The "Why?"
The Experiential Learning Commons (ELC) is committed to supporting the Baylor Library's mission to lead as an innovative research library that undergirds scholarship, fosters teaching and learning, and builds communities by maintaining a space of creativity, exploration, and innovation dedicated to doing. We believe that in order to be critically engaged in the world, you need to experience that world through hands-on, meaningful interactions. We approach this through the concept of critical making - creation as an act of thinking - that provides an entry point to larger discussions about why things are built in the first place.
We approach this in three ways:
- Providing resources such as tools, audiovisual equipment, and professional video production to further scholarship through innovative approaches to research and modes of presentation.
- Enlisting subject matter experts in making and digital media to consult with faculty and staff to build engaging learning opportunities in the classroom, across campus, and into the surrounding Waco community in addition to creative workshops and training for students in a variety of concepts and skills.
- Cultivating a space of inquiry and experimentation in the Moody Library via a Makerspace and multiple Studios to foster a community of creative scholars extending our understanding of learning and service through expressive forms of making; physical and digital. Join us in exploring the world through creative expression and experimentation!
Quotes
"Learning is the process whereby knowledge is created through the transformation of experience” - David Kolb, Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development
"Critical making is an elision of two typically disconnected modes of engagement in the world—‘critical thinking,’ often considered as abstract, explicit, linguistically based, internal and cognitively individualistic; and ‘making,’ typically understood as material, tacit, embodied, external and community-oriented" - Ratto & Hockema, FLWR PWR: Tending the Walled Garden
"Most simply, critical making is a contraction of the terms 'critical thinking' and 'making': to think by building things. The term itself was coined by Matt Ratto in 2008 to describe the combination of critical thought with hands-on making: if we can critically think, why can't we also critically make? By bringing pedagogical practice together with material engagement, he sought to open up and extend critical social reflection." - Garnet Hertz, Critical Making + DIY
"Cleverly exploring the difficult lived-through experiences is more stimulating than making something faster or more efficient. These themes and lessons can help steer the maker movement towards art and research... [and] extend itself into a larger discussion about why things are built in the first place." - Garnet Hertz, Critical Making + DIY
Readings
Articles:
Kolb, D. A. (1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development (Vol. 1). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Hertz, Garnet. Two Terms: Critical Making + DIY. http://conceptlab.com/2terms/pdf/hertz-2terms-202011181901.pdf. Accessed February 18, 2022.
Hertz, Garnet. What is Critical Making?. https://current.ecuad.ca/what-is-critical-making. Accessed February 18, 2022.
Ratto, M., & Hockema, S. FLWR PWR: Tending the walled garden. Walled garden. 2009. 51-60.
Ratto, Matt. “Critical Making: Conceptual and Material Studies in Technology and Social Life.” The Information Society, vol. 27, no. 4, Taylor & Francis Group, 2011, pp. 252–60, https://doi.org/10.1080/01972243.2011.583819.
Facilitating Experiential Learning in Higher Education by
This book provides evidence-informed and practical advice on how to design, teach, and facilitate hands-on, experiential learning in practical higher education settings. With rich case studies and carefully considered analysis tasks, all underpinned by research evidence, it explores the functional aspects of teaching outside of regular classroom environments. Designed to enable university teachers to adapt strategies for teaching confidently and effectively, this must-read text focusses on enhancing learning and avoiding pitfalls whilst allowing students to develop and recognise the skills needed to excel in their chosen discipline. This book also provides: Reflection Points to enable application of the ideas into teaching practice, Action Summaries that distil the main recommendations into easily applicable solutions, Further Reading sections to allow for further exploration of key ideas. Practical and evidence-informed, the strategies within this book are useful for all educators teaching in practical settings including projects, labs, studios, in the field, and in practice placements.
ISBN: 9781000440034Publication Date: 2021-09-14
From at-Risk to At-Promise by
Academic library workers will learn how to collaborate with staff in academic advising and student services to improve undergraduate student belonging, retention rates, and graduation rates for at-promise students. As the demographics of student populations change, many students require additional or different support to be successful in their college careers. Meanwhile, higher education is under pressure to reduce budgets and serve more students within certain areas of the university, including the library, academic advising, and other student services. Academic librarians and student success administrators can collaborate to create additional pathways for students who struggle to succeed. Authors Vecchione and McGraw provide a roadmap for library employees and student success administrators to initiate and develop discussions on college campuses to define and address these emergent student needs. Through a selection of case studies and historical context, readers will learn how to define what student success looks like and how to design custom services to address student barriers to that success. Library employees and student success professionals both serve students at the margins. These readers will acquire skills to enhance student success initiatives and strengthen collaborations with one another. Identify the barriers that limit undergraduate students' success in higher education Develop a plan for collaboration and partnership between library workers and student success administrators at any institution Obtain deeper knowledge and understanding regarding the history of student success and existing support structures at universities Understand the changing nature of higher education and how the system has perpetuated privileges, hegemonic knowledge, awareness, and skills
ISBN: 9781440876356Publication Date: 2022-11-30
Maker Literacies and Maker Identities in the Digital Age by
This book explores "making" in the school curriculum in a period in which the ability to create and respond to digital artifacts is key and focuses on makerspaces in educational settings. Combining the arts with design to give a fuller picture of the engagement and wonder that unfolds with maker literacies, the book moves across such settings and themes as: Creativity and writing in classrooms Making and developing civic engagement Emotional experiences of making Race and gender in makerspace Game-based play and coding in schools and draws its case studies from the Netherlands, Finland, Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Giving as broad a perspective on makerspaces, making, and design as possible, the book will help scholars expand their understandings and help educators appreciate the power and worth of making to inspire students. It is useful for anyone hoping to apply design, maker, and makerspace approaches to their teaching and learning.
ISBN: 9781003049241Publication Date: 2020-11-18
Maker Literacies for Academic Libraries by
Melding universities' strategic goals with libraries' teaching and learning mission, the academic library makerspace can be a powerful catalyst for information literacy, offering faculty partners a place for interdisciplinary, experiential learning. If you're pondering what it takes to get your makerspace into the curriculum, this volume's relatable, first-hand accounts from librarians, makerspace staff, and faculty partners will give you the confidence to make the leap. Contributors, drawn from the IMLS-funded Maker Literacies project, describe pilots and assessment for a variety of demographics, course subjects, and makerspace equipment. Guided by their experiences, you'll be ready to fully partner with faculty through the course integration and assessment process. Inside, you'll learn why academic librarians are uniquely situated to be leaders in the realm of makerspaces and makerspace literacy; how the ACRL Framework informs maker competencies; methods for using competencies and assessment in designing course assignments; 5 steps for guiding faculty in creating assignments for makerspaces; advice on developing a new staffing and service model to handle course-wide use of the makerspace; steps for taking students through concept, design, prototype, and final product in a project management course; how an ethical perspective engaged a women's history course toward the "In Her Shoes" project; pedagogical strategies for integrating the makerspace into fine arts classes; and ways to showcase makerspace outputs to generate excitement around campus.
ISBN: 9780838948064Publication Date: 2020-12-11
