As part of Maker Ed’s Open Portfolio Project, a maker site survey was developed to better understand how makerspaces — or any type of organization with youth-oriented maker programming, whether or not they identified themselves as “makerspaces” — are thinking about portfolios. In particular, we were seeking to uncover existing documentation and portfolios practices, as well as the challenges and successes associated with them.
Our sixth research brief, Survey of Makerspaces, Part I, is the first of three research briefs dedicated to the data collected from the survey. Upon analysis, the survey revealed some incredibly interesting information that not only influenced our field site visits but also may impact our future work and how portfolios are situated, used, and promoted as an integral means of assessing skills and abilities.
For more information into Maker Ed’s Open Portfolio Project work, check out our blog series as well as the entire research brief series, with more to come in the next few weeks.
The Open Portfolio Project is in collaboration with Indiana University’s Creativity Labs and is generously supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
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