1 bringing tinkering to school ideas for activities · the tinkering studio at the exploratorium in...

Bringing Tinkering to School Ideas for activities1

Bringing Tinkering to School: Ideas for activities 2019*

© Tinkering: Building Science Capital for ALL ProjectThis publication is a product of “Tinkering: Building Science Capital for ALL” (2017-1-IT02-KA201-036513), funded with support from the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union. This publication reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

* This document is the first version of the outcome of the work between partners and teacher ambassadors. It accompanies the testing of the activities but precedes the implementation of the activities at the multiplier events. Therefore it will be updated at the end of the events if and where changes of the contents are deemed necessary.

This work is being made possible through the support, commitment, energy, enthusiasm, ideas and action of the partners of the Tinkering Project. A special acknowledgement goes to the Tinkering Studio of the Exploratorium of San Francisco, expert advisor to this project, for their collaboration and support. Our thanks go also to all staff from the partner institutions and to the visitors who participated in the project activities in the different countries.

PROJECT COORDINATOR PARTNER INSTITUTIONS

SCHOOLS INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT

ITICS Armando DiazMeda (MB)Scuola Secondaria di I gradoTeachers: STEFANO ALIPRANDI e ROBERTA ZUFFOLATO

ICS Viale LiguriaRozzano (MI)Scuola Secondaria di I gradoTeacher: FILADELFO GAETA

ICS A. ManzoniBovisio Masciago (MB)Scuola PrimariaTeacher: CHIARA GALLI

ICS A.SchweitzerSegrate (MI)Scuola PrimariaTeacher: VERA CROCIFISSO

ICS E. TotiLentate sul Seveso (MB) Scuola PrimariaTeacher: SARA BONDESANI

NLObs De Bogen Public Elementary School De BogenHarderwijk (Netherlands)Primary School/Scuola primariaTeacher: MARENKA DE VRIES

Pieter Jelles Troelstraschool Amsterdam (Netherlands)Junior High School/Scuola secondaria I gradoTeacher: MARK IJDO

EIMoyle Park CollegeClondalkin, DublinJunior High School/Scuola secondaria I grado Teacher: DEIRDRE BRENNAN

Santa Sabina Dominican CollegeSutton, DublinJunior High School/Scuola secondaria I grado Teacher: PAUL NUGENT

ESEscola ProjecteBarcelonaJunior High School/Scuola secondaria I gradoTeacher: FRANK SABATÉ

Institut Quatre CantonsBarcelona Primary School/ Scuola primariaTeacher: JOAQUIM FONT

ATNMS Anton Sattler GasseWienJunior High School / Scuola Secondaria I gradoTeacher: HARALD MATTENBERGER

Lernwerkstatt Donaustadt SchuleWienJunior High School / Scuola Secondaria I gradoTeacher: RENATE ERNST

EL6th Junior High SchoolThessaloniki (Greece)Junior High School / Scuola Secondaria I gradoTeacher: ATHINA AFOUXENIDOU

Junior High School EchinouXanthi, GreeceJunior High School / Scuola Secondaria I gradoTeacher: GEORGIOS EPSIMOS

This work is being made possible through the commitment and energy of the partners of the Tinkering Project as well as the cooperation and enthusiasm of the teachers who worked in each country to test the activities in the classroom.

INDEX

1 Introduction

2 Tinkering and science capital: how Tinkering can support inclusive teaching and learning in STEM What is Tinkering?

3 Tinkering and inclusive teachinG Science Capital as a theory Science Capital as a teaching approach Tinkering and Science Capital

4 Tinkering Activities at SchooL MARBLE MACHINES LIGHT PLAY SCRIBBLING MACHINES CIRCUIT BOARDS PAPER CIRCUITS

5 REFERENCES

6

7

7

9

9

11

13

16

16

16

16

17

17

18


INTRODUCTION


Tinkering creates a bridging point between a learner’s personal interests and experiences and a broad range of possible learning outcomes. It offers valuable opportunities to engage all students in STEM and fosters a more inclusive STEM education. In this way, it is very much aligned with a Science Capital Teaching Approach: fundamentally, it is a highly personalised pedagogy, which allows the learner to follow their own interests and set their own goals.

This resource has been designed to help teachers integrate the Tinkering approach and the Science Capital framework in their practice aiming to implement a more inclusive science learning. It is divided in two parts.

The first part gives an overview of the Tinkering approach and of Science Capital, and is a shorter version of the resource “Tinkering and Science Capital: Ideas and Perspectives” produced by the project (the whole version can be found at: http://www.museoscienza.org/tinkering-eu2/resources.asp).

The second part lists the Tinkering activities that have been identified by the partners and tested at the museums with the students of the schools that were involved in the project. The activities are selected among the ones designed by the first European project dedicated to Tinkering and the ones designed by the Tinkering Studio at the Exploratorium of San Francisco.

1INTRODUCTION


Tinkering is an innovative learning approach that involves creating physical things using diverse tools, materials, ideas and methods. The activity design, materials and facilitation style combine to create a highly engaging learning experience with diverse outcomes. The learner is encouraged to play around with materials and tools. But this playfulness should not be mistaken for something trivial: Tinkering is highly constructive and purpo-seful. It encourages learners to pursue a project, idea, or personal goal according to their interests and personal motivations. It also challenges the learner to embrace moments of being stuck and unstuck. In this way it can help develop 21st century skills such as problem-solving, creativity, confidence and resilience. (Bevan, Gutwill, Petrich, & Wilkinson, 2015; Harris, Winterbottom, Xanthoudaki, & de Piper, 2016; Petrich, Wilkinson, & Bevan, 2013; Wilkinson & Petrich, 2014)

Tinkering activities often cross different curriculum areas allowing learners to work with subjects like physics, maths, art, engineering and technology in an integrated way. Participants in Tinkering will also find themselves asking the sorts of questions asked by scientists, such as ‘I wonder how this works’ or ‘I wonder what would happen if I do this?’.

While Tinkering activities vary in their style and content, they have common core features:

1 Something physical is created using tools and materials.2 The atmosphere should be playful, innovative and creative3 Learners follow their interest and can therefore pursue their own path of learning4 Outcomes are highly variable and sometimes unexpected.5 Although there is a broad goal given at the start, Tinkering activities are designed so that learners can add in or set their own goals. Therefore, they can progress through the activity in a way that is interesting and personally meaningful to them.6 The learner works on the activity by trying things out. They might start by improvising but through a process of iterative design, they can move from improvising to planning designing, testing, redesigning and refining.

The Tinkering Studio at the Exploratorium in San Francisco are the pioneers of Tinkering. Based on observations of hundreds of people taking part in Tinkering activities, they have developed a framework which describes the sorts of learning that Tinkering experiences develop (figure 1). This can be a useful guide to help identify moments of engagement, learning and skill acquisition when watching or trying out Tinkering. It could also be used with students after a Tinkering experience to help them reflect on their learning.

2Tinkering and science capital: how Tinkering can support inclusive teaching and learning in STEM

WHAT IS TINKERING?

LEAR

NING

DI

MEN

SIO

NS

of M

akin

g &

Tin

kerin

g

Initi

ativ

e &

In

tent

iona

lity

• Se

ttin

g on

e’s

own

goal

• Ta

king

inte

llect

ual a

nd c

reat

ive

risk

s;

wor

king

with

out a

blu

epri

nt

• Co

mpl

exi�

ing

over

tim

e

• Pe

rsis

ting

thro

ugh

and

lear

ning

�om

fa

ilure

s

• Ad

just

ing

goal

s ba

sed

on p

hysi

cal

fe

edba

ck a

nd e

vide

nce

Prob

lem

Sol

ving

&Cr

itica

l Thi

nkin

g

• Tr

oubl

esho

otin

g th

roug

h ite

ratio

ns

• M

ovin

g �o

m tr

ial-a

nd-e

rror

to

ne

tu

ning

thro

ugh

incr

easi

ngly

focu

sed

in

quir

ies

• De

velo

ping

wor

k-ar

ound

s

• Se

ekin

g id

eas,

ass

ista

nce,

and

exp

ertis

e �

om o

ther

s

Soci

al &

Em

otio

nal

Enga

gem

ent

• Bu

ildin

g on

or

rem

ixin

g th

e id

eas

a

nd p

roje

cts

of o

ther

s

• Te

achi

ng a

nd h

elpi

ng o

ne a

noth

er

• Co

llabo

ratin

g an

d w

orki

ng in

team

s

• Re

cogn

izin

g an

d be

ing

reco

gniz

ed fo

r

acc

ompl

ishm

ents

and

con

trib

utio

ns

• De

velo

ping

con

den

ce

• Ex

pres

sing

pri

de a

nd o

wne

rshi

p

Crea

tivit

y &

Se

lf-Ex

pres

sion

• Re

spon

ding

aes

thet

ical

ly to

mat

eria

ls a

nd p

heno

men

a

• Co

nnec

ting

proj

ects

to p

erso

nal

in

tere

sts

and

expe

rien

ces

• Pl

ay�

lly e

xplo

ring

• Ex

pres

sing

joy

and

delig

ht

• U

sing

mat

eria

ls in

nov

el w

ays

Conc

eptu

al

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rsta

ndin

g•

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rolli

ng fo

r va

riab

les

as p

roje

cts

c

ompl

exi�

• Co

nstr

uctin

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plan

atio

ns

• U

sing

ana

logu

es a

nd m

etap

hors

to

e

xpla

in

• Le

vera

ging

pro

pert

ies

of m

ater

ials

and

phe

nom

ena

to a

chie

ve d

esig

n

goa

ls

Stud

ents

gai

n va

luab

le le

arni

ng

expe

rienc

es w

hile

mak

ing

and

tinke

ring.

U

se th

is �

amew

ork

to n

otic

e, s

uppo

rt,

docu

men

t, an

d de

sign

ass

essm

ents

for

stud

ent l

earn

ing

— a

nd to

re�

ect o

n ho

w y

our

tinke

ring

envi

ronm

ent,

activ

ities

, an

d fa

cilit

atio

n m

ay h

ave

supp

orte

d or

im

pede

d su

ch o

utco

mes

.

© 2

017

FIGURE 1 / THE TINKERING STUDIO’S LEARNING DIMENSION OF TINKERING, FROM:HTTPS://WWW.EXPLORATORIUM.EDU/TINKERING/OUR-WORK/LEARNING-DIMENSIONS-MAKING-AND-TINKERING


Recent educational research is helping to explain why some students feel more at home with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) in school, and why some students are more likely to want to pursue STEM than others. Outside influences –such as having a network of people to talk with about science, parents who work in STEM-related jobs, and trips to science museums - all interact to shape whether a young person will aspire to participate in STEM (Archer, Dawson, DeWitt, Seakins, & Wong, 2015; Archer et al., 2010; Archer, DeWitt, & Willis, 2013; DeWitt & Archer, 2015; DeWitt, Archer, & Mau, 2016; Godec, King, & Archer, 2017; King & Nomikou, 2017). These influences from home and the wider community have been categorised into eight dimensions of what is termed ‘science capital’, shown in figure 2 (Godec et al., 2017).

Research has shown that students with high levels of science capital (students who have access to science resources in their lives outside of scho-ol) tend to identify with and aspire to participate in STEM, both in school and beyond (DeWitt & Archer, 2015, DeWitt et al., 2016). On the other hand, students with fewer STEM opportunities and resources outside of school students (with relatively lower levels of science capital) are more likely to feel disconnected with STEM education because it does not resonate with things that they are doing or talking about it their wider lives (DeWitt & Archer, 2015; DeWitt et al., 2016). This has implications for inclusive STEM education.

3Tinkering and inclusive teaching

3.1SCIENCE CAPITAL AS A THEORY

FIGURE 2 / IDEAS FOR INCORPORATING THE DIMENSIONS OF SCIENCE CAPITAL CAN BE INCORPORATED INTO SCIENCE TEACHING. FROM GODEC ET AL., (2017)

SCIENCE CAPITAL DIMENSIONS

1SCIENTIFIC LITERACY

2 SCIENCE-RELATED ATTITUDES, VALUES AND DISPOSITIONS

3 KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE TRANSFERABILITY OF SCIENCE

4 SCIENCE MEDIA CONSUMPTION

5PARTICIPATION IN OUT-OF-SCHOOL SCIENCE LEARNING CONCEPTS

6FAMILY SCIENCE SKILLS, KNOWLEDGE AND QUALIFICATIONS

7KNOWING PEOPLE IN SCIENCE-RELATED JOBS

8TALKING ABOUT SCIENCE IN EVERYDAY LIFE

IDEAS FOR HOW TO BUILD THE DIMENSION OF SCIENCE CAPITAL IN STEM LESSONS

• A young person’s knowledge and understanding about science and how science works. This also includes their confidence in feeling that they know about science.

• The extent to which a young person sees science as relevant to their everyday life.

• Understanding the utility and broad application of scientific skills, knowledge and qualifications.

• The extent to which a person, engages with science-related media including television, books, magazines and internet content.

• How often a young person participates in informal science learning contexts, such as science museums, science clubs and fairs.

• The extent to which a young person’s family have science-related skills, qualifications, jobs, and interests.

• The people a young person knows (in a meaningful way) among their wider family, friends, peers, and community circles who work in science-related roles.

• How often a young person talks about science with key people in their lives (friends, siblings, parents, neighbours, community members).


A new ‘Science Capital Teaching Approach’ has recently been developed by teachers and researchers in the UK (Godec et al., 2017) and is summarised in figure 3. In this approach students who have low science capital are not seen as having something wrong that needs to be fixed. Rather, the focus is on adapting the teaching and learning context so that it better connects with and more deeply values the existing interests and experiences of the students (Godec et al., 2017). The approach recognises that what might be in-teresting and relevant for one student may not be for another. The teacher therefore needs to find ways to make the STEM classroom environment one that welcomes, connects with and deeply values everyone’s interests and perspectives, not just those who already feel that they are a ‘science kind of person’.

This does not mean creating new curriculum, but rather it requires a shift in the teacher’s mindset and practice so that they ‘broaden what counts’ as teaching and learning in the science classroom (Godec et al., 2017). At a very basic level, this ap-proach asks educational practitioners to explore and understand all of the wider experiences that influence a young person’s science identity and STEM aspirations (the eight dimensions of science capital), in order to create learning experiences that value a broader range of lived experiences and which help young people to understand how their lives can and do relate to STEM in a perso-nally meaningful way.

3.2SCIENCE CAPITAL AS A TEACHING APPROACH

FIGURE 3THREE PILLARS MODEL FOR UNDERSTANDINGTHE SCIENCE CAPITAL TEACHING APPROACH. FROM GODEC ET AL. (2017)

You can find more information on this teaching approach fromhttps://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/departments-centres/departments/education-practice-and-society/ science-capital-research/pdfs/the-science-capital-teaching-approach-pack-for-teachers


Tinkering has large potential to engage studen-ts who are facing social, economic or cultural disadvantage with STEM. It creates a bridging point between a learner’s personal interests and experiences and a broad range of possible lear-ning outcomes. In this way, Tinkering is very much aligned with a Science Capital Teaching Approach: fundamentally, it is a highly personalised pedago-gy, which allows the learner to follow their own interests and set their own goals. Table 1 explores the relationship between Tinkering and a Science Capital Teaching Approach.

3.3TINKERING AND SCIENCE CAPITAL

TIN

KER

ING

IN T

HIS

CO

NTE

XTSC

IEN

CE C

API

TAL

TEAC

HIN

G A

PPR

OACH

LEV

EL

(AD

APT

ED F

RO

M G

OD

EC E

T A

L 20

17)

FOU

ND

ATIO

N L

EVEL

: B

RO

AD

ENIN

G W

HAT

CO

UN

TS•

reco

gnis

ing

a br

oad

rang

e of

exp

erie

nces

,

skill

s an

d be

havi

ours

as

havi

ng a

legi

timat

e

pl

ace

in th

e st

em c

lass

room

• en

suri

ng a

ll st

uden

ts fe

el th

ey c

an c

ontr

ibut

e

info

rmat

ion

and

idea

s fr

om th

eir

lived

exp

erie

nces

and

that

thes

e ar

e va

lid a

nd w

ill b

e va

lued

.

PIL

LAR

1: P

ERSO

NA

LISI

NG

AN

D L

OCA

LISI

NG

•

Hel

ping

stu

dent

s se

e ho

w th

eir

inte

rest

s,

at

titud

es a

nd e

xper

ienc

es o

utsi

de o

f sch

ool

re

late

to S

TEM

. •

Pra

ctiti

oner

s bu

ild S

TEM

lear

ning

exp

erie

nces

from

stu

dent

s’ e

xist

ing

inte

rest

s an

d id

eas

and

mak

e

conn

ectio

ns w

ith s

tude

nts’

loca

l liv

es a

nd c

omm

uniti

es.

• P

erso

nal c

onte

xts

link

the

lear

ning

to th

e

‘h

ere

and

now

’of s

tude

nts’

eve

ryda

y liv

es.

Th

is c

an h

elp

stud

ents

who

may

not

per

ceiv

e

them

selv

es a

s ‘s

cien

cey’

to r

elat

e to

STE

M.

PIL

LAR

2. E

LIC

ITIN

G, V

ALU

ING

AN

D L

INK

ING

• U

sing

ope

n qu

estio

ning

tech

niqu

es to

elic

it kn

owle

dge

th

at c

omes

from

the

cont

ext o

f stu

dent

s’ h

ome

and

com

mun

ity li

fe.

• Fo

llow

ing-

up o

n co

mm

ents

and

link

ing

thes

e to

STE

M

lear

ning

con

text

s to

hel

p de

mon

stra

te th

at th

ese

ex

peri

ence

s ar

e va

lued

and

val

id.

• M

akin

g ef

fort

s to

incl

ude

all s

tude

nts

in le

sson

s,

es

peci

ally

thos

e w

ho m

ight

be

quie

t or

shy.

PIL

LAR

3: B

UIL

DIN

G T

HE

SCIE

NC

E CA

PIT

AL

DIM

ENSI

ON

S•

Ref

lect

ing

on th

e ei

ght d

imen

sion

s of

sci

ence

cap

ital

and

to tr

ying

to li

nk to

thes

e to

bui

ld th

ese

sort

s

of

res

ourc

es a

nd w

ays

of th

inki

ng.

• B

y us

ing

Tink

erin

g in

the

STEM

cur

ricu

lum

, pra

ctiti

oner

s ca

n de

mon

stra

te th

at p

erso

nal a

ttri

bute

s su

ch a

s cu

rios

ity

an

d re

silie

nce,

and

ski

lls s

uch

as q

uest

ioni

ng, a

nd te

stin

g id

eas

are

valu

ed in

STE

M, a

nd th

at S

TEM

is n

ot ju

st a

bout

lear

ning

fact

s

or g

ettin

g th

e ‘r

ight

’ ans

wer

. •

The

play

ful,

crea

tive

natu

re o

f Tin

keri

ng a

nd it

s fo

cus

on it

erat

ive

desi

gn (d

esig

n, m

ake,

test

, tw

eak,

ref

ine,

re-

desi

gn) e

ncou

rage

s an

und

erst

andi

ng

of th

e ex

peri

men

tal n

atur

e of

STE

M, a

nd o

f lea

rnin

g th

roug

h m

ista

kes

and

unex

pect

ed o

utco

mes

– r

athe

r th

an s

impl

y le

arni

ng fa

cts

or g

ettin

g

th

e ‘r

ight

’ ans

wer

for

test

s an

d ex

ams.

• Th

e en

viro

nmen

t in

whi

ch T

inke

ring

take

s pl

ace

is o

ne th

at is

wel

com

ing,

sup

port

ive

and

whi

ch v

alue

s id

eas

and

indi

vidu

al c

ontr

ibut

ions

,

incl

udin

g pe

rson

al r

espo

nses

.•

Faci

litat

ors

aim

to s

hare

and

cel

ebra

te m

omen

ts o

f won

der

as w

ell a

s in

tere

stin

g th

ough

ts a

nd e

xper

ienc

es th

at le

arne

rs h

ave.

• Ti

nker

ing

is a

hig

hly

pers

onal

exp

erie

nce

that

aim

s to

spa

rk a

nd m

aint

ain

inte

rest

by

allo

win

g th

e le

arne

r to

set

thei

r ow

n go

als

and

follo

w th

eir

inte

rest

s.•

Par

ticip

ants

follo

w a

per

sona

l pro

ject

that

is in

divi

dual

ly m

eani

ngfu

l and

bui

lds

fr

om th

eir

exis

ting

know

ledg

e an

d id

eas.

•

Tink

erin

g ca

n pr

ovid

e op

port

uniti

es to

cre

ate

pers

onal

ised

lear

ning

exp

erie

nces

th

at d

raw

upo

n in

divi

dual

inte

rest

s or

car

eer

aspi

ratio

ns.

• Ti

nker

ing

faci

litat

ion

atte

mpt

s to

hel

p th

e le

arne

r bu

ild c

onne

ctio

ns b

etw

een

thei

r

Tink

erin

g ex

peri

ence

and

out

side

inte

rest

s.

• Ti

nker

ing

ofte

n ta

kes

plac

e in

out

of s

choo

l con

text

s. T

his

coul

d co

ntri

bute

to d

imen

sion

5.

• Ti

nker

ing

can

enco

urag

e le

arne

rs to

talk

abo

ut s

cien

ce in

thei

r ev

eryd

ay li

ves.

Thi

s co

uld

cont

ribu

te to

dim

ensi

on 8

.•

Tink

erin

g ac

tiviti

es o

ften

dem

onst

rate

the

tran

sfer

able

nat

ure

of S

TEM

ski

lls b

ecau

se th

ey c

onne

ct a

nd w

ork

acro

ss d

iffer

ent m

edia

,

met

hods

and

dis

cipl

ines

. Thi

s co

uld

cont

ribu

te to

dim

ensi

on 3

.•

Ther

e ar

e m

any

poss

ible

sci

entif

ic li

tera

cy g

ains

for

lear

ners

taki

ng p

art i

n Ti

nker

ing.

For

exa

mpl

e, s

tude

nts

mig

ht le

arn

abou

t the

pro

pert

ies

of m

ater

ials

whe

n ch

oosi

ng w

hat t

o us

e, o

r th

ey m

ight

gai

n a

deep

er u

nder

stan

ding

of t

he im

port

ance

of c

ontr

ollin

g va

riab

les

whe

n te

stin

g a

hypo

thes

is.

This

cou

ld c

ontr

ibut

e to

bui

ld d

imen

sion

1.

• Th

e Ti

nker

ing

envi

ronm

ent (

ever

ythi

ng m

akin

g up

the

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7)


TINKERING

ACTIVITIES

AT SCHOOL


The project recommends a range of Tinkering activities that can be used at school, especially in disadvantaged contexts, as we believe they have a strong potential to encourage a more inclusive science education approach. These activities, presented below, have been iden-tified by the partners and tested at the museums with the students of the schools that were involved in the project. The activities are selected among the ones designed by the first European project dedicated to Tinkering and the ones designed by the Tinkering Studio at the Exploratorium of San Francisco.

MARBLE MACHINESA Marble Machine is a creative ball-run contrap-tion, made from familiar materials, designed to send a rolling marble through tubes and funnels, across tracks and bumpers, and into a catch at the end. We often suggest a goal of getting the marble to travel from the top of the board to a target at the bottom as slowly as possible. But that’s only one possible starting point for what can quickly turn into an addictive experience. You can set many challenges for yourself, the fun is in trying to solve them: make the marble travel uphill for a section or go up and then come back down; try to make a loop-de-loop, or an elevator to bring the marble back to the top of the board; or even use multiple marbles for more complex chain-reactions.

Description and the activity guide at: https://www.exploratorium.edu/tinkering/projects/marble-machines

LIGHT PLAYLight Play is an exploration with light, shadow, and colour by constructing a kinetic art vignette. Everyday objects are used as shadow makers with simple to use light sources and slow-moving motors to create graceful light and shadow scenes. At the end of the activity a collaborative wall of illuminated kinetic creations is made from the individual investigations.Light Play lets you explore light, shadow, and motion using a variety of simple materials and light sources. Beginning with gently guided explorations of shadows, single and multiple light sources, three-dimensional objects and translucency, parti-cipants gain the proficiency and “light vocabulary” to express their ideas, and their creativity is sparked. They will work toward building kinetic light and shadow vignettes, and eventually combine them into a collaborative installation.

Description and the activity guide at: https://www.exploratorium.edu/tinkering/projects/light-play

SCRIBBLING MACHINES Scribbling machines are motorized contraptions that move in unusual ways and leave a mark to trace their paths. They are made fr¬om simple materials and set in motion by the vibrating offset motor causing them to bounce, spin, bump and move in interesting ways.

Description and the activity guide at: https://www.exploratorium.edu/tinkering/projects/scribbling-machines

4Tinkering Activities at School


CIRCUIT BOARDSExperimenting with batteries, bulbs, buzzers, swi-tches, and other electrical components is a great way to start tinkering with circuits. Real parts moun-ted on sturdy wood blocks are designed for anyone to start creating electrical connections between everyday objects. From the basic elements you can deepen the experiments by adding potentiometers, double-pole double-throw switches (DPDT), motors, resistors, and other scrounged inputs and outputs that can do interesting and sometimes surprising things when connected. The set of circuit boards is not only a compelling way to work with electricity, but the parts can also be used in many other tinkering activities.

Description and the activity guide at: https://www.exploratorium.edu/tinkering/projects/circuit-boards

PAPER CIRCUITSMake simple or complex electrical circuits on a piece of paper! Copper tape and surface-mount LEDs allow you to turn a fully functional circuit into a light-up greeting card, origami animals, or three-dimensional pop-up paper sculptures that have working lights in them.

Description and the activity guide at: https://www.exploratorium.edu/tinkering/projects/paper-circuits

MOREIf you want to find out about additional Tinkering activities, see: https://www.exploratorium.edu/tinkering/ http://www.museoscienza.org/tinkering-eu/resour-ces.asp


Archer, L., Dawson, E., DeWitt, J., Seakins, A., & Wong, B. (2015). “Science capital”: A conceptual, methodological, and empirical argument for extending bourdieusian notions of capital beyond the arts. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 52(7), 922–948. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21227

Archer, L., DeWitt, J., Osborne, J., Dillon, J., Willis, B., & Wong, B. (2010). “Doing” science versus “being” a scientist: Examining 10/11 year old schoolchildren’s constructions of science through the lens of identity. Science Education, 94(4), 617–639. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.20399

Archer, L., DeWitt, J., & Willis, B. (2013). Adolescent boys’ science aspirations: Masculinity, capital, and power. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 51(1), 1–30. https://doi.org/10.1002/tea.21122

Bevan, B., Gutwill, J. P., Petrich, M., & Wilkinson, K. (2015). Learning Through STEM-Rich Tinkering: Findings From a Jointly Negotiated Research Project Taken Up in Practice. Science Education, 99(1), 98–120. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.21151

DeWitt, J., & Archer, L. (2015). Who Aspires to a Science Career? A comparison of survey responses from primary and secondary school students. International Journal of Science Education, 37(13), 2170–2192. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2015.1071899

DeWitt, J., Archer, L., & Mau, A. (2016). Dimensions of science capital: exploring its potential for understanding students’ science participation. International Journal of Science Education, 38(16), 2431–2449. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500693.2016.1248520

Godec, S., King, H., & Archer, L. (2017). The Science Capital Teaching Approach: engaging students with science, promoting social justice. London: University College London.

Harris, E., Winterbottom, M., Xanthoudaki, M., & de Piper, I. (2016). A Practitioner Guide for Developing and Implementing Tinkering Activities. EU Project “Tinkering: Contemporary Education for the Innovators of Tomorrow”ISBN: 978-88-89432-57-0. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/306066132_A_PRACTITIONER_GUIDE_FOR_DEVELOPING_AND_IMPLEMENTING_TINKE-RING_ACTIVITIES

King, H., & Nomikou, E. (2017). Fostering critical teacher agency: the impact of a science capital pedagogical approach. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 26(1), 87–103.

Petrich, M., Wilkinson, K., & Bevan, B. (2013). It looks like fun but are they learning? In M. Honey & D. E. Kanter (Eds.), Design, Make, Play: Growing the Next Generation of STEM Innovators (pp. 50–70). New York, NY: Routledge.

Wilkinson, K., & Petrich, M. (2014). The Art of Tinkering: Meet 150 Makers Working at the Intersection of Art, Science & Technology. San Francisco, CA: Weldon Owen.

5References

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