The Workshop

Creating new knowledge is the focus of scientific research. “Making new knowledge”, or tinkering as a mode of scientific study is a strategy adopted by many creative researchers and is the theme of the ACE2013 conference. Given that scientific research and education go hand-in-hand, it is not surprising that tinkering as a mode of education is adopted in various academic programs worldwide. Arduino, Makey Makey, creative computing with Processing and OpenFrameworks are examples to be found within many curricula and courses.

The Tinkering in Scientific Education Workshop @ACE2013 aims to bring together those who adopted tinkering as part of their education, and those who wish to learn about this. Participants will share experiences, develop strategies and tackle problems. The format is workshop-oriented and interactive, without actual tinkering.

A particular focus is placed on the role of tinkering-oriented education within a research-oriented environment. Question addressed are a.o.

• How can the inherent open-endedness of tinkering coexist with fixed research agendas?
• To what degree can knowledge construction be expected from tinkering students?
• How to evaluate results of tinkering?
• When does tinkering end and research begin?

See this position paper and the CfP for more info. The workshop will take place on Tuesday November 12, 2013, in Enschede, the Netherlands.

A follow up paper with additional critical reflection can be found here:

Maarten H. Lamers Peter van der Putten Putten and Fons J Verbeek. Observations on Tinkering in Scientific Education. In: Cheok A.D., Nijholt A., Romão T. (Eds.) Entertaining the Whole World Human-Computer Interaction Series. London: Springer-Verlag. 137-145, 2014.