The Policy Optimization For Maker Education In Hubei Province

At present,the maker education is widely being promoted as "mass entrepreneurship and innovation ",meanwhile,in Hubei the education reform is being carried on vigorously.But the outcome of the policy implementation is still questionable.Unlike traditional learning,maker education is an approach to problem-based and project-based learning that relies upon the method for solving authentic problems.And the method is about hands-on,collaborative and learning experiences.Maker education stems from maker and maker movement.People who join in the making activities call themselves as "makers",and the activities they do is the maker movement.They develop their projects in the makerspaces or studios,by prototyping and repurposing of objects in service of creating new inventions or innovations.Maker education policy refers to innovative talents by encouraging schools,government agencies,enterprises,non-profit organizations and individuals to carry out making activities,which helps to solve the problem of innovation talent shortage.Although Hubei Province has issued policies on maker education,it still faces many difficulties in the implementation.There are a few designate policies available for maker education in Hubei.And there are four aspects being covered by maker education policies,such as teacher training,financial support,facility construction and propaganda.By analysis the situation of the maker education policy implementation,this article finds the outcome of primary/middle schools is positive,whereas it still needs to be improved in universities/colleges.There are three typical problems in maker education policy implementation.In the first place,there are some communicating problems between different policy bodies,such as governmental agencies,schools,colleges,universities.In the next place,the objectives and planning procedures are not clear,which create many difficulties in the policy implementation.And a valid monitoring system is NOT in place.That results an invisible implementation process.Finally a non-feasible benchmarking system is NOT in place,either.And that creates difficulties in the final evaluation eventually.This paper reviews and analyzes the maker education policies of Guangdong,Zhejiang and Fujian in a deep degree,and summarizes the experience in the policy making and implementation of the three provinces.To optimize the maker education policies,three aspects shall be covered: policy bodies,policy implementation and policy evaluation.First of all,it is essential to clarify the positions and responsibilities of every policy body,so that it can activate the initiatives of universities/colleges and overcome the difficulties in the policy implementation of maker education together.Secondly,it is significant to clarify the policy goals and standards,to increase the oversight in the monitoring process,and to encourage the public get involved in the supervision of the policy implementation stage.It will ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the policy implementation.At last,based on the policy evaluation theory and the research mentioned previously,this paper constructs a system of maker education policy evaluation in theory.