Educating designers with 3D printers: a postphenomenological perspective on maker and design pedagogy

Abstract

Learning in makerspaces is free from curriculum and evaluation and is believed to yield practical, self-driven and solution-oriented learners. This study explores how makerspace pedagogy can be emulated in formal higher education settings to support this kind of learning. Action research was used to cultivate and review this pedagogical approach in three repeated design studio courses using three-dimensional (3D) printing lab. The maker pedagogy was to support self-driven learning emerging in relationship between learners, their social environment and technology media. Maker and design pedagogy has been further theoretically developed using postphenomenology as a process of learners’ adoption of 3D printers in own design practice, learners’ adaptation to the affordances of the 3D printers, and attainment of learners’ own goals in social contexts using 3D printing technology. Finally, the study indicates how shifting from constructivist to postphenomenological theoretical concepts can give new insights and strengthen sustainable pedagogical practices. Limitations and opportunities for maker pedagogy in formal education are addressed with these new insights.