The Designing And Practising Of A New Instruction Model Based On Maker Education

Thanks to the development and popularization of digital design, open-source hardware platform and the rapid prototyping technology, the maker movement is now in full swing all over the world. Under its influence, a new form of education-maker education-is taking shape. It involves creation-based learning and focuses on cultivating innovative talents. At the core of maker education is an effort to encourage learners to be original thinkers and to hone their skills for innovation through hands-on practice. Such effort reflects the ultimate goal of education, that is, to develop the whole person.Innovation capability is a must for learners in the 21st century. Innovation character is a kind of innovation-capability-centered ability structure, which is supported by innovation consciousness and pioneering spirit. Hence, the goal of cultivating innovation capability cannot be realized without innovation character. During the teaching process, teachers are supposed to stimulate students’ interest in innovation, to remove the psychological barriers, to sustain their enthusiasm, and to provide them with sufficient external resources. In this thesis, a new idea has been proposed, that is, maker education may be a useful tool for cultivating students’ innovation capability. Focused on the relationship between maker education and innovation, the thesis aims to design a practically workable model of instruction based on maker education.Methods such as literature search, questionnaire investigation, and interview are adopted in the study. First of all, the thesis draws on a great deal of related literature and researches to paint a clear picture of the history and status quo of maker education and to interpret what it really involves and features. Then the author analyzes how innovation capability is built and what motivation, psychological barriers and external resources are involved in the process, and presents some indicators for assessing innovation capability. The third chapter is divided into five parts, each expounding on one element of the proposed model, namely, theoretical basis, objectives of teaching, process of teaching, assessment methods and conditions of practice. On top of that, a maker education-based model is designed with a view to cultivate innovation capability. Last, the author conducts a classroom experiment in Zhuhai No.1 middle school to check if the model actually works. Results show that the model, serving well to motivate students to innovate and remove the barriers in the process, does contribute to building students’ innovation capability.