Challenges and Opportunities in Making Spaces

When we think about conducting lessons in the making spaces, robotics lessons in this case, we often tend to jump straight to the basics of electronics and coding. People who have been working on computers for years don’t seem to consider that teachers and students might face difficulties in navigating the basic stuff in computers. During one of the initial after-school classes, the facilitator from Karkhana Samuha started the class by getting teachers and students to turn on their computers. He projected a URL on the screen and asked the participants to type it in the browser. This led to a series of unexpected problems. The students didn’t know what a browser was, or where exactly they were supposed to type the address. Those who managed to reach the address bar of the browser had difficulty in typing the lengthy URL correctly. It took a lot of time for students to locate the keys on the keyboard. Some of them didn’t know where to click. There were other technical difficulties that made things more difficult - a computer restarted unexpectedly; another computer got frozen and the facilitator had to move around the class addressing those issues and troubleshooting.

Once students were able to type the URL properly, another problem surfaced. The facilitator had given them a link to a tutorial video on creating gmail accounts, something they needed to access the Tinkercad platform. As they watched the video and tried to create a gmail account, many students couldn’t correctly type gmail. The video being in English, with a US accent, made it more difficult for the students to follow.

During the initial weeks, teachers struggled to get started in the Tinkercad. Students at their respective computers had their own issues. Those sitting at the desktop weren’t able to locate the Tinkercad website. One of the computers didn’t have an internet connection. In two laptops that were connected to the internet, the students didn’t have emails and asked for class code to join, but the teachers didn’t know how to access the code.

The place where students sat seemed to affect the engagement of students. A group of girls, seated at the round table, used the photo in placemat and managed to draw a circuit in Tinkercad. With guidance and hints from the facilitator, they also managed to code the traffic light. Three boys were seated at a desktop at the back of the class. The computer was positioned such that people using it had to face the window, their backs turned towards the facilitator. Students who sat on this computer often got lost during the guided activity. They were unable to change the color of the LED, get connections among the electric components. At times they turned around to see the projector screen, which was in the opposite direction to where they were facing, but they often didn’t manage to get far.

The fact that teachers always have some authority over students can’t be denied, even in coworking spaces where both are present to learn with a facilitator. There are definitely good things about this authority as it allows a responsible adult to oversee the activities of children. But sometimes the intervention of a teacher might not be helpful; especially if it comes without an understanding of the student’s perspective.

During the middle of an after-school class, a group of three boys had successfully recreated a traffic light simulation on Tinkercad. The class dealt with a different topic but because they couldn’t follow the guidance due to their seating arrangement, they decided to work on the traffic light project. After completing the simulation, they decided to create a physical model. One of the boys went to get a box of electronic components needed to build it. On the way he met Madhav.

Intervention from teachers can also happen in the form of responsibilities and tasks given to them. During the start of a class, Madhav asked the students about other teachers’ whereabouts while the facilitator was elaborating on the lesson’s activities. Students laughed and replied to Madhav, and some disturbance happened in the class. Madhav then sent a girl to get laptops from another teacher. He didn't ask the facilitator if it was okay to send the student. Perhaps he assumed that she’ll later be able to cover the things she would miss during her absence.

It’s possible that when teacher and student are working together, the student’s role can be reduced to that of an assistant. On one occasion when Sharada had recently started working together with students, she often seemed to take on the role of teacher, asking her student partner to connect the components while she did the thinking part. Perhaps unsatisfied with the way the student was making the circuit, Sharada took hold of the mouse from the girl and started building the connections herself. The role of the girl then changed to holding the activity sheet. She still tried to actively participate in the making. She often gave Sharada the number of ports, pins, and the code text written in the guide.

During the lesson on buzzers, the facilitator had given everyone a challenge - to create the sound of an ambulance. A group of three boys, from grade 5 and 6, managed to code a sound effect that seemed to resemble the siren. Excited, they called the facilitator but he was busy teaching another group and didn’t seem to hear them. Not getting a response for some time, they called Sharada, who was nearer to them. Sharda too was immersed in her work with Prasamsa and didn’t seem to hear them.

One of the things that’s different in a making space from a conventional classroom is that students of different grades work together there. There’s a hierarchical relationship among students across grades and it often shows up in their interaction. Students from upper grades are often reluctant to get help from juniors and teachers should actively encourage the practice if they want to develop the culture.

The facilitator asked the boys, who had replicated the sound of a siren, to assist the group of girls sitting next to the window. These girls were from grade 7 and 8, a bit older than the boys. They have a code written on the screen. One of the boys tried to change the numbers in the code but accidentally deleted a comma instead. The older girls seemed quick to scold him and say that he always got things wrong. They weren't much interested in getting his help. One of the girls told him to say the changes and she’ll do them herself on the computer. The boy told her to change one of the numbers to 2000. The girls then asked him for the number in the bottom line. The boys aren't sure what number is there. He gave 2000 for that value too, but girls didn't agree. He typed the number himself and ran the code. An error message appeared, after which the girls began to scold him for messing up their program.

Students are often excited to build projects and play with them. Carried away in that excitement, they show unwillingness to explore some interesting observations they encounter while they build.

During the lesson on servo motors, two boys from grade 5, Joyce and Saurav, tried to create the model of a hand given in the activity sheet. They replicated the circuit and the code to make the simulation work. Then they proceeded to work on the hardware. Soon they connected the physical components of the circuit. Joyce noticed that the servo motor was getting warm but Saurav dismissed his concern. They proceeded to build the project.

Meanwhile, Joyce again drew attention to the servo motor which had gotten warmer. This time Saurav too seemed convinced that it was heating up in an abnormal way. I asked them if the wire connections were correct. Joyce smiled and said that maybe they weren’t. He disconnected the wires, saying that they needed to reconnect them.

They rewired the servo motor. It didn't heat up this time. It was an interesting discovery for them, and I asked them what might have happened earlier that caused the servo to warm.

Students are often excited to build projects and play with them. Carried away in that excitement, they show unwillingness to explore some interesting observations they encounter while they build.

During the lesson on servo motors, two boys from grade 5, Joyce and Saurav, tried to create the model of a hand given in the activity sheet. They replicated the circuit and the code to make the simulation work. Then they proceeded to work on the hardware. Soon they connected the physical components of the circuit. Joyce noticed that the servo motor was getting warm but Saurav dismissed his concern. They proceeded to build the project.

Meanwhile, Joyce again drew attention to the servo motor which had gotten warmer. This time Saurav too seemed convinced that it was heating up in an abnormal way. I asked them if the wire connections were correct. Joyce smiled and said that maybe they weren’t. He disconnected the wires, saying that they needed to reconnect them.

They rewired the servo motor. It didn't heat up this time. It was an interesting discovery for them, and I asked them what might have happened earlier that caused the servo to warm.

Similar patterns have often emerged in project based lessons where students encounter interesting observations, but in their excitement to build something fascinating, most students tend to ignore their observations.

One of the most remarkable opportunities that unconventional learning spaces like making spaces provide is peer learning. In conventional classrooms, it’s common to hear teachers prohibiting students from “copying” from each other, or asking their friends for help with classwork. Making space, on the other hand, encourages students to get ideas from each other. The environment organically encourages the practice. In a co-learning space where teachers and students work together, it presents opportunities for teachers to learn from each other, and from students.

During one of the initial after-school classes, a group of three girls worked on a breadboard circuit. They looked at the photo of a breadboard circuit given in the guide and built their circuit accordingly. One of the girls counted the holes in the breadboard and told her partners the exact hole numbers. Her partners told her that it was not necessary that they connected in the exact same holes.

In a space where teachers and students can work together, plenty of incidents happen that help build better teacher-student relationships.

Sharada developed a healthy working relationship with her student Sanchita. They often asked each other for help when stuck in projects. During the lesson on Buzzers, Sharada reached out to Sanchita when she and her partner students were confused about the use of comments in code. She let Sanchita work with the comment in her code, and then they ran the simulation. The speaker buzzed with sounds of two different frequencies. Later in the same lesson, Sanchita asked Sharada about the code she had used in her project. Sharada told her that the tone number was to be inserted in a specific block. Sanchita asked if the same number could be put in both blocks, to which Sharada replied with a question - if the same number was used in both the blocks then how would the sounds be different?

As the classes progressed, Madhav seemed more comfortable with letting students know that he too was learning with them. During one of the lessons on sensors, Madhav conducted a guided activity for the students. He told them, at the start of the activity, that his model too hadn’t worked and he too was working on it alongside them. He built his physical prototype and the students followed him. With each class, Madhav seemed to have gotten more comfortable with letting students know that there are things, the making space lessons, that he too doesn’t know. There was a time, before we started running these lessons, when Madhav had asked us to conduct separate sessions for teachers. He didn’t want students to see them struggle with concepts just like they did.

His prototype made the bulb glow when it was bright and go dim when it was dark. Some students joked about it, asking him what use would be such a light that glowed in the day and went off in the dark. Madhav patiently defended his idea for some time. Finally he said that they'll have to code the Arduino to reverse the on and off pattern. The students knew it too, and one of them had shared it with Madhav at the start of the lesson that they needed to add code to the project.

Prasamsa and her student partner built a friendly relationship. Jenisha, her partner from grade 6, had attended more making space lessons than Prasmsa. She was patient with Prasamsa, who was catching up to the things she had missed. She offered help when she felt like Prasamsa was stuck, and handed her materials when needed. While working together to solder, Prasamsa and Jenisa often laughed at their mistakes. Prasamsa handled the iron and Jenisha held the wires. Prasamsa asked her if the connection was done. They then tested the circuit together, with Prasamsa holding wires and her partner inserting a coin cell inside them.

Moments of laughter often emerged as teachers and students worked together. While learning to use a wire stripper, Sharada asked the students to recall what an insulator meant. It’s a concept in the science curriculum. Teachers often eagerly questioned students whenever such concepts came up during these lessons. The inquiry on insulation led to further discussion. Some students said that it was the part of the wire that they removed using the stripper. There’s a moment of laughter when Prasamsa pulls out the inner wire while trying to strip the insulation. Students sitting next to her say that the same thing had happened to them. People in the room think about other ideas to strip the wires, other than using the stripper. Rupa mentioned that they used candles to strip the insulation of wires. Sharada added that she had seen people use teeth to do it. There were more rounds of laughter from students and teachers as the examples were shared; especially the one involving teeth.

With students deeply immersed in making, teachers too get time to work on projects of their own. It helps teachers sharpen their skills and learn more. It’s often difficult for teachers, who already have a lot of workload related to their curricular subjects, to spare separate time to tinker and prepare for the lessons. This is important as it allows teachers to step into the shoes of the students, and allows students to see their teachers both as role models as well as colleagues. Madhav and Sharada often took time to work on their own projects. During the class on buzzers, Madhav started working with a single buzzer and eventually worked on creating a circuit with 4 buzzers that produced a variety of sounds. He later said that he experimented with both series and parallel circuits. He then decided to work on a physical prototype and grabbed a box of Arduino. “I haven’t worked on a physical [prototype] so far,” he tells me as he gets up to get a box.