From Tinkering to Thinkering. Tinkering as Critical and Creative Thinking Enhancer

The scientific community of educators has been more and more interested in Tinkering as an informal method to engage students with STEM subjects. Recent research has highlighted that Tinkering could be adopted not only to develop students’ scientific knowledge but also to support thinking processes...

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Main Authors: Antonella Poce, Francesca Amenduni, Carlo De Medio
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Italian e-Learning Association 2019-06-01
Series:Je-LKS: Journal of E-Learning and Knowledge Society
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.je-lks.org/ojs/index.php/Je-LKS_EN/article/view/1135007
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author Antonella Poce
Francesca Amenduni
Carlo De Medio
author_facet Antonella Poce
Francesca Amenduni
Carlo De Medio
author_sort Antonella Poce
collection DOAJ
description The scientific community of educators has been more and more interested in Tinkering as an informal method to engage students with STEM subjects. Recent research has highlighted that Tinkering could be adopted not only to develop students’ scientific knowledge but also to support thinking processes such as Critical Thinking and Creative Problem Solving. Despite these assumptions, there is still a lack of research concerning the impact of Tinkering on the development of the 21st Century skills. That is why the Centre for Museum Studies - University of Roma Tre investigated the impact of Tinkering activities on Critical and Creative thinking skills enhancement in museum educators and teachers involved in STEM education. The Centre for Museum Studies conducted a pilot study with 30 participants at Città della Scienza science centre (Naples), where museum educators and STEM teachers participated in a two-day workshop on collaborative Tinkering activities. During the workshop, participants were required to take two kinds of pre and post-tests with the aim of assessing Critical and Creative thinking skills development. On the one hand, in the Creative Thinking post-test participants showed significant improvement. On the other hand, despite there were no statistical differences concerning Critical Thinking assessment, a slight improvement in the post-test could be quantified. Follow up research is required, where it will be necessary to expand the sample of the study and use different measures for Critical and Creative Thinking assessment.
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spelling doaj.art-626bbb6426e04557b0e574e8eab35e422022-12-22T03:36:49ZengItalian e-Learning AssociationJe-LKS: Journal of E-Learning and Knowledge Society1826-62231971-88292019-06-0115210.20368/1971-8829/16391135007From Tinkering to Thinkering. Tinkering as Critical and Creative Thinking EnhancerAntonella Poce0Francesca Amenduni1Carlo De Medio2Roma TRE UniversityRoma TRE UniversityRoma TRE UniversityThe scientific community of educators has been more and more interested in Tinkering as an informal method to engage students with STEM subjects. Recent research has highlighted that Tinkering could be adopted not only to develop students’ scientific knowledge but also to support thinking processes such as Critical Thinking and Creative Problem Solving. Despite these assumptions, there is still a lack of research concerning the impact of Tinkering on the development of the 21st Century skills. That is why the Centre for Museum Studies - University of Roma Tre investigated the impact of Tinkering activities on Critical and Creative thinking skills enhancement in museum educators and teachers involved in STEM education. The Centre for Museum Studies conducted a pilot study with 30 participants at Città della Scienza science centre (Naples), where museum educators and STEM teachers participated in a two-day workshop on collaborative Tinkering activities. During the workshop, participants were required to take two kinds of pre and post-tests with the aim of assessing Critical and Creative thinking skills development. On the one hand, in the Creative Thinking post-test participants showed significant improvement. On the other hand, despite there were no statistical differences concerning Critical Thinking assessment, a slight improvement in the post-test could be quantified. Follow up research is required, where it will be necessary to expand the sample of the study and use different measures for Critical and Creative Thinking assessment.https://www.je-lks.org/ojs/index.php/Je-LKS_EN/article/view/1135007TinkeringMuseumSTEM educationCritical thinkingCreativityAssessment and evaluation
spellingShingle Antonella Poce
Francesca Amenduni
Carlo De Medio
From Tinkering to Thinkering. Tinkering as Critical and Creative Thinking Enhancer
Je-LKS: Journal of E-Learning and Knowledge Society
Tinkering
Museum
STEM education
Critical thinking
Creativity
Assessment and evaluation
title From Tinkering to Thinkering. Tinkering as Critical and Creative Thinking Enhancer
title_full From Tinkering to Thinkering. Tinkering as Critical and Creative Thinking Enhancer
title_fullStr From Tinkering to Thinkering. Tinkering as Critical and Creative Thinking Enhancer
title_full_unstemmed From Tinkering to Thinkering. Tinkering as Critical and Creative Thinking Enhancer
title_short From Tinkering to Thinkering. Tinkering as Critical and Creative Thinking Enhancer
title_sort from tinkering to thinkering tinkering as critical and creative thinking enhancer
topic Tinkering
Museum
STEM education
Critical thinking
Creativity
Assessment and evaluation
url https://www.je-lks.org/ojs/index.php/Je-LKS_EN/article/view/1135007
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