Serious Play in the Classroom:

The Future of STEM and the Maker

Movement

Beverly Keane, Adrienne Keiner, Anna McGowan, Angelica Tobias, Manuel Acevedo
MSU-Wipro STEM Leadership Fellows
AERA Annual Meeting April 17, 2015

Serious Play Rough Outline

1. What is STEM, its future, and why are we teaching STEM in elementary
2. Examples of STEM in the classroom
3. Maker Movement - what is it, its importance and why its changing the
normal status quo of manufacturing/business
4. Why the Maker Movement in the classroom?
5. Examples of the Maker Movement in the classroom

What is Serious Play?

Imagine a classroom where:
Students are completely engrossed in an activity.
Students take as much time as necessary to complete
their task, fully committed and engaged in their pursuit.
Students are actively demonstrating struggle, joy,
problem-solving, excitement, and comraderie.

The Value of Serious Play

Research has shown that there is a strong link
between motivation and learning. If a student
finds a task to be enjoyable, fun and
interesting, the likelihood of learning improves
considerably. Learning can also be fun!
Source: Rieber, L. P., Smith, L., & Noah, D. (1998). The value of serious play. Educational Technology, 38(6), 2937.

STEM and Serious Play

The STEM curriculum has serious play
embedded in its philosophy of developing
activities that are:
High-interest
Student-centered
Relevant to real world problems
Fun

What is STEM?
STEM instruction is an interdisciplinary and applied
approach to teaching four distinct but related disciplines
that are critical to success in a variety of jobs and careers.
These disciplines are:

SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING MATH

STEM in Elementary School

STEM is taught by core subject teachers as part of their rigorous
instruction. There are also dedicated STEM teachers that design
engaging curriculum for grades K-8. The majority of STEM
teachers are found in high school, but there is an increasing
number of STEM teachers in elementary school.
Educators believe that students should be exposed to STEM
projects as early as possible to encourage higher order thinking,
to foster a love of learning and to promote a desire to explore
STEM subjects in high school and college.

What does STEM look like in the Elementary

School Classroom?
Hands-On Inquiry

Creative Learning
Engaged Students

What does STEM look like in the Elementary

School Classroom?
Science
Building Habitats
Creating classification
systems
Testing properties of matter

Technology
Computer science/coding
Creating new technologies
Learning about technology
careers

Engineering
Bridge Building
Tower Building
Developing prototypes
Re-engineering existing
technologies

Math
Finding math in
everyday life
Using math measurement
tools

What does STEM look like in the

Classroom?

Creative! Hands On! FUN!

Learning science, music,

technology, & more!

What is the Maker Movement?

The maker movement, as we know, is the umbrella term for independent
inventors, designers and tinkerers. A convergence of computer hackers and
traditional artisans, the niche is established enough to have its own magazine,
Make, as well as hands-on Maker Faires that are catnip for DIYers who used to
toil in solitude.
Makers tap into an American admiration for self-reliance and combine that
with open-source learning, contemporary design and powerful personal
technology like 3-D printers. The creations, born in cluttered local workshops
and bedroom offices, stir the imaginations of consumers numbed by generic,
mass-produced, made-inChina merchandise.

Source: Time Magazine, May 19, 2014, quoting Adweek

Maker Movement in the Classroom

Sauganash Elementary School
Tower Building (1st Grade)

Building Game Controllers

(5th Grade)

STEM Board Games

(3rd Grade)

Maker Movement in the Classroom

Sauganash Elementary School
Bridge Building (4th Grade)

Bridge Building (5th Grade)

Bridge Building (2nd Grade)

Engineering & Maker Club Students making

LED Greeting Cards!

Engineering & Maker Club Students making

LED Greeting Cards!

Reverse Engineering