Abstract

Open peer commentary on the article “Maker Education: Where Is the Knowledge Construction?” by José Armando Valente & Paulo Blikstein.: The target article discusses the question of how educational makerspaces can become places supportive of knowledge construction. This question is too often neglected by people who run makerspaces, as they mostly explain how to use different tools and focus on the creation of a product. In makerspaces, often pupils also engage in physical computing activities and thus in the creation of interactive artifacts containing embedded systems, such as smart shoes or wristbands, plant monitoring systems or drink mixing machines. This offers the opportunity to reflect on teaching physical computing in computer science education, where similarly often the creation of the product is so strongly focused upon that the reflection of the learning process is pushed into the background.