Making for the Masses

“The course at the heart of this TLT Fellows project seeks to present and engage the vibrant Maker Culture at Penn State in all of its wonderful, messy complexity,” says Tom Lauerman, Assistant Professor of Visual Arts. “Penn State has a rich ‘Maker Culture’ which appropriately takes many forms in many colleges. This proposal seeks to use a new class as a vehicle for the exploration of overlapping spaces between disciplines, particularly via digital fabrication technology.”

Hand-in-hand with making is design. This course will also focus heavily on various aspects of design from across disciplines. “3D printing can play an important role in the larger world of making, especially as it relates to the possibility of a design revolution,” says Nicholas Meisel, Assistant Professor of Engineering. “Hands-on activities will help students come to terms with the opportunistic possibilities of 3D printing in design, as well as the restrictive limitations that are imposed on designs by 3D printing.”

“The democratization of design is a real – and good – thing. It is accessible to the masses, which is brilliant,” Matt Parkinson, Associate Professor of Engineering, adds. “We have learned a few things about design and although it’s not necessary, it might be helpful to try to share some of those with novice ‘makers’.”

Design thinking plays a critical role in Making for the Masses, and will be a central theme throughout the course. Aaron Knochel, Assistant Professor of Art Education, on design thinking:

Design thinking is a robust methodology for engaging with the complexity of contemporary life. From engineering to graphic design, design thinking can provide a core methodology by which learners pursue inquiry. Teaching design thinking to students is important to a wide range of STEAM-related occupations in the 21^st century not only for the engagement of student learners, but to the important methodological merits of collaboration, contextual learning, interdisciplinary problem-solving, and iterative invention.

Making for the Masses is a course designed for anyone at Penn State, regardless of major or semester standing. We believe that something interesting is happening throughout the world around making and design thinking, particularly as technologies that support making are becoming widely available. “Depending on one’s point of view,” says Marcus Shaffer, Associate Professor of Architecture, “we are somewhere close to the apex of capitalism… making (images, artifacts, products, places, events, systems, ecosystems), who makes, and exchange/ownership are radically altered as fabrication technologies become common and accessible.”