Agency by Design

Sponsored by the Abundance Foundation, the AbD project is investigating the intersection of the maker movement, tinkering, design thinking, and Project Zero frameworks. Working with four schools in the Temescal region of Oakland, California, we're investigating ways to strengthen students' cognitive development in three areas: (1) the capacity to recognize and appreciate the design dimensions of objects, ideas, and systems; (2) the capacity to be agents of change with regard to design in the world, and; (3) the capacity to think and learn through tinkering. Combining this action research with a reveiw of current opinions and trends, we hope to contribute to a growing body of knowledage concerning the teaching and learning implications of the maker, design-thinking, and tinkering movements.