Bringing the Makerspace to Students During COVID
Although the pandemic has disrupted learning, students in ES 104 were able to continue their learning with the help of exclusive Makerspace kits sent to their homes. In this unique design-thinking-engineering-oral communication class, students typically visit the SSU Makerspace to build prototypes as a problem solving solution. With funding support from the Chevron Foundation 2019-2020 CSU Pathways to STEM grant (Dean Schneider, University Library, PI), Dr. Sara Kassis from the Department of Engineering designed, assembled, and mailed kits to ES 104 students in Fall 2020. As one student mentioned, "This kit was important because it allowed me to have different material for projects. It was helpful in participating in class activities." With subsequent support from the CSU Pathways to STEM 2020/2021 grant, Dr. Kassis was also able to send kits to her Spring 2021 class to continue their learning online, in addition to coordinating with faculty in other courses to send assembled kits to their students.