Taking Making into Classrooms: design-based blended immersive professional learning to support curriculum reform.

Dr. Childs was granted Research and Professional Development funds to research the impact of immersive professional learning program introducing design thinking and making to teachers.

Globally, design thinking and making are finding their way into all educational environments. In British Columbia, Canada, design and making form the core of the Applied Design, Skills and Technologies (ADST) curriculum, which is also a pedagogical approach that supports innovative teaching and learning. The combination of design thinking and making invites educators and students to engage in active production rather than passive consumption of products, media, materials, and objects (Martinez & Stager, 2013). This research examines the impact of seven years of an immersive professional learning program introducing design thinking and making to over 4,000 teachers in western Canada.