I\u2019ve come across many way in which the end results of Making is referenced. Different fields have their own terms, for example, educators make reference to learning outcomes, designers use the term portfolios, artists create physical objects, STEM complete projects and in some cases produce products, and so forth the terminology proceeds. Is there a way we can reference the results of Making that embody all these notions of what happens at the end while embracing the process of learning that happen during Making?<\/p>\n
In recent conversations with the Principal Investigator, Shawn, on this SSRCH project (which is embedded in the context of education), we had such conversations. During some initial discussion, I used the word \u201cproduct\u201d to describe the outcomes of Making; this caused a strong reaction in Shawn\u00a0for which I was grateful as it fueled a rich dialogue. In discussing this further, we surmised that \u201cproduct\u201d as a term to describe the result of Making takes away from the very ethos of the Maker Movement. This description is deficit in the processes that exemplify Making such as sharing, giving, learning about something, variability of perspectives, tinkering, and supporting a community \u2013 essentially — everything the Maker mindset encompasses.<\/p>\n
As the conversation proceeded, we turned to the term \u201cartifact\u201d to describe the resulting creations of Making. Does this term work? I looked at the etymology of the word \u201cartifact\u201d and found some historical themes derived from computing, archaeology, and biology that align well with the Maker Movement.\u00a0 Underpinning the term artifact (as spelled in the Oxford English Dictionary) are subtexts of [reference]:<\/p>\n
Now I move to test the term \u201cartifact\u201d in education. The artifact symbolizes the (collaborative) learning process including the design, creation, tinkering and hacking [Bullock, 2014] innate in Making for a specific community, which may also extend to the teaching of that process to others in the affinity group. The tacit knowledge and conceptions that result from \u00a0Making is then sharable with and future artifacts (even learning artifacts) may look very distinct as they are shaped by collective processes of the community of practice.<\/p>\n
How does the term \u201cartifact\u201d to describe the results of Making in education sit with you?<\/p>\n
\/AJS<\/p>\n\n