Mechanical dissections are a practice that allows learners to discover the often hidden design of objects.
Activities & Practices
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videosLooking Closely: A Capacity of Sensitivity to Design
Looking Closely: A Capacity of Sensitivity to Design
Students from King Middle School in Portland, Maine, explain the importance of looking closely in a maker-centered classroom.
Video by Alex Coppola
activities and practicesLearning Walk
Learning Walk
This practice supports co-inspiration and the cross-pollination of ideas during maker-centered group work.
documentation and assessment toolsTell Me More!
Tell Me More!
These conversation-starters help learners become sensitive to the presence of the Making Moves in their own and others’ learning. They also help learners have substantive conversations about the Making Moves with their peers.
activities and practicesMaterials Exploration
Materials Exploration
This practice promotes noticing, play, and exploration. When learners have time to tinker with materials they can gain an understanding of the affordances, possibilities, and constraints inherent in a variety of making materials.
publicationsMaker-Centered Learning And The Development Of Self
Maker-Centered Learning And The Development Of Self
Maker-Centered Learning And The Development Of Self: Preliminary Findings Of The Agency By Design Project
A White Paper Presented By Agency by Design
Project Zero, Harvard Graduate School Of Education
This White Paper, from January 2015, presents an overview of our developing work, and concludes by presenting the “big take away” from our research and by making suggestions for policymakers, educators, and other stakeholders. Along the way, we identify what we consider to be the most salient benefits of maker-centered learning for young people and, introduce some of the key concepts and resources that have emerged from our work, including the concept of maker empowerment, the importance of developing a sensitivity to design, and the three pathways that lead to these desired outcomes.
documentation and assessment toolsMaker Capacities: Observe/Reflect
Maker Capacities: Observe/Reflect
This tool is connected to the Agency by Design Making Moves. The Making Moves identifies three maker capacities that support a sensitivity to design, along with their associated learning moves. Here you’ll find three observation sheets, one for each of the maker capacities: Looking Closely, Exploring Complexity, and Finding Opportunity.
Field NoteExploring Complexity in Qualitative Research: Designing a System for Collaborative Analysis
Exploring Complexity in Qualitative Research: Designing a System for Collaborative Analysis
Agency by Design research assistant Sarah May explores the complex nature of working with qualitative data based on her experiences collaboratively coding and analyzing AbD’s interview transcripts.
Field NoteMaker Empowerment in the Making!
Maker Empowerment in the Making!
Oakland Learning Community member Ilya Pratt describes her experiences working with the concept of “Maker Empowerment” at a recent Agency by Design workshop in Oakland, CA.