College of Education and Human Development
In the News: Kimberly Sheridan
September 10, 2015
Kimberly Sheridan
The Huffington Post this week posted an article titled "Democratizing the Maker Movement" that delved extensively into the interests of the National Science Foundation and other government entities in the maker movement.
The article referenced the work of Kimberly Sheridan, an associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development at George Mason University, and her colleague Erica Halverson, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, around the impact of different approaches to maker activities in learning situations.
From the article:
So at the same time that NSF is supporting makerspaces and the underlying technologies of making, the agency is also encouraging researchers to study how making happens at diverse sites, what the real benefits are, and how they can be measured, analyzed and repeated across the nation, whether in classrooms or extra-curricular settings.
Two of the researchers doing this work are Erica Halverson, an Associate Professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Kimberly Sheridan, an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology at George Mason University...
Halverson observed that there's often a tension in making between open-ended and structured activities. She and her collaborators wanted to determine which approach worked better under what circumstances and what happens when you package activities differently.
To figure out the answer, they designed an experiment involving kits for making "brushbots" — minimalist "robots" that use the head of a toothbrush as its body and the bristles as its legs.
In one condition, students created the brushbot step-by-step, with instructions provided by the educators. In the other condition, the educators gave the students materials, showed examples, and said, 'make something.'
Dr. Sheridan and her colleagues designed an experiment involving "brushbots," minimalist robots that use the head of a toothbrush as its body and the bristles as its legs. Photo: National Science Foundation.
They found that kids displayed more agency and interest in making things when faced with the open-ended circumstances.
"When is it appropriate to have a more structured and more open-ended condition? And can we be more mindful about when it's appropriate to do that?" they asked.
Their studies are leading them to design ways to improve long-term engagement, including integrating critique and asynchronous, web-enabled participation.
"How do we know what tools will 'stick' in terms of peoples' engagement over time?" Halverson asked. "That's the million dollar question."
Click here for the full article.
More information about Dr. Sheridan's research:
About CEHD George Mason University's College of Education and Human Development (CEHD) includes two schools: the Graduate School of Education, one of the most comprehensive education schools in Virginia, and the School of Recreation, Health, and Tourism. CEHD offers a full range of courses, certificates, and degree programs on campus, online, and on site to more than 4,000 students each year. CEHD is fully accredited by NCATE, and all licensure programs are approved by the Virginia Department of Education. George Mason University, located just outside of Washington, DC, is Virginia's largest public research university. For additional information: Follow CEHD on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MasonCEHD or Twitter at @MasonCEHD.