SUMMARY

Over the past two decades, many studies have analyzed the extensive benefits of makerspaces towards student education, design-self efficacy, and community involvement. However, less work has been dedicated to examining the ways in which students interact within makerspaces. This study seeks to dive deeper into the patterns of tools that students are using and how this knowledge can inform makerspaces and make them more effective. Tool usage data was collected through end of semester surveys administered to students at two large public universities over the course of 5 semesters: Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2022, and Spring 2023. The survey asked a variety of questions about prior makerspace experience, general and specific tool usage, and student demographics. The first three semesters of data were used to gain an understanding of how different student groups – defined based on categories such as major, demographic, or class taken – interact with various tools within the space. Combined semester analysis was used to understand how underrepresented minorities were utilizing the space while between semester analysis was used to see trends in makerspace usage over time. The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic at the start of the study provided ample opportunity to examine the effects of unprecedented disruptive events and the resulting restrictions on the health of makerspaces and student interactions. Results showed substantial differences in usage between schools and student groups as well as a decline in usage following the onset of COVID restrictions. In the final two semesters, a pilot study was conducted at both makerspaces to determine how hands-on, and tour-based workshops offered to students can be used to increase tool usage in makerspaces and more successfully welcome new students into the maker world. While there is insufficient data to make any conclusions from these interventions, they showed the potential for promising results in the future.