Teaching Severe Weather: Examining Teacher Candidates’ Early Field Experience in a Makerspace Environment
Kate Shively, Carolyn Walker Hitchens, Nathan M. Hitchens
Abstract
This qualitative study examines first-year teacher candidates early field experience designing and implementing maker workshops for an afterschool program. The maker workshops were offered as part of a STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics) enrichment club at a local elementary school. The participants engaged in 50 hr of guided design, planning, and facilitation of a weather-focused maker workshop. Findings illuminate the role early teaching experiences (e.g., makerspaces) can play in the early professional development of elementary teacher candidates. This study calls for further investigation regarding maker environments as sites for elementary field experiences for teacher candidates.