Author: martin

Cross Timbers Library Collaborative 2020 Conference

In Comparing Teamwork & Collaboration Competencies between a Technology in Art Education course and an Engineering Project Management Course, Martin Wallace, Morgan Chivers, and Ryan Hulla (CRTLE Research Consultant) presented the results of a student teamwork and collaboration study, using an “assembling effective teams” homework assignment and a semester-long, team-based academic library makerspace project. Students in two upper-level undergraduate classes, Technology in Art Education and Engineering Project Management, took self-assessment-surveys at the beginning of the course and again after having completed their makerspace projects. Results show that students in both courses significantly overestimate their competence in the pre-course survey. Engineering students rate themselves higher in both pre- and post-surveys than art education students. There are signs that the “assembling effective teams” homework assignment has a significant effect in student self-ratings. Other signs show that the project has significant effect on teamwork and collaboration.

Read more about UTA Libraries at CTLC 2020, visit the UTA Libraries Blog.

2020 STEM Librarians South (Virtual) Conference

In “Drone Club & Tinker Time: Preparing Student Employees to Assist Library Users with Drones, Robotics, and Electronics,” a UTA Libraries student employee, Nicolas McClintic, and I presented on how UTA Libraries is fostering student engagement with drones, robotics and electronics through informal tinkering and exploration programs such as Tinker Time and Drone Club. This informal training effort was created in preparation for rollout of our new drone, robotics and electronics space coming in spring 2021, and our need to prepare our student employees to be able to provide good user service when that takes place. I provided a brief intro about UTA Libraries Tinker Time and Drone Club initiatives, and Nicolas talked about his role from the student employee perspective, focusing on digital creation software, the experience of working with this team, and the lesson plans he created.

Read more about UTA Libraries at STEM Librarians South 2020, visit the UTA Libraries Blog.

2019 STEM Librarians South Conference

At this year’s conference at The University of Texas at Austin, I presented “STEM Lesson Plans for Course-Embedded Academic Library Makerspaces”. This presentation provided an overview of the UTA Libraries’ Maker Literacies website, including STEM curriculum developed during our IMLS-funded “Maker Competencies and the Undergraduate Curriculum” pilot program. I walked through the website as I explained its history and development, future direction and improvements, and requirements for adding course-integrated makerspace lesson plans from other institutions.

Nation of Makers 2019 Conference

In June 2019, Morgan Chivers (UTA’s FabLab Librarian) and I attended (by invitation) the Nation of Makers 2019 Conference in Chattanooga, TN. Each of us sat on separate panels, and we also co-presented on our Maker Literacies work at UTA Libraries.

I sat on a panel titled “Making in College: Educational Pathways.” This panel was about how college and university makerspaces are changing the rules for higher education by implementing making into students’ college experiences and opening the door wide open for all the opportunities students have after graduation. The goal of this panel was to bring together a range of voices from college makerspace champions and from former students turned into makerspace organizers. Micah Lande (Arizona State University) moderated the panel, and I was joined by John Grout (Berry University) and Amanda Jarvis (George Mason University ) on the panel.

Morgan Chivers sat on a panel titled “Makerspaces in Libraries,” and he also won a raffle for a CNC router, soon to be installed in the UTA FabLab shop room.

An Experimental “Assembling Effective Teams” Homework Assignment, and Mixed-Methods Assessment

This project considers an experimental homework assignment that asks students in a project management course to assemble effective project teams based on simulated skills & competencies data, much like a real-world project manager would do. A pre-and post-self-assessment survey and an analytic rubric are used to assess student understanding of assembling effective teams. Preliminary results indicate that the assignment leads to student competence related to assembling effective teams.

Our poster presented at UTA April 2019 Professional Learning Community on Teamwork and Collaboration is available on UTA Libraries’ ResearchCommons.

Developing Student Learning Outcome Metrics for Makerspaces: A Stem Pilot Course

Paper presented at the American Society for Engineering Management 2018 International Annual Conference.

Abstract: Preparing undergraduate engineering students with the competencies needed for future work environments is a central objective of college engineering programs. Recently, access to 3D printers and other digital fabrication technologies in academic makerspaces has increased opportunities for students to engage with people and tools essential for improving their engineering and design competencies, and has led researchers to explore how to increase and measure student learning in these spaces. The literature reveals interests in and the need for exploring how makerspaces affect undergraduate student learning outcomes, but few universities are actively engaged in this type of research. The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) Libraries’ FabLab has endeavored to integrate their makerspace into the undergraduate curriculum and measure the learning that takes place when students engage in making. Toward this goal, a list of eleven transdisciplinary makerspace competencies, each with multiple dimensions, was proposed and tested across a diverse range of undergraduate courses between 2016-2018. This paper summarizes results of a senior-level Engineering Project Management course that participated in the program in Spring 2018. Competencies examined in this course were assembling effective teams and demonstrating understanding of digital fabrication processes. Homework-based interventions for both competencies were designed and integrated into a semester-long makerspace project. Mixed-methods including pre- and post-self-assessments, project rubrics, team member evaluations and oral presentations were used to assess and measure student learning. Preliminary results indicate that students gain competency in assembling effective teams and demonstrating their understanding of digital fabrication processes by completing projects in makerspaces.

You can download the full conference paper from UTA Libraries Research Commons.

Recommended citation:

Cantu, Jaime, & Martin K. Wallace. “Developing Student Learning Outcome Metrics for Makerspaces: A Stem Pilot Course.” Paper presented at the American Society for Engineering Management 2018 International Annual Conference, Coeur d’Alene, ID, October 17-20, 2018.

Maker Competencies and the Undergraduate Curriculum

Paper presented at ISAM 2018, International Symposium on Academic Makerspaces.

Abstract: The University of Texas at Arlington Libraries was awarded a $50,000 planning grant by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for FY 2017-2018 allowing us to develop a pilot program to explore course integration of makerspaces into the undergraduate curriculum. The goal of the pilot is to fashion case studies for integrating academic library makerspaces into undergraduate coursework. A minimum of two case studies at each of four selected partner sites (University of Nevada, Reno, UMass Amherst, Boise State University, and UNC Chapel Hill), as well as at our home institution, are currently under evaluation. Each case study represents a unique undergraduate course, faculty member, curricula, and group of students. Coordinators at each partner site identified faculty who were not only willing to integrate making into their courses, but who were also willing to include assessment of student learning over a range of competencies believed to be acquired when students complete project-based assignments in makerspaces. Upon successful completion of our pilot, faculty will provide the grant team ample feedback about the assigned projects, the learning that took place, and how they assessed that learning. Participating faculty come from wide variety of disciplines including Architecture, Art, Biology, Civil Engineering, Computer Science, Education, English, Geology, History, Industrial Engineering, Mathematics, Philosophy, and Public Administration.

You can download the full conference paper from UTA Libraries Research Commons.

Recommended citation:

Wallace, Martin K., Gretchen Trkay, Katie Musick Peery, Morgan Chivers, and Tara Radniecki. “Maker Competencies and the Undergraduate Curriculum.” Paper presented at the International Symposium on Academic Makerspaces, Stanford, CA, August 3-5, 2018.

Preliminary Analysis of IMLS-funded Maker Literacies Pilot

Over the last year I’ve been busy with our IMLS-funded pilot program Maker Competencies and the Undergraduate Curriculum. The grant team will be spending the summer conducting our analysis and writing our report to the IMLS. I’ve got some preliminary analysis to share, and will post more over the summer as our results begin to gel. By the end of September 2018 we will have launched an official Maker Literacies website where we’ll post our full report and analysis, plus curriculum materials for each of the courses that participated in the pilot study. Visit the Thinking Outside the Stacks Blog to read my preliminary analysis post.

Expanding the Intellectual Property Knowledge Base at University Libraries: Collaborating with Patent and Trademark Resource Centers

Patent and Trademark Resource Centers are located in libraries throughout the U.S., with 43 being in academic libraries. With the importance of incorporating a knowledge of intellectual property (IP) and patent research in university curricula nationwide, this study developed and evaluated a partnership program to increase the understanding of IP and patent searching methods at universities that do not headquarter a PTRC. This peer-reviewed article describes the methods for establishing those partnerships, summarizes their results, and offers a list of best practices and lessons learned for establishing future partnerships.

Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship is an open access journal that publishes substantive content of interest to science and technology librarians. It serves as a vehicle for sci-tech librarians to share successful initiatives and innovative ideas, and to publish peer-reviewed or board-accepted papers, including case studies, practical applications, theoretical essays, web/bibliographies, and research papers relevant to the functions and operations of science and technology libraries in all settings. Through its columns ISTL also publishes reviews, opinions, and best practices.

You can read the full article in HTLM from the ISTL Website, or you can download a PDF of the pre-print from UTA Libraries Research Commons.

Recommended citation:

Wallace, Martin, and Suzanne Reinman. “Expanding the Intellectual Property Knowledge Base at University Libraries: Collaborating with Patent and Trademark Resource Centers.” Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, no. 88 (Winter 2018): doi:10.5062/F4JM27WK.