The State of Makerspace Research: a Review of the Literature
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Abstract
This literature review identifies the content and scope of empirical academic research on making, makerspaces, and fablabs. Using an overview approach, 150 peer reviewed studies were analyzed using expanded activity theory as a framework to examine how researchers have explored various components in a makerspace (subjects, tools, community, rules, division of labor and objects) as well as the outcomes (cognitive, psychomotor, affective, and behavioral) for their users. This review indicates that despite the wide-spread discussions describing makerspaces and making in school library practitioner publications and conferences, there is a lack of research related to making, makerspaces, and fablabs in PreK-12 school libraries in the United States.