Measuring Your Making: How to Measure and Demonstrate Youth Outcomes in Maker Education Programs
World Maker Faire 2017
MAKERS
Steven Willis
Steven Willis develops and leads CYC’s STEM program. He brings his experience as part of the team that developed the Fab Lab, a hands-on maker space at the Museum of Science and Industry. There Steven developed a program to introduce teens to the digital design process. Steven also teaches workshops on project-based learning and hands-on science experiments for the Illinois Afterschool Network.
Anjel Williams
Anjel M. Williams is an ETO Database Administrator at Chicago Youth Centers (CYC). She has been working with youth and families for close to 11 years. She works with a variety of computer software and database systems and is responsible for the management and implementation of the ETO (Efforts to Outcomes) database, for school age and teen programs. Anjel loves teamwork and quality assurance.
Tina Ayala
Tina is CYC’s Director of Programs & Operations—School Age and Teens, where she oversees the day to day management of CYC’s School Age and Teens including: development and delivery of all programs, Center budgets, employee management and training, and community outreach. She is a member of the CYC Steam Team and has presented at Maker Faires in New York and Bay Area.
Schedule:
Sunday, September 24
Zone 3 - MAKE: Education10:45 am - 11:15 am
CYC's STEAM Team will share how they defined, measured, and demonstrated the success of their Maker Lab program, and explain how to select the right measurement tools, ask better survey questions, combine quantitative data and observation to demonstrate impact to parents, funders, and stakeholders.
What inspired you to begin investigating your topic or inspired you to make your project?:
Last year, the CYC STEAM Team spoke at the World Maker Faire about how its maker lab programs are helping youth build 21st-century skills, overcome obstacles, and see themselves as designers, builders, and makers. After our talk, we had several conversations with other like-minded makers and educators. The crux of our conversations went like this: “We know that maker education is positively making a difference, but how can we demonstrate our impact with data? How do we measure and define success? Can we even track things like creativity and entrepreneurialism?” We have been trying to tackle these questions for the past two years, and have found a system that works. We are eager to share what we have learned with others!
