Day 1 of the EAGER Maker Summit kicked off with a warm welcome by STELAR staff, followed by opening remarks from Karen Marrongelle, Assistant Director of Education & Human Resources Directorate. Andrew Coy then provided an engaging keynote on the “State of the State on Maker Education.”
Participants then moved into Synthesis sessions focused on each of the five subject areas (see themes tab). Each group learned about their colleagues’ connections to making and engaged in discussions on the innovations and challenges that currently exist in Making projects, as well as their dreams and aspirations for the future of making.
Day 1 closed with a reception and Project Expo, during which projects presented posters and technology demonstrations, a selection of which can be viewed at the link below:
Day 2 of the Summit opened with a recap and discussion of the day one sessions, followed by a panel presentation on “Innovations, Challenges and the Future of Making,” featuring Liza Manfred from the KID Museum, Erick Jones from the University of Texas at Arlington, Andee Rubin from TERC, and Monya Ruffin from the National Science Foundation.
Participants again formed into groups around the five themes, this time in Envisioning Sessions designed to explore the following questions:
- How do we get from where we are now to where we want to go?
- How can NSF support Making projects in working towards these goals?
- Where are there gaps in the current body of research?
Groups then set to work developing a “Call to Action,” to be shared with the broader Making community in a series of webinars.
At the close of day two, each group provided a report-out to an NSF panel featuring Evan Heit, the director of the Division of Research on Learning (DRL), and NSF Program Directors Ellen McCallie and Robert Russell.