LLI Southwest

Maker-based education inspires deeper learning through hands-on creative experiences. Students learn to think with their hands to achieve cognitive and affective learning objectives. Maker-based experiences invite curiosity, inspire wonder, encourage play, and honor uniqueness. Maker-based lessons also promote productive failure in learning. They are are opportunities to explore ideas and to develop unique perspectives. High-tech and low-tech tools are used to accomplish valuable learning goals. Those goals can come from any and all curriculum areas.


The GSES team will share a 3rd grade maker-based lesson designed by teachers to engage their students in writing excellent sentences. Teachers will share the experience of designing this unit with the Maker Unit Design Tools, and will define positive outcomes and unforeseen errors in their first prototype of the lesson.


The GSES team will also facilitate the same maker-based learning experience for participants. SMU faculty members will share definitions and pedagogical approaches for maker-based learning and will facilitate the beginning of a design process using several of these tools.