Abstract

FERNANDEZ-CARDENAS, Juan Manuel et al. The Social Practice of Innovating in a University Makerspace: Possibilities and Challenges. RMIE [online]. 2022, vol.27, n.92, pp.235-258.  Epub Mar 14, 2022. ISSN 1405-6666.

This article presents the results of a study on the use of a makerspace in a Mexican university, a part of the institution's strategies to develop skills of innovation among its students. A mixed QUAL+QUAN design was used, with an initial stage of data collection and analysis through nonparticipant observation, interviews, and focus groups. The second stage consisted of surveying 2,149 students on the attributes of the makerspace. The findings show that the participants learn to establish goals, use tools, and solve problems in a social network that is constituted in the makerspace. In collaborative form, teams resolve the contradictions and tensions of the problems that draw them together, thus constructing the social practice of innovating.

Keywords : educational innovations; higher education; educational practice; social learning; teaching technology.