2017 STEM Librarians South Conference

Update 7/24/2017: I’ve posted my conference report on the Thinking Outside the Stacks blog; it includes some cool photos from the Waco Mammoth National Monument. Enjoy!

I just submitted a proposal for 2017 STEM Librarians South Conference. I’ll update this if… I mean WHEN… it is accepted. Check back mid-June!

The following is the proposal text:

UTA Libraries’ Maker Literacies Program Update

At last year’s TX STEM Librarians Conference, I introduced UT Arlington Libraries’ Maker Literacies Pilot Program and the Maker Literacies Task Force. The Task Force was charged with drafting a set of assessable maker-based student learning outcomes, identifying potential courses for integrating into the Maker Literacies Pilot Program, and assisting those faculty with maker-based curriculum development. That presentation covered the goals and objectives of the Task Force, early-stage work and lessons learned in the research and discovery phase. We have come a long way since then. We have piloted nine undergraduate courses into the Maker Literacies Program, all of which use the UTA FabLab either wholly or in-part for completion of a major assignment. These nine courses include three from English, two from Industrial Engineering, and one each from Art Education, Computer Science, Science Education and Studio Art. At 2017 STEM Librarians South Conference, I would like to present the outcomes from some of these courses and demonstrate how STEM Librarians may develop similar programs at their libraries and makerspaces. I will also discuss how this work has garnered UT Arlington Libraries an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) National Leadership Grant for Libraries (NLG) award to formally expand and test our program at other academic library makerspaces around the country. This planning grant, in the amount of $50,000, will help us identify program partners, visit their institutions to meet with makerspace staff, librarians and subject faculty, and pilot the Maker Literacies Program in two courses at each institution in spring 2018. I will wrap up this presentation by discussing challenges we’ve faced and future plans for the program.

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