A makerspace can be broadly defined as a space for collaborative work that facilitates the making, learning, exploring, and sharing of tools and resources. At Illinois State University, Redbirds have experienced increased access to makerspaces offered both by campus units and community organizations.
The Center for Mathematics, Science, and Technology (CeMaST) at Illinois State manages the STEM Hub, which houses all the maker-based programming of the center and hosts learning experiences in partnership with local schools. Some of the tools available at the STEM Hub include a laser engraver, a 3D printer, drill presses, an embroidery machine, calculators, table saws, a vinyl cutter, soldering irons, and an assortment of tools.
“Everybody who comes in here is impressed that we have all these things,” said Dr. Ashley Waring-Sparks, STEM program coordinator at CeMaST.
One of the projects being developed in the STEM Hub is a prototype for a little bee house. Dr. Benjamin Sadd, professor in the School of Biological Sciences, asked the center to develop a tube for queen bees, an item that was hard to find domestically.
“We’re still in the process of working on that, but we’ve been able to 3D-print a prototype that we need to test,” said Waring-Sparks.
She added that the Metcalf School is currently doing a project with State Farm where students help build a roof and then test it for hail damage.
“So, the kids come to our space and work for a couple of hours during the week,” Waring-Sparks said. “I love seeing how the practical experiences the students have here build up their confidence as they get comfortable with these tools. Over the course of a few days, there was a group of girls who looked like they could be professional roofers.”
The STEM Hub makerspace hosts summer camps for Bloomington-Normal school districts, including a math camp and the EARLI-STEMbirds program with Western Avenue Community Center.
“We’re trying to make this a place where you can develop your skills or try new tools, including developing better educational objectives for the classroom with resources that are otherwise not vastly available to everybody,” Waring-Sparks said.
Since 2018, another makerspace at Illinois State has been available on the main floor of Milner Library. With a laminator, button-maker, booklet spiral binder, rotary paper trimmer and cutter, and an Ellison die cutter with 80+ shapes, the library’s Make It Space also provides supplies for the machines, such as button-making materials and laminator pouches, free of charge.
“We get many education majors who use this equipment, and a lot of our registered student organizations use it as well,” said Sue Franzen, associate dean for public services and organizational development at Milner.
According to Franzen, the button maker and laminator are the most popular tools. The library staff also uses the equipment to create promotional items for their programs.
“At the beginning of the semester, we host Welcome Week activities here, and events such as a button-making drop-in proved to be very popular in getting students familiarized with the tools we offer,” Franzen said.
The library also offers 3D printing services to students, faculty, and staff, producing items that range from Reggie miniatures to models for anatomy classes. Over the last three years, Milner has completed over 1,000 3D printing requests.
Outside of campus, local public libraries also offer maker tools to the general public, including 3D printing. Steps away from the Quad, Normal Public Library serves Redbirds and the larger community, offering programming related to die-cut tools and Cricut Design Space classes.
“We’re trying to make this a place where you can develop your skills or try new tools, including developing better educational objectives for the classroom with resources that are otherwise not vastly available to everybody.”
—Dr. Ashley Waring-Sparks
Rhiannon Shoults, programming and youth services manager at Normal Public Library, says the audience servedby their maker tools varies widely.
“I have worked with ISU students who were using our 3D printing service to complete class projects,” Shoults said. “I have helped families with kids who have made their first 3D model in Tinkercad and want us to print a finished project, hobbyists creating role-playing miniatures, and retirees learning about Cricut for the first time and using it to create gifts for friends and family.”
Beyond makerspace stations, Studio Teach is a space that’s been managed by the College of Education for over a decade, featuring tools ranging from basic supplies to more complex educational technologies that expand teaching and learning opportunities for teacher educators. Some of the resources include tools for coding, such as robots and computer-building kits, circuitry tools, AR/VR devices, maker materials and devices, audiovisual equipment, and video-making apps.
The studio is coordinated by Angie Frazier, assistant director, instructional technology and learning spaces for the College of Education. She works with a team of students to offer educational technology playgrounds where Redbirds can explore the tools available and discover how to integrate them into the classroom.
“The technology is not the center of the lesson; it is meant to be an enhancement to the lesson, to deepen the understanding of the content,” Frazier said.
In the last school year, over 1,000 students and faculty participated in technology playgrounds, which have also been offered to middle and high school districts as part of education conferences. Assistive technology exploration is one way that students preparing to be special education teachers have utilized Studio Teach. One student team member compiled and printed a collection of 3D designs for assistive devices and created a manual detailing how the technology can be used to support people with disabilities.
The next steps include finding more ways to take the technology into the community and putting together a collection of resources students can access even after graduation.
“Studio Teach is, in a way, an example of what you might find in a school of the future, preparing our students for wherever they go to teach,” Frazier said. “Makerspaces are found in schools more often now. They’ve been in some classrooms for a long time—but now they have a common name and an expanded reach.”
