Innovating Approaches

If you walked into the MakerLab this spring, you’d find it overflowing with student work. You’d see engineering students building boats, go-karts, and vending machines. You’d see senior project students such as Ryan Grace ’19 laser etching logos onto his pair of skis or BK Kim ’19 troubleshooting his kinetic alarm clock. And you’d also see classes from all different departments using the lab and making to enhance the understanding of their subject.

As MakerLab Coordinator, my goal is to provide a hub for hands-on learning at Tabor, a place where students and faculty can go to create, to invent, and to learn. We use 21st Century tools: 3D printers, a laser cutter, a vinyl cutter, as well as woodworking and metalworking tools. We make things and break things in order to learn how to make them better.

All kinds of students make use of the MakerLab. Engineering students take classes in the space. Members of the co-curricular program can spend their afternoons mastering the tools while they work on projects outside of the structure of the academic day. However, many students’ first chance to use the space comes in the form of an interdisciplinary project conducted by any one of a host of classes from across the curricular spectrum.

Recently, I’ve had the opportunity to work with a number of colleagues to develop meaningful hands-on projects. The process starts with a conversation. I meet with the teacher to discuss the topic they are studying and their curriculum goals: what do we want the students to learn? Then we talk about what tools are available and some project ideas. Together, we develop a project that will help the students further their subject-matter understanding while making something cool.

In STEM subjects, the projects are more readily apparent. For example, CK Kennedy’s precalculus students used their understanding of conic curves to create three-dimensional models of a parabolic dish that they could 3D print. They used a microphone to test their 3D printed dishes and found that the parabolic shape channeled incoming sound waves the same way that a satellite dish channels signals from space into its focal point. Mackenzie Chaput’s class took a more artistic approach, blending equations with art to create unique sculptures in laser-cut wood.

In the “MakerLab-by-the-Sea,” we have ongoing collaborations with Jay Cassista, Director of Marine Science at Tabor. Engineering students work with oceanography students to build remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) that the students can use in Sippican Harbor and beyond. The marine science students become experts in what data they need, while the engineering students design the ROV to include the instruments needed to collect the data. Then they can work together to put the ROV to good use in the water, keep it working, and make continuous improvements to its design. Steven Walxim ’19 said, “My partner and I thought it would be very interesting to add a visual component into the ROV created by the previous year’s Advanced Engineering class, in addition to the different sensors required. We were excited to get our hands on the right components for the ROV and the sensor kit as well. We faced a number of challenges with both hardware and software, yet with the help of Dr. K, we got the ROV working and shared it with Mr. Cassista’s Oceanography class. This experience made me realize how complicated these projects can be, even for advanced engineering students.”

The MakerLab offers humanities students a way to engage with their subjects beyond putting pen to paper. Chris McEnroe’s senior English students used the concept of an escape room as a metaphor for the reader experiencing a personal essay. We first took the students to Mass Escape in New Bedford, where they solved two different puzzle rooms and received a backstage tour to learn about how escape rooms are created. Then they designed their own rooms, writing a story that tied their puzzles together into a coherent narrative. Finally, they constructed models of their rooms in the MakerLab to visualize what they had designed. While I was focused on the maker skills they developed, Chris noted how the escape room metaphor enhanced the students writing as they finished off their senior spring.

Hands-on projects can reinforce subject-specific skills and content knowledge as well as promote collaboration, creativity, problem-solving, and resilience. The MakerLab and our recent change to a longer block schedule have provided new opportunities for project-based learning. I look forward to continued and future collaborations with my colleagues and to providing these opportunities for students across the curriculum.