Understanding the Maker in Academic Makerspaces

Abstract

Makerspaces are becoming popular in universities as a novel approach to boost creativity, innovation, and provide opportunities for creation, prototyping and hands-on learning. Despite the rapid growth of makerspaces as open spaces for creativity, innovation and experiential learning, the role makers play in makerspaces remains unknown. While there is a push to establish makerspaces in academia, there is limited knowledge on the makers experience in the makerspaces. Whereas the role of makerspaces in innovation and experiential learning has been researched extensively, there is little on the makers in makerspaces. Literature review has also shown that there is limited information on their role in a makerspace, yet makers are the most important component of any makerspace. A desktop research was done that looked at maker information published in journals, reports, books and internet sources on makerspaces. This paper identifies the key makers and the role they play in academic makerspaces.