Learning by Making

A 3D printer lays row upon row of blue plastic onto a model of a protein.

The Makery boasts two 3D printers, a sewing machine, Raspberry Pi computers and a copious amount of velcro. Photo by Ben West '14.

New space offers resources for hands-on trial-and-error in the Bosler basement

Multimedia Specialist Brenda Landis readies ingredients on the counter: small motor, old toothbrushes, brightly colored wires. She lauds the value of the error in trial-and-error as Andy Petrus, another multimedia specialist, speeds into the room bearing the finished product, prepared earlier. Petrus' and Landis' eyes twinkle when they flip a small switch, starting a hand-me-down motor whose vibrating secondhand brushes make the small robot whir around the counter.

Welcome to the Makery, a Media Center space that's been cooking all summer, designed to be a hub for creation, experimentation and education for the Dickinson community. It's the latest outpost of an expanding frontier of DIY makerspaces, 21st-century commons outfitted with expertise, equipment and a do-it-yourself, creative ethic. Brought to Dickinson by Landis' and Petrus' maker-spirit and the Office of Academic Technology's shrewd reading of the academic landscape, it promises to be a boon to the growing ranks of students pursuing or curious about entrepreneurialism, sustainability and making something useful.

 

An instruction manual is opened to project number ten, guiding curious learners of all ages to make their own circuits.

An instruction manual is opened to project number 10, guiding curious learners of all ages to make their own circuits.

 

 

Where DIY and IT meet

Makerspaces like this are an outgrowth of the convergence of the DIY (do-it-yourself) and maker movements. In public libraries, bigger universities and even in old storefronts as part of redevelopment projects, these spaces are moving in to provide access to technologies like 3D printing or robotics. 

Dickinson's Makery evokes the atmosphere of a startup, or one of the storied game rooms at a tech giant like Google. On one side there's the STEM-related glitz of the 3D printers adding layers to a plastic model of a protein. On the other, there's the Raspberry Pi minicomputers and Arduino microcontrollers, ideal for robotics, flora boards or smart clothing. But there's also technology with less glamour, such as a sewing machine, old children's toys, Velcro and X-acto knives.

 

 

"The space itself is like nothing else on campus," says Petrus.

"Students can use it however they want. It's all about making something that wasn't assembled before," adds Landis.

 

The internal electronics and small motors of toys are stacked in a blue bin at the Makery.

The internal electronics and small motors of toys are stacked in a blue bin at the Makery.

 

 

 

Learning through Success, Learning through Failure

Fueling the Makery's diverse potential uses and resources is a basic educational idea: learning by doing. For Landis and Petrus, playing with a circuit board or designing wearable electronics is a sibling endeavor to services the Media Center already provides, like tutorials for computer design programs or recording equipment for courses.

And whether the result is digital media broadcast on screens or 3D models printed into tangible reality, the lesson is the same—experimentation is the key to knowledge. Learning where the error was in the circuit board or trying to determine why the little toothbrush robot doesn't start contributes to the overall understanding of the principles behind how those mechanisms work. 

Picking up a toy in a bin in the corner, Landis elaborates: "We want people to play without the fear of failure. We want them to take this apart and see what makes that noise."

"It's not just about making something new, either," says Petrus. "You can fix something or give a material more than a single life, which ties into sustainability."

The Makery takes inspiration from existing campus spaces that create tangible products like Montgomery Hall's Costume Shop, the College Farm, the Sculpture Lab and the Stern Kitchen. The connections are all based on shared know-how, resources and values. Landis hopes that the students view the Makery as an a continuation of those spaces and bring their prowess in creating to the Bosler basement, where brushbots are made.

"Makerspaces are ideal in a liberal-arts setting," she says. "They allow people to follow their interests no matter what their majors are."

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Published September 30, 2014