Acknowledging Skills and Competences in Maker Education

Virtually Maker Faire 2020

May 22nd-23rd

We aim to present a method to acknowledge the skills and competences acquired by young people who participate in educational making activities. Our workshop therefore targets educators and teachers who are active in the domain of maker education.

Our method involves first recording soft skills as well as technical skills developed by youth, and later acknowledging them via physical rewards.

The award system combines empirical and conceptual effort, and when it is applied to maker education can help encourage the engagement of younger people on the long term, and help them remain interested and motivated throughout the whole learing process.

The award system is made up of three different elements: the level belt, competency badges and skill badges.

Skill badges are rewards that show that a certain skill has been developed, through completion of a task or activity. For example, a skill badge can be awarded after a yonug person takes part in some form of trainig and is able to apply what he/she has learnt, such as completing a 3D printer training and being able to print their own design independently.

Several skill badges could be awarded after a larger project, where several skills have been developed simultaneously.

It is suggested that these skill badges are seen as achievable to the young participants. Learning a new skill should be exciting and encouraged by facilitators. By providing a reward which recognises the ability to learn and gain an understanding of a certain skill, young participants will hopefully be able to register the benefits of learning in a more hands-on and experimental way.

Competency badges are to recognise and reward young participants for their growth in certain areas which are thought of as being important to Makers.

Competency badges are larger than skill badges and have space for level indicators to be added over time. Each competency badge has space for five level indicators, therefore giving young
participants five levels to progress through. Again these level indicators can be awarded after a participant has completed a training, activity or project which has shown to the facilitator that
they have progressed to a higher level in that certain competency.

The level belt hopes to bring skill badges and competency badges together and be a way for young people to register their overall progression as a Maker over time. The levels of a Mighty Maker
Belt are used in a comparable way to Martial art belts, where a new colour is awarded once a certain predefined criteria is met.

The Mighty Maker Level Belt is a making activity in itself. It should be a project that participants can work on and complete over time, whilst learning and developing maker skills which can help them obtain Skill and Competency badges.