A Study Of K-12 Maker Education In The United States Of America

With the development of technological innovation,social entrepreneurship and national creation,makerspace and maker movement have emerged and developed.Maker education is an extension of the maker movement to the field of education.Not only are the higher education institutions implementing maker education,but also more than 1400 K-12 schools are launching maker education,in order to cultivate maker talents for society.Whereas the Unite States of America has already formed mature K-12 maker education model and Chinese basic education field has carried out the preliminary exploration of maker education,the dissertation study focuses on the implementation of K-12 maker education in the Unite States of America and its model,so as to provide reference and enlightenment for the development of maker education in Chinese basic education field.K-12 maker education in the Unite States of America is based on the educational philosophy of pragmatism,the educational thought of progressivism and the learning theory of constructivism.Its model mainly contains five areas: environment,curriculum,instruction,assessment and teachers.Among them,makerspace provides environmental and material support for maker education,and it brings all kinds of teaching activities together to plan and design maker curriculum through social curriculum and school curriculum;as to instruction,project-based learning activities,problem inquiry teaching,stimulus creativity of design thinking method and creative tinkering activity in the maker education embody the four dimensions of instruction,which are organization,psychology,method and behavior dimension;maker education mainly utilizes performance assessment,authentic assessment and portfolio assessment to reveal the process and truth of maker education;maker teacher dominates curriculum,instruction and assessment through effective model and program of maker teacher professional development.Based on SWOT analysis method,the study finds the strengths and weaknesses,opportunities and challenges.Specifically,K-12 maker education focuses on student center and education equity,and cultivates interest,ability and maker mindset through a series of explorative and creative activities and transboundary cooperation activities;but the weaknesses is the shortage of curriculum,teacher,school leadership and finance support;moreover,it has the opportunities of information technology,national policy,social atmosphere,regional system,educational organization and other associations,but still needs to meet the challenges of developing students` interest in creativity,training teachers,changing leadership styles and expanding social support.In conclusion,K-12 maker education in the United States can improve students` learning interest and participation opportunity,cultivate twenty-first Century skills,update the professional ability of teacher,close the relationship between the school and the society,create a favourable social atmosphere,and promote national creation and learning.Drawing lessons from K-12 maker education experience in the United States of America,it is necessary for the maker education in Chinese basic education to establish correct maker education values,design makerspace and improve the supervision mechanism,build a resources platform for the development of maker education,improve the teaching quality through supporting teachers` professional development and construct a maker education assessment system,pay attention to the development of preschool education and collect social strength extensively,and promote the sustainable development of maker education in the field of Chinese basic education.