This book provides an overview to a range of theories in science and technology that inform the different ways in which makerspaces can be educative. It will be useful to graduate students and educators seeking an expansive view of STEM education, outlinng a vision of school that is not merely training or preparing students for work.
- Offers a curriculum perspective on making
- Connects contemporary issues of innovation and makerspaces to the needs of students
- Helps demystify the role of innovation in education
- Written for those wishing to carry out effective making in the classroom and beyond
'For a number of years Michael Tan's writings about contemporary arguments and developments in science and technology education have, through his breadth and depth of thinking across a very wide range of relevant fields, challenged and informed me in very helpful ways. Rather than me write about why this has been so, I suggest you turn to the final paragraph of Chapter 1 for a hint of the spectrum of fundamental ideas Michael will present to the reader as they work through this important volume.'
Richard Gunstone, Emeritus Professor of Science and Technology Education, Monash University
'Michael Tan challenges us to rethink science and STEM education - indeed education more generally - to address the needs of a new century. Focusing on moving beyond schooling as reproduction to advocate innovation, creativity and forms of knowledge that serve the new millennium, in this book Michael has offered productive lines of attack for a reenvisaged curriculum. Pulling together a wide array of scholars to challenge our thinking and seek ways forward, he has crafted a narrative that is both educative and stimulating.'
Russell Tytler, Alfred Deakin Professor and Chair of Science Education, Deakin University
Michael Tan is a Lecturer (Research Scientist) at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. He researches the nature of scientific and technological knowledge, and the social consequences of the differential distribution of this knowledge through schools.
1. Introduction 2. What is knowledge anyway? Obtaining clarity on knowledge and its role in society 3. An anti-intellectual approach to knowledge and learning 4. Design as a problem for school that reveals the problem of school 5. The uses and abuses of science and technology 6. The interaction of human and non-human agency 7. Rethinking education for social change