Learning to solve problems and think creatively in makerspaces

4 Jun 2025

The interests, curiosity, and aspirations of you as an educator and of the learners in your classroom – that’s what makes computational thinking engaging for all.

This webinar explores ideas and practices that enhance student ownership and autonomy in afterschool makerspaces. It shares some fresh teaching ideas from a TLRI-funded study of Advanced Computational Thinking in the Manurewa High School Makerspace. It looks at how creativity and critical thinking play a big role in how we learn with and about technology—and it challenges some common assumptions about how digital tech should be taught in schools.

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Presenters

Professor Andrew Gibbons

Professor Andrew Gibbons draws on his experiences as an early childhood teacher, academic dean, social worker, journalist, and musician in his work in programme development, delivery, and postgraduate research supervision of early childhood, primary, secondary, and tertiary teacher education programmes at the School of Education at Auckland University of Technology | Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau. Andrew’s teaching and research is dedicated to growing teacher education programmes that break out of disciplinary siloes and generate powerful connections between teachers and the research community.

Associate Professor Ricardo Sosa Medina

Associate Professor Ricardo Sosa Medina has a background in industrial design, and has worked in participatory design with indigenous communities in Mexico and the design of interactive learning systems. He has led innovative initiatives setting up new design programs, research labs, and partnerships with industry and local communities, and now specialises in learning and design at the Sydney School of Architecture, Design and Planning.