Materiality in Invention Pedagogy

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The Artifact Project : Promoting Design Learning in the Elementary Classroom

Designing, from its very premise, aims to create something new. Therefore, it can be seen as a form of object-oriented process of knowledge-creation, which, in turn, is considered a fundamental future competence. In order to productively participate in the future society, students need experience of creative knowledge work practices from an early stage of their education. Since the objects and effects of design are daily apparent all around us, engaging in and comprehending design processes provides a means of developing a deep understanding of the less tangible issues affecting us humans and the world we inhabit. However, design learning and knowledge-creation have not, especially at lower levels of education, attracted much research interest. The general aim of the present study is to examine how knowledge-creation exemplified by collaborative designing could be promoted at the elementary level of education. This objective is two-fold; on one hand, the present study investigates the nature of students' collaborative design learning processes and, on the other hand, the facilitation of these processes. Further, the study explores the role of social, material, and embodied dimensions of designing in the learning processes as well as in their facilitation. The study represents design-based research, where the pedagogical approach Learning by Collaborative Design (LCD) was, for the first time, applied at the elementary level of education. In order to examine and further advance the approach, a longitudinal project, the Artifact Project, was organized in an elementary school in Helsinki, Finland. Video data (approximately 16 h) from the project's lamp designing phase constitute the main data source of the present study. The leadership of this phase was provided by a professional designer, and the data consists of interaction between him and the students, as well as of the student teams' peer collaboration. In addition, selected views from the Artifact Project's Knowledge Forum database were analyzed. The data was approached through iterative cycles of qualitative content analyses. The findings indicate that elementary students are able to engage in and learn creative knowledge-creation and design processes, and that these processes can be structured and promoted using the pedagogical LCD approach. Three foci of participants' activity were identified in the study, indicating that in order to engage in genuine design inquiry, students need support in understanding the rationale directing the design practice, in actually engaging in these practices, and in the reflection and sharing of their emerging design knowledge. From the findings, four pedagogical implications were drawn. First, creative knowledge-creation and design processes evolve within long, preferably undefined periods of time. Second, design is inherently interdisciplinary, and students' emerging design knowledge also calls for knowledge of science and the humanities. Third, design competence develops through several connected levels social, material, and embodied of thinking, interacting, and meaning making. Fourth, collective and participatory learning facilitates creative designing and knowledge-creation. The implications drawn are linked with the emerging maker culture, which may provide new prospects for implementing design learning as well as underlining its significance in general education.Suunnittelu on työskentelyä jonkin uuden kohteen esimerkiksi tuotteen, palvelun tai järjestelmän kehittämiseksi. Samalla syntyy myös paljon uutta tietoa, jonka vuoksi suunnittelusta voidaan puhua kohteellisena tiedon luomisen prosessina. Tulevaisuudessa tarvitaan yhä enemmän osaajia, joilla on kokemusta tämänkaltaisista luovista tietokäytännöistä. Tiedon luominen korostuu myös uusissa esi- ja perusopetuksen opetussuunnitelman perusteissa, joihin perustuva opetus alkaa syksyllä 2016. Tämän vuoksi tarvitaan pedagogisia malleja, jotka tukevat ja jäsentävät tiedon luomisen opiskelua jo varhaisilta koulutusasteilta lähtien. Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan yhteisöllisen ja tutkivan suunnittelun kautta tapahtuvan tiedon luomisen opiskelua alakoulussa. Tutkimus edustaa kehittämistutkimusta (design-based research), jossa yhteisöllisen tutkivan suunnittelun pedagogista mallia Learning by Collaborative Design (LCD) sovellettiin ensimmäisen kerran alakoulun opetuksessa. Mallin soveltuvuuden arvioimiseksi ja sen edelleen kehittämiseksi järjestettiin pitkäkestoinen Esine-projekti helsinkiläisessä alakoulussa. Tutkimuksen pääaineistona on projektin valaisinsuunnitteluvaiheessa kuvattu videomateriaali, jolle tallennettiin oppilaiden ja ohjaajana toimineen ammattisuunnittelijan vuorovaikutus. Lisäaineistona on projektin aikana verkko-oppimisympäristöön luotu tietokanta. Aineistoa on analysoitu laadullisen sisällönanalyysin keinoin. Tulokset osoittavat, että alakouluikäiset oppilaat kykenevät osallistumaan yhteisöllisen tutkivan suunnittelun kautta tapahtuvaan tiedon luomiseen, ja että tätä prosessia voidaan jäsentää ja tukea LCD mallin avulla. Suunnittelussa tarvittava ja sen aikana syntyvä tieto on kuitenkin moniulotteista ja haastavaa, ja oppilaat tarvitsevat tukea sen luomiseen ja hyödyntämiseen. Tukea tarvitaan suunnittelun käytäntöjen taustalla vaikuttavien perusteiden ymmärtämiseen, itse käytäntöihin osallistumiseen, sekä oman kehittyvän suunnittelutiedon reflektointiin ja jakamiseen. Tutkimuksen tuloksista tehtiin neljä pedagogista johtopäätöstä. Ensinnäkin, suunnittelu ja tiedon luominen ovat pitkäkestoisia luovia prosesseja, joiden vaatimaa aikaa ei voida tarkasti ennalta määritellä. Toiseksi, suunnittelu on luontaisesti monitieteistä, ja suunnittelutieto vaatii kehittyäkseen myös tietoa luonnon- ja ihmistieteistä. Kolmanneksi, kyvykkyys suunnittelussa kehittyy useilla eri ajattelun, vuorovaikutuksen ja merkitysten rakentamisen tasoilla sosiaalisilla, materiaalisilla ja kehollisilla. Neljänneksi, kollektiivinen ja koulun rajoja laajentava oppiminen tukee suunnittelua ja tiedon luomista. Tutkimuksen johtopäätökset linkittyvät kehittymässä olevaan maker-kulttuuriin, joka voi tarjota uusia mahdollisuuksia suunnittelun kautta tapahtuvan tiedon luomisen opiskelulle perusopetuksessa

Conclusions: The Cornerstones and Future Directions of Invention Pedagogy

In this chapter, the key elements of invention projects presented in the introduction and explored in the chapters of this book are revisited and further discussed as the four cornerstones of invention pedagogy. The cornerstones—inclusive innovator mindset, multifaceted real-world phenomena, co-creation of knowledge and artifacts, and technology-enriched tools and materials—are seen as essential for students’ knowledge-creating learning, for the facilitation of such learning, and for the development of an inventive school culture. The continuous development of all these levels of invention pedagogy is supported by research–practice partnerships in national and international contexts.Peer reviewe

Learning to Create - Creating to Learn

Creativity has been recognized as a fundamental future competence, but there has been a lack of research on pedagogies in nurturing learners’ creativity in K–12 education. This chapter explores how students’ and teachers’ competencies for creativity can be applied and developed through participation in invention projects. An invention project called We Design & Make, in which eighth-grade students used the design thinking approach for co-creating e-textile products for local preschoolers, is presented. By describing the nature of their creative process and practices, and the teachers’ pedagogical practices for building a creative classroom culture, how competencies for creativity include various skills and capabilities that concern both students and teachers is illustrated. These include creative and critical thinking skills, social and emotional skills, and certain domain-specific concepts and practices.Peer reviewe

Introduction : Roots and Key Elements of Invention Pedagogy

In this chapter, we embark on a journey to invention pedagogy. The chapter describes the origins and key elements of invention pedagogy along with how and why it was developed over the course of several years of joint efforts of researchers and practitioners. It discusses invention pedagogy in the context of Finnish education and in relation to similar international concepts, such as maker education and the science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) approach.Peer reviewe

Suomen käsityönopetus myllerryksessä

In this article, we investigated how craft curriculum enacted in 2016 is reflected in the current discussions of the craft stakeholders, that is, the teachers, the government employees, the researchers, and the student teachers. In the curriculum, textile craft and technical craft, previously perceived mainly as separate entities, were conjoined as an approach in which “multiple materials are used, and activities are based on craft expression, design, and technology” (FNBE, 2014). This caused confusion in the field about the goals of craft education. The discussions concerning the undertaking of the new craft curriculum were analysed by document analysis. The data consisted of craft teachers’ professional magazines, curriculum blog, and written statements. Three emerging themes were found to be central: lesson hour distribution, multi-materiality, and technology education. The analysis revealed that there was a shared understanding about the lesson hour distribution not being enough to enable the proper fulfilment of the craft curriculum. Conflicting views were expressed about the implementation of multi-materiality and technology education. In general, the textile craft stakeholders were open to adapt a more multi-material approach to their teaching, seeing it as bringing also new opportunities. Many technical craft teachers believed that multi-materiality is an artificially-constructed concept, and they saw technology education as already being an essential part of technical craft teaching. Obviously, the curriculum reform has caused turbulence that is dividing craft stakeholders and especially the craft teachers.In this article, we investigated how craft curriculum enacted in 2016 was reflected in the current discussions of the stakeholders, that is, the craft teachers, the craft student teachers, the craft teacher educators, and the government employees. In the curriculum, textile craft and technical craft, previously perceived mainly as separate entities, were conjoined as an approach in which “multiple materials are used, and activities are based on craft expression, design, and technology” (FNBE, 2014). This caused confusion in the field about the goals and arrangements of craft education. The data consisted of craft teachers’ professional magazines, curriculum blog, and written statements. The discussions concerning the undertaking of the new craft curriculum were analysed by document analysis. Three emerging themes were found to be central in the debates: lesson hour distribution, multi-materiality, and technology education. The analysis revealed that there was a shared understanding about the lesson hour distribution not being enough to enable the proper fulfilment of the craft curriculum. Conflicting views were expressed about the implementation of multi-materiality and technology education. In general, many textile craft stakeholders were open to adapt a more multi-material approach, seeing it as bringing new opportunities to craft education. Many technical craft stakeholders believed that multi-materiality is an artificially-constructed concept, and they saw technology education as already being an essential part of technical craft teaching. Consequently, the curriculum reform has caused turbulence that is dividing the craft stakeholders and especially the craft teachers.Peer reviewe

Design Thinking in Elementary Students’ Collaborative Lamp Designing Process

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Learning Environments for Invention Pedagogy

Invention pedagogy requires learning environments that enable the creative activities of inventing and making in schools. Such environments include physical, virtual, and epistemic-social environments and related pedagogical conditions, which all need to be addressed when designing spaces and places for invention pedagogy. This chapter presents the ongoing co-development process of the Innokas FabLearn Labs, in which a network of technology-oriented and development-oriented teachers co-created a flexible and modifiable concept for designing a multipurposed learning environment. Through the framework of pedagogical infrastructures, the chapter illustrates how the essential underlying pedagogical conditions, i.e., epistemological, scaffolding, social, and material-technological infrastructures, were addressed in the development work to create well-functioning makerspaces in formal education. In addition, future directions for the development of the concept are provided.Peer reviewe

Teachers’ perceptions of social support in the co-planning of multidisciplinary technology education

In Finland, technology education is a multidisciplinary field where team teaching serves as a basis for the integration of technology across different school subjects. However, Finnish teacher education does not adequately prepare the student teachers for multidisciplinary technology education, and the professional competency is often gained through voluntary participation in professional development courses. The resulting individual differences in teachers’ technology education competency hinder their ability to plan such educational offerings together. While previous studies have identified multidisciplinary team teaching as a way of balancing out individual differences in teachers’ professional competency, the ability to leverage it depends on the availability of social support. Previous studies have examined the effect of social support in teachers’ professional well-being, but further research on its role in organising multidisciplinary technology education is needed. This study explores what kind of social support is involved in the co-planning of multidisciplinary technology education. Eleven experienced in-service teachers representing different school subjects participated in interviews carried out in 2019–2020. The data were analysed by applying the principles of qualitative content analysis. The findings revealed that instrumental support in the form of new ideas, tools, and methods was emphasised in the teachers’ experiences. The perceived needs for more social support were mainly related to making joint decisions during the co-planning process. The findings indicate that co-planning in multidisciplinary teams increases the versatility of possible implementations of technology education. However, leveraging multidisciplinary team teaching would require more support for pedagogical leadership.Peer reviewe

Challenging creativity constraints : Three design studios in craft teacher education

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