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2017 EDUCATION MAGAZINE
LINCOLN DAILY NEWS MARCH 1, 2017 Page 13
back together. This version of reverse engineering is
highly engaging for students not typically motivated
by traditional seat work.
A large selection of screwdrivers and old computers
provide hours of engaged tinkering for several
students at the junior high level.
While this new approach to learning can easily
be integrated into every subject, none lends itself
more easily than Math or Science. In fact, due to
the forecast shortage of jobs in the STEM (Science
Technology Engineering Math) fields, NH-M has
created an exploratory course called STEAM (the A
stands for Art) that utilizes the maker space frequently.
Most notably, the students were assigned a project
to design a classroom by using the Floorplanner
application on their Chromebooks. The District’s
architect, Ms. Shanna Fish from Shive-Hattery,
provided the students with guidance as they began,
and informed them she would return to help grade the
final projects.
Other subjects have successfully incorporated “design
thinking” into the curriculum, such as music class. In
their enrichment class, Music Appreciation, students
were assigned to “make” a working instrument. One
student fashioned a clarinet mouthpiece on Tinkercad,
and 3-D printed a working mouthpiece!
With a new emphasis on deeper understanding of skills
as called for in the New Illinois Learning Standards
(previously Common Core), this new method of
instruction is one that NH-M’s Superintendent, Todd
Dugan, sees as “vitally important if we are to prepare
students for careers of the 21st Century. Too often, we
‘prepare’ students for a future that closely resembles
our own past instead of a future that does not exist yet.
Design thinking and the maker movement are
definitely steps in the right direction as educators seek
to prepare all students for careers and college.”