Maker community
Community plays an integral role in the making process, as it supports personal growth and promotes innovation and collaboration. Engaging with a community throughout the making process also introduces diversity of ideas and perspectives that leads to deeper iteration and more insightful development of products and understanding. In addition, by showcasing the qualities of a maker mindset in the community, we can encourage others to embrace the playfulness and value of making as a tool for personal growth. This section of the Showcase exhibits my engagement with the maker community and how I brought making to communities unfamiliar with the process.
UTeach Maker Cohort & Workshops
As a part of UTeach Maker, we are instantly immersed in a community of creative, curious, and skilled professionals. The community of UTeach Makers is designed to support each other in the progression of the Maker Showcase, as well as multidimensional skills that encourage each individual a better maker and educator. Through this community, I had a mentor, Kira, and a team of other makers under his guidance to bounce ideas off of and support me while I tried new things. The community of UTeach Makers also encouraged me to face the challenges that come with implementing maker curriculum and showed me the joy that comes with expressing yourself through the projects you create. In addition to monthly cohort meetings, I also participated in workshops that were designed to teach me new skills and give me an opportunity to work with new people. Listed below are making experiences that I had the pleasure of enjoying with my UTeach Maker Cohort and the UTeach Maker Workshops.
Cardboard Concepts Team Challenge
This UTeach Maker Cohort meeting was a challenge for teams to create cardboard artifacts that represented randomly drawn STEM terms. Our team's word was "metamorphosis" and we used a variety of tools, like the Dremel Moto Saw, and craft materials to create a butterfly that folded from a cocoon into a colorful butterfly. With less than 60 minutes to create the final product, all five members of our team worked hard on components ranging from creating folding paper prototypes to developing the body and design of the butterfly.
Programmable Snow Globe Workshop
This Weekend Workshop taught us how the many components that goes into making a programmable snow globe. From crafting the inside display and protecting it from the liquid with resin, to investigating the correct viscosity of the globe's liquid to aid the suspension of the glitter, and then programming a Circuit Playground to light up the globe-- this workshop ended with fun displays of holiday cheer!
PATCHR.io Workshop, Part 1
In this Weekend Workshop, Patchr.io walked us through the beginning steps of making a PCB (printed circuit board). We began with an exploration of circuit parts and schematics using a breadboard, micro-controllers, LED lights, resistors, and switches to make lights turn on and off. Then we began to use Patchr.io's online software to design our own PCB. This workshop was a great opportunity for me to revisit and expand my circuit knowledge.
PATCHR.io Workshop, Part 2
In the second part of this workshop, we learned how to solder circuit components onto our printed circuit board. This was a test of patience and fine motor skill, but after some practice (and mistakes) I was able to get all of my components correctly soldered onto my board! Check out how I was able to light my own UT Tower in the pictures shown.
Mathematical Book Binding
This Weekend Workshop was a combination of using traditional Japanese binding techniques with an inquiry where we had to develop a theorem to connect points of a design without crossing over previous paths. The leader of this workshop, Natalie Freed, shared with us Euler's answer to this problem and the resulting theorem that he developed. Then we used an app that Natalie designed (Stab Book Designer) to create custom designs and use the algorithm to sew it on our own book.
Textile Workshop
This cohort meeting was held at Ann Richard's School for Young Women Leaders in their makerspace. There were various stations to learn about hand embroidery, embrioidery machines, and sewing macines. Since I was familiar with these skills, this workshop allowed me to teach my fellow makers about techniques that I knew. Visiting this makerspace inspired me to intern with the school the following semester. Visit the bottom of my Maker Education page to learn more about this intern experience.
Vinyl Cutting Workshop
The Vinyl Cutting Workshop was my first weekend workshop with UTeach Maker. We learned about the Silhouette Cameo 3 and used it to create our own vinyl decal. I took this time to create a decal for my planner and personal journal, while others created decals of images that were important to them. The workshop was a great opportunity to get to know my fellow makers and learn about what they valued and decided to make.
Design Challenge Workshop
As my first introduction to the UTeach Maker Cohort, I joined the group in a design challenge centered on redesigning the gift-giving experience. We were guided through getting to know what our partners valued and worked to create a prototype of the perfect gift. This was a great introduction to the energy and ideals that the UTeach Maker Community has and shares with others.
Girlstart Starry Nights are monthly events where community members can come to Girlstart for hands-on projects, technology exploration, and star shows in the mini-planetarium. Each of these events was themed depending on the time of year and what constellations were visible in the night time sky. For these events, I developed activities, planned star shows, and managed volunteers and STEM CREW to provide a welcoming environment for our community.
Girlstart Community STEM
Girlstart is a non-profit organization that provides STEM education programming for girls in 4th-8th grade, as well as the greater communities in which we serve. Girlstart's goal is to engage and empower young girls to approach and pursue the STEM fields with bravery and confidence. Girlstart embraces the role of creativity in developing innovative solutions to problems and aligns much of their curriculum and programming with the same ideals as the maker mindset. My experiences at Girlstart were the first to show me how playful, relevant curriculum and opportunity to learn through having fun could change education as I knew it. Though I served Girlstart in many ways, listed below are Community STEM events that provide hands-on STEM activities to all members of the community, free of cost. These experiences showed me the importance of making STEM education accessible and fun for all.
DeSTEMber Extravaganza
In 2019 Girlstart expanded their annual DeSTEMber event into a nationwide extravaganza with events in 5 different cities across the United States on the same day. Over a whole semester, I helped develop the activities for the event, planned and managed logistics, and trained others on the hands-on activities and lessons that we were using at the Extravaganza.
I designed and built a catapult to launch mini-pumpkins outside the Bullock Museum.
Spooktacular STEM Extravaganza
In partnership with the Bullock Museum, Girlstart hosts a STEM Extravaganza each year around Halloween to provide over 12 hands-on STEM activities to the greater Austin community. This event hosts many children and their families, dressed in costume and ready to have some fun with STEM! For this event, I developed activities, prepared and managed supplies, and organized volunteers that ran the activity tables. I also built a torsion catapult that participants used to launch mini pumpkins across the iconic front pavilion of the Bullock Museum!
Girlstart Starry Nights
Making in the Community
Outside of UTeach Maker and Girlstart, I have had the pleasure of interacting with the maker community in various settings. These diverse experiences have helped me connect to others, show them the joys that I experience with making, and learn new skills. Listed below are some of those experiences.
Museum of Science & Industry, Chicago
While in Chicago, my sister and I visited the Museum of Science & Industry. This museum embraces hands-on learning of STEM through their exhibits and promotes making through their in-house Fab Lab. We enjoyed a workshop where we used Sculptris to create a fictional character that we could 3D print. Throughout the workshop, the Lab Leaders explained the process of 3D printing with enthusiasm and the families that attended the workshop alongside us discovered the joy of making something in the makerspace.
SXSW MakerEd Meetup
As a part of the Austin SXSW festivities, there was a MakerEd meetup at a local makerspace, CO.LAB. The non-profit space was created to be a home to all makers, no matter your background or current access to resources. The evening was filled with inspiring conversation among makers, demonstrations by various educational technology companies, and the unveiling of new UTeach Maker publications.
Micro:bit Educator's Training
The Micro:bit Educator's Training was an opportunity for me to learn more about micro:bit, a programmable microcomputer that can be used to power endless maker creations. In this training I was able to work with other educators and makerspace coordinators to program the micro:bits and test out their unique functionalities. By learning about how to use these computers, I was quickly inspired to use them in the human body systems unit listed on my Maker Education page.
ARS Valentine's Day Workshop
As an Intern at Ann Richard's, I helped organize materials and create prototypes for heart pillows that would be available for students to make at an after-school workshop. This event was an opportunity for girls to create something to show their love for those they value most and learn new skills in the makerspace. Instead of buying a valentine, they could create their own!