According to the World Economic Forum, we are standing on the brink of a fourth industrial revolution in which advances in artificial intelligence, robotics and computational design are poised to further transform our lives.
We are already seeing designers and engineers combining these advances into products that link us ever more closely to the goods we consume. The importance of design and technology is, therefore, becoming increasingly important, with creative industries growing twice as fast as other industrial sectors in the UK and contributing £76.9 billion per year to the UK economy.
Despite this, designing and making in schools is in serious decline. Design technology as a discrete subject has experienced a 26 per cent reduction in students taking the subject at GCSE, and exam reform in other science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) subjects has squeezed out opportunities for learning by making. It is, therefore, vital that educators and leaders find ways of encouraging a making culture in schools across the curriculum, so that we produce the next generation of creators rather than simply consumers.
Physical making boosts learning
Finding opportunities for students to experience hands-on learning in the classroom is often viewed as a waste of valuable curriculum time, as it is often wrongly associated with the debunked myth of kinaesthetic learning styles. There is plenty of evidence that learning by making can be an effective tool in the classroom.
A 2009 study demonstrated that students who were taught about water quality and management through an engineering design project outperformed those taught using more traditional methods. In this research students who learned by making performed an average of 7 per cent better in test scores than those who were simply presented with the facts.
The reason why making was such an effective strategy in this case was that the scientific information on water quality is somewhat abstract, which the brain finds difficult to memorise. As the Learning Scientists say on their popular blog: “…human memory is designed to remember concrete information better than abstract information”, and in this case the engineering design task will have made the information specific and concrete and, therefore, more memorable.
Application of multiple skills and knowledge
Too often students experience learning in discrete subjects and don’t make the connections between the knowledge they gain in different subject areas. Making these connections is an essential part of embedding knowledge into long-term memory and, therefore, learning.
The application of knowledge into a creative project is a really effective way of getting students to interrogate what they know, ask multiple questions and seek solutions. At the time of writing, students from Bolton School (Boys’ Division) were in the advanced stages of the UKRoC competition. This challenges them to transport two eggs 244 metres into the air for a duration of 41-43 seconds. The challenge brings together maths, physics and design, as students have to calculate air resistance, trajectory models and mass, and examine the important design aspects that will return the eggs intact.
This project has, therefore, enabled the students to solve problems with design and practice, apply their knowledge into new contexts and, perhaps most importantly, enjoy their learning.
Engagement, behaviour and inclusion
The process of making and creating in schools also has positive effects in other areas such as self-esteem, behaviour and mindset. Applying knowledge through a physical manufacturing process teaches important perseverance skills, as things rarely run smoothly. As Mags Ryder, head of art at Bolton School, says: “The joy and pain of the journey is the reality when making. Nothing ever goes to plan, as new ideas and the making process throw up new challenges.” Overcoming these challenges creates an attitude of never giving up, even when things don’t go to plan.
In one project, our students designed, built and flew a drone. The drone took off, the camera worked and everything seemed to go well until landing. Unperturbed, the boys were straight back into the workshop to find the solution to this problem.
Providing opportunities to learn by making is a powerful force for inclusion. In the UK only 25 per cent of Stem graduates and 21 per cent of its workforce are female, but a report by Intel in 2014 found that this can be dramatically improved when girls are given access to opportunities to learn through design and making in schools, helping to close the Stem gender gap.
Other studies show that learning through making is an effective way of reaching students who traditionally struggle in school. One school in Canada, with high levels of indigenous students, traditionally struggled with poor attendance, low academic achievement and disengagement with the taught curriculum, but a study found that by creating a “makerspace” project focusing on the design and construction of a working electric guitar they were able to successfully engage the students. Following the project, students’ attendance improved, academic performance improved and the students became more focused and engaged in their studies.
Future skills
As the fourth industrial revolution becomes more of a reality, the types of skills needed for future jobs and professions also changes. The WEF highlights the need for complex problem-solving, creativity and decision-making skills to be combined with the ability to manage and cooperate with teams of people: the very skills that are developed by having creativity, design and making within, and across, the curriculum.
Nic Ford is academic deputy head at Bolton School (Boys’ Division)
