Representatives from 19 universities gathered at the UTA Central Library on Feb. 23 for the Maker Literacies Mini Immersion Program. The focus was on sharing ideas to improve undergraduate programs through experiential learning. 

During the conference, participants explored best practices that would incorporate cross-disciplinary and transferable maker-based competencies. These competencies connect Libraries staff and faculty members to create course assignments that give students a hands-on learning experience. 

Katie Peery, Director of Organization Excellence, stated that the efforts to create the Maker Literacies program at UTA Libraries were championed by many people. It was tough initially, but over time, the program has become part of the Libraries’ culture, positively impacting students.  

"When we first opened our makerspace, The FabLab, we had a hard time selling that space to faculty and other librarians," Katie said. "We were trying to build a case to present to our community for why this work matters. Why are we spending our budget on 3D printers and laser cutters instead of additional collections? We have found that this type of work can be incredibly impactful for student learning outcomes." 

UTA Libraries received two National Leadership grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services to develop these maker-based competencies and integrate them into the undergraduate curriculum.  

The first grant allowed UTA Libraries to develop and refine a list of transferrable skills that students can gain when making is involved in their curriculum, establishing best practices for others engaged in similar work. The second grant allowed the Libraries to expand the program's impact further by developing tools to assess student learning outcomes, and then creating professional development opportunities for other academic makerspace librarians and staff to create similar programs at their own institutions.  

As part of the conference, attendees learned about the different Maker Literacies competencies, such as identifying and articulating a need to create, analyze and explore ideas. Through this session, they shared thoughts and ideas for implementing these competencies at their university library's makerspaces. They also discussed curriculum mapping, best practices for lesson planning, and how to engage with faculty members. 

Rebecca Glasgow, of the University of Nevada Reno, stated that it was great to get the chance to network with other professionals and share ideas. 

"Today has been an incredible experience to meet other professionals in the field. Most of the people in this room are other academic librarians or at least work in the academic world with makerspaces," Rebecca said. "It is impactful to talk with other people who have some of the same issues and some of the same thoughts." 

Eric Johnson, of Virginia Commonwealth University, shared Rebecca's thoughts about learning from others who operate makerspaces. He noted that since makerspaces are such a new field, the opportunity to share ideas, successes, and failures with colleagues is valuable. 

 To find out more about the Maker Literacies program, you can find it online through the UTA Libraries website. The site contains information about maker competencies, curriculum and other resources.