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STEM, ROBOTS, CODES, MAKERS SPACES

STEM, Robots, Codes, Maker’s Spaces Overview

Alexander W. LaForest

School of EDD: Administration and Supervision: Educational Leadership, Liberty University

EDUC730: Issues & Trends in Learning Technologies

Dr. Brian Kuyatt

April 3, 2022

Author Note

Alexander W. LaForest

I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Alexander LaForest. Email:

alaforest@liberty.edu
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Abstract

This paper strives to discuss the importance of STEM, Robotics, Coding, and Maker

Spaces in schools. Each initiative will be examined for their ethical consideration as well as best

practices for integration. Additionally, each initiative will be assessed at the local level for the

Greater Hartford area in Connecticut. STEM, Robotics, Coding, and Maker Spaces will be

assessed for their significance, barriers for students, potential downsides, and future directions

that can be done. At the end of this paper a biblical perspective will be placed on the accessibility

and assessment to local technology. This paper works to set a basis as to what is currently

available in the Greater Hartford area as well as propose potential avenues that the community

can go.

Keywords: STEM, Robotics, Coding, Maker Spaces, Connecticut, Accessibility

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STEM, Robots, Codes, Maker’s Spaces Overview

Throughout the turn of the century, education has continued its deep dive in the world of

technology. Whether it be educational or instructional technology, the modern-day classroom is

quite different than its counterpart 50 years ago. Students, teachers, and parents have the world at

their fingertips. Any information one might want is just a search button away. However, just

because resources are available does not mean that they are known how to be implemented. The

world of education often sees trends rise and fall over the years, but the integration and desire for

technology has been one that keeps climbing and working its way into conversations.

Four aspects of technology in education are, STEM, Robotics, Coding, and Maker

Spaces. These various initiatives all hold grounding in the classroom, adding to the curriculum

that is currently being used. With proper integration of STEM, Robotics, Coding, and Maker

Spaces, teachers can work towards helping their students to become empowered learners,

knowledge constructors, innovative designers, and computational thinkers (Schrum &

Sumerfield, 2018). While not all aspects of technology need to be present in everyday education,

schools and communities should strive to provide opportunities for learners of all ages.

STEM (STEAM)

The push for STEM or STEAM classes is something that many schools and districts

strive to provide. However, there is often an air of misunderstanding of privilege around STEM

learning. An Anonymous (2022) source writes, “they were afraid to speak up and that everything

they had learned up until that point about their role and lack of privilege in society … had taught

them that rocking the boat would do no good” (p. 6). For students to be afraid to ask for

assistance due to fear of ridicule or punishment is something educators need to consistently

combat. Educators need to push the narrative that anyone can learn and work in STEM. Tezer et.
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al (2021) write, “75% of the fastest growing occupations require significant science or

mathematics education. In this sense, it is necessary for students to have solid STEM knowledge

to be ready for university and to be employed” (p. 182). As teachers integrate STEM instruction

into their classroom, there does not need to be a divide between content curriculum and a STEM

initiative. With proper integration, STEM can be utilized as a modality for answering questions

and supplement learning opposed to being a conflicting force. Tezer et. al also contribute,

“STEM education is defined as an integrated approach that aims at 21st century skills rather than

learning and applying different disciplines by separating them from each other, providing the

development of scientific process skills” (p. 182). If teachers can create a classroom environment

that invites the opportunity to collaborate and make mistakes without repercussions, then

educators can work towards implementing an ethically sound STEM program.

Why is it significant?

Being able to offer STEM opportunities both in and out of school helps students become

more confident with their abilities as well as real world implications of a STEM education. There

are several districts in the area, Manchester, Vernon, Hartford, etc. in Connecticut that offer

STEM as a daily course in their schools. For Manchester in particular, their middle school STEM

course is a stand-alone elective that students can take at one of two levels. Students that are

leveled higher in math courses can take STEM as a yearlong elective, while other students can

take a STEM class as a quarterly elective. Hartford’s implementation of STEM is a bit different,

having specific schools to focus on STEM education, while the rest of the district is left to

integrate on a teacher-by-teacher basis. Community programs that are offered locally are offered

predominantly in the summer for students that are in grades K-9 at various levels for weekly
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STEM based camps.

What are the downsides and/or barriers and how might these be overcome?

Accessibility seems to be a major issue with the local offerings for STEM. At a school

level the achievement gap seems to play a major factor in determining who is eligible for STEM

courses. In Manchester, students who are deemed gifted get access to STEM for a full year,

while other students can only participate for 25% of the year. Hartford, however, focuses a single

school on the STEM initiative while leaving the remaining 45 schools to implement as they see

fit. This all or nothing approach to STEM perpetuates the stigmatized belief of how some

students view STEM as something they are not smart enough for. To overcome these challenges,

school districts could look towards implementing professional developments to aid teachers with

integrating STEM initiatives into daily instruction. With proper training, teachers would be able

to help students learn about STEM, opposed to treating STEM as just another buzzword.

Additionally, school-based focus is not enough. Local libraries and community programs could

work on adding STEM events to the calendar. By doing so, children and parents could learn

more about STEM opportunities and instruction.

Where is it going in the future?

Collaboration is on the rise in local venues in the Greater Hartford Area. Businesses are

working together to stay afloat as society strives to leave the pandemic behind. The same can be

said about local programs and schools. After several years of struggling to spread information in

a lockdown, schools and programs are working to find their pacing again. The big push needs to

be on assessing needs and communicating the help desired to accomplish these goals.

Acquiescence must take a backseat as communities strive to make STEM a part of daily speech

and actions.
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Links:

https://www.manchestercc.edu/continuing-education/excursions-in-learning/summer-

enrichment-program/technology-camp/

http://ysb1.townofmanchester.org/NewYSB/assets/File/Programs%20at%20a

%20Glance(2).pdf

https://www.hartfordschools.org/stem/

Robotics

One of the most intimidating aspects of integrating technology is thinking of the how.

Robotics is no stranger to this dilemma. Many educators over think the connections of robotics to

curriculum and wind up forgoing the implementation of robotics into their classroom. Casler-

Failing (2021) writes, “Learning robotics is a very hands-on, engaging activity that incorporates

many aspects of Vygotsky’s Social Constructivist Theory… the idea that children learn best

through playful, social interactions that allow learners the opportunity to support one another

through discourse” (p. 3). Schools that can implement robotics into their classrooms, help

provide students with the opportunity for hands-on learning of abstract concepts. Nevertheless,

teachers tend to overthink how to implement robotics. LEGO has created materials for teachers

to use in the classroom to assist with math instruction (Casler-Failing, 2021). With proper

implementation robotics helps students become “makers rather than just consumers” (Alimisis,

2013, p. 67). Mammina (2017) writes, “robots can also strengthen students’ soft skills,

like problem-solving and teamwork. For some students, robotics defines their school experience

by making learning fun, interactive, and creative” (para. 7). Teachers need to work with

community partners and grant writers to access the proper materials. Without access to materials,

robotics will not be able to be effectively implemented into classrooms. However, teachers
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cannot be provided with the resources without training. Doing so will leave boxes of unused

material to be labeled as useless and ineffective. Moving forward, schools should reach out to

community partners and families to create events to further the understanding of robotics in

school as well as life.

Why is it significant?

Offerings for robotics helps children begin to learn engineering skills in a friendly

environment. Local libraries in Manchester, CT offer a monthly club where teens can come

practice and build robotic skills. Additionally, many local high schools offer a robotics club.

Casler-Failing (2021) writes, “the incorporation of technology instruction in methods courses as

a means to meaningfully integrate the three knowledge domains of content, pedagogy and

technology over a longer duration of time as opposed to ‘once and done’ instructional sessions

on technology” (p. 17). Robotics offers a hands-on opportunity for students to not only connect

with material but create a physical manifestation of their understanding. These clubs centered

around robotics helps students not only build engineering skills but also teamwork, comradery,

and problem-solving skills.

What are the downsides and/or barriers and how might these be overcome?

Robotics is often viewed as overtly complicated and something that people are often not

smart enough to accomplish. Integration of robotic programs in schools and communities to

spread knowledge can help combat this issue. However, not many schools have access to

materials to create a curriculum around robotics. Typically, robotics is left to as a club. This

perpetuates two issues. Students who do not have the ability to attend clubs, or fear inadequacy

regarding robotics may not or will not attend. This furthers the problem of the technology gap

concerning accessibility. Schools must utilize robotic skills in the classroom to teach content.
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Again, this requires proper training for the teachers to effectively implement. Additionally,

community nights should be offered to assist parents in learning robotic skills to then help their

children. Fear of the unknown and accessibility are two prominent issues regarding technology,

this can only be alleviated through practice and presence.

Where is it going in the future?

Local community programs offer a monthly robotic night for middle school teens, while

schools offer a weekly club for high school students. Cross outreach can be done to booster

attendance numbers for the community program that can feed into the high schools.

Additionally, the CT STEM Academy prior to the COVID-19 pandemic offered weekly STEM

nights for children and parents of all ages. During the pandemic all operations were postponed,

but as normalcy resumes, the CT STEM Academy is looking to reinstate weekly events at

multiple locations throughout the state to focus on robotics using LEGOS. Using LEGOS to

teach robotics, helps to show that robotics does not need to be cold metal and intense algorithms.

Potentially, while the CT STEM Academy has extra-curricular events paused, they can partner

with local schools to teach lessons during the school day. Doing so would spread awareness for

robotic instruction as well as circumvent the professional development needed for teachers.

Links:
https://www.journalinquirer.com/towns/manchester/code-carnival-at-illing-teaches-

coding-with-games-design/article_ad8c9682-f8ab-11e8-bc96-af98b6bbe9ef.html

https://www.hartfordschools.org/hphs-pathways-academy-robotics-team-brings-home-

prestigious-award/

http://library1.townofmanchester.org/index.cfm/teen-services-mpl/

https://www.ctstemacademy.org/

Hour of Code (Coding in Education)

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Coding is a valuable skill for students to learn and start developing an understanding that

they can capitalize on in years to come. Not only does coding teach students how to program in

multiple coding languages, but it also instills problem solving skills. Okal et. al (2020) write,

“students with increased coding knowledge [have] improved positively their programming self-

efficacy” (p. 161). Coding introduces students to problem solving skills in a multi-faceted sense.

When beginning a coding project, students may know the whole picture, but then need to create

smaller based codes to tackle individual issues. It is much like building a puzzle. The front of the

box forecasts what the end goal image is, but whether you start with the boarders or the center,

there are multiple ways to get to the result. Demir (2021) writes, “coding education can provide

many educational opportunities to support the problem-solving skills of special education

students” (p. 13). Utilizing a curriculum that honors coding creates an inclusive classroom. A

multitude of sites such as scratch.com, codespark.com, and tynker.com offer resources as well as

gamified platforms for students to practice coding skills. Coding is one of the most accessible

technology initiatives, being able to be done from a phone or laptop. Hour of code is a

nationwide initiative that strives to have all students build coding skills. While being a fun event

to get students of all ages and levels interested in coding, to be truly effective as a mode, coding

needs to take place in the classroom for more than an hour during an event.

Why is it significant?

With more and more technology on the rise, coding is a skill that is highly sought after.

Being able to provide coding skills to students will help to set them up for success. Whether

coding, in C++, Python, Java, HTML, XML, etc., every coding language has a specific series of

prompts that students can learn. The more prominent students become in one coding language,

they can then work on transferring the skills to another language. With these skills students can
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work on developing websites, robotics, and other programming ventures. However, without

access to these skills, students will be left to discover these languages on their own. Local

community programs at the Manchester Mary Cheney Library offers a monthly coding night for

middle school students to practice coding in tandem with robotics. Additionally, hour of code has

dozens of resources that are available for free use year-round. However, with many districts

pushing for Hour of Code to be an annual event, those resources are pocketed away to be used

once a year. This leaves private companies to teach coding to children. Coding Ninjas is an

international company that strives to instruct students in problem solving skills based in coding.

While be prominent and productive, with the coding skills being held behind a paywall, it begs

the question of an ethical practice. Just as language classes are taught in schools as a part of a

free public education, so should coding courses.

What are the downsides and/or barriers and how might these be overcome?

To effectively practice a skill with the hopes of improving there need to be two things:

frequency and feedback. Unfortunately, frequency for coding is lacking across the board in local

avenues. With coding being a monthly or annual activity, skills are forgotten and must be

retaught to make future progress. The counter option to these free services are private companies

who keep knowledge behind a paywall. As a business, Code Ninjas is no different than

Mathnasium and their math tutors. However, math instruction is a daily practice in schools,

where coding is not. To overcome this issue, resources for coding that are restricted to annual

use, should be implemented into instruction of math concepts. These activities can be a part of

daily instruction or used for extra-curricular work. For most technology-based initiatives access

to resources is an issue, but coding is a skill that can be done with minimal resources. The only

aspect keeping from coding from being utilized in the classroom on a daily or weekly basis are
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the teachers. Teachers need time to learn how to integrate and support their students in the

classroom.

Where is it going in the future?

Increasing the frequency and feedback for both teachers and students will not only build

student skills, but teacher practice as well. Technology programs in community venues are

finding ground with both attendance and participation, now the future needs to take community

initiatives and reflect into the classroom. As students build their self-efficacy, they can become

classroom instructors helping their peers. This allots for less of the pressure to be on the teacher

and gives students free choice. However, this requires strict planning and forming of classroom

norms to integrate coding into the classroom. Although the more it is done with fidelity the

easier it will become and the frequently it can be done.

Links:

http://library1.townofmanchester.org/index.cfm/teen-services-mpl/

https://hourofcode.com/us

https://www.codeninjas.com/

Maker’s Spaces

Maker Spaces while being one of newest initiatives to come from STEM education, are

one of the scarcely located in schools. However, implementation for Maker Spaces requires

some creative thinking. Seven attributes of a great makerspace include personalized, deep,

empowering, equitable, differentiated, intentional, and inspiring (Fleming, 2018). To make the

most of these seven ideas, Maker Spaces must reflect their makers, the students. This leads to the

spaces being redecorated or shifted each year. However, this requires for there to be space for

Maker Space to be built with enough space for student to collaborate and work side-by-side.
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Schrum and Sumerfield write, “innovations over the past few years, such as 3-D printers have

brought about an increased interest in these types of activities…one of the hallmarks of this

movement is the democratization of access to equipment and tools” (p. 59). Maker Spaces not

only give students a place to see their ideas come to life, but also help them build skills of

fellowship and sharing. One of the biggest ethical issues surrounding maker spaces has to do

with access to physical space and resources. Although this then leans into equity versus equality.

While all schools might not have the same resources, do they need the same resources? For a

school to have a 3-D printer with no-one that knows how to operate it, what’s the purpose?

While there is the potential for usage, it’s there for the point of being an item on a checklist that a

school can provide. Being able to create a maker space that reflects the students using it should

be the goal of the school. If resources are needed, reaching out to local community partners and

schools to set up a sharing system could help allocate tools and materials that may be outside of

the budget for some districts.

Why is it significant?

Providing spaces for students to experiment and learn is key in adolescence. Lynch

(2017) writes, “Makerspaces are a vital piece in the education of today’s students, and as such,

they provide hands-on learning experiences that are not available in a traditional classroom

environment” (para. 7). In the last 15 years, Manchester schools phased out technology education

and woodshop with the goal of creating more classrooms to lower the student to teacher ratio.

However, within the last 5 years, these new classrooms are being allocated for STEM based

instruction with the hopes of creating Maker Spaces for students. Although this is in one district,

and not every district has the physical space to allocate for Maker Spaces. This is where

community partners come into play. Workspace in Manchester, while being predominantly a
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center for private office rental has recently installed a 3-D printer to give makers access to a

printer for the cost of $20 a day. Makerspace CT based out of Hartford, has a multitude of shops

ranging from wood to metal to plastics to textiles. They offer collaborative think tanks and

access to shop leads who are expert makers in their disciplines. Makerspace CT also offers

courses to learn new skills. Monthly membership to Makerspace CT is $149.00. A third option is

Spark Makerspace on the shoreline of Connecticut. Like Makerspace CT, Spark offers a smaller

spread of various studios and training for $55.00 a month. While each Maker Space offers tools

and training for young makers, being behind a paywall yet again begs an ethical question of

paying for knowledge and skills. Spark Makerspace however offers a scholarship for those that

cannot afford the membership fees.

What are the downsides and/or barriers and how might these be overcome?

With limited access to Maker Spaces in schools the weight falls on community programs

to provide spaces for students to access learning, training, and tools. Yet, many programs require

a cost and transportation for students to get to certain locations. There are a few ways that the

issues surrounding financial and physical accessibility can be combated. Firstly, if more spaces

would implement a scholarship program like Spark, the paywall could be lifted. Training and

volunteering could be required to counteract the financial repercussions on the business end.

Secondly, if school programs were to partner with local Maker Spaces, awareness of skills and

tools could be raised. If a weekly school club were to be formed, then they could travel to the

Maker Space offsite to learn about various modes of making. This could then lead towards

allocating space and funds to build a Maker Space onsite.

Where is it going in the future?

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The initiative of Maker Spaces is still on the rise with local venues in Connecticut. Over

the past few years several spaces have opened and become areas where learners of all ages can

interact. Unfortunately, accessibility for students is still limited as many venues are at cost. As

schools shift towards creating Maker Spaces, they will need access to tools and physical space.

While physical space is something that each school will have to allocate for themselves, the

required tools in the spaces must reflect the student needs. School and partnerships with

Workspace in Manchester have already begun to flourish showcasing student art, the next steps

would be to start creating events to share and spread information and access to materials. If

surrounding districts can do the same, a small network of makers can be created throughout the

Greater Hartford area to help allocate tools and equipment.

Links:

https://makerspacect.com/home/

https://www.sparkmakerspace.org/

http://workspacemanchester.com/

Conclusion

STEM, Robotics, Coding, and Maker Spaces are all recent buzzwords that have risen to

the front of the educational conversation. Discovering how to implement all four with fidelity

and equality is a continuing struggle for teachers and districts. The persistent argument for time

and resources plagues almost every conversation in education. However, teachers do not need to

fight this fight alone. Community resources, parents, and students are also involved in this fight.

Being able to rely on and support each other will make implementation easier. In Proverbs 27:17

(New Living Translation) Solomon writes, “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.”

This scripture is one of many that holds collaboration as key. For technology to become
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prominent in classrooms, schools, and communities, the dissemination of knowledge and

resources needs to happen. However, without schools and teachers advocating for this initiative,

it will not flourish. Scripture tells in Matthew 7:7 (New Living Translation), “keep on asking,

and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking

and the door will be opened for you.” The key here is to keep on trying. To keep on advocating

for resources. To keep on striving to bring technology into the classroom. It is not to ask once,

but to keep on asking. By doing so partnerships between schools and communities can work to

help give students and parents access to resources surrounding STEM, Robotics, Coding, and

Maker Spaces.
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