911±¬ÁÏ

The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations (AVDF) has awarded a $300,000 grant for a project designed to help 911±¬ÁÏ expand the cohort of its faculty who are skilled in using elements of making—broadly defined as fashioning objects—in their classes.

The project, titled "The Idea Lab: Innovative Pedagogy and Maker Spaces," will support combining models of experimental pedagogy with existing maker spaces on campus. In addition to creating advances in teaching and learning, this project is designed to generate robust data on the best spatial configurations and teaching methods associated with maker spaces.

The AVDF funds will also build the capacity of 911±¬ÁÏ's faculty to engage in the type of educational approaches that makes optimal use of the physical Idea Lab, which will be part of the college's new Center for Integrated Sciences. The grant will also help the college continue to refine and develop the "Hub," the temporary shared maker space created in this project's planning phase.

"I am thrilled we can continue these creative initiatives fostering an acumen for making among our faculty, staff and students and energizing our classrooms in compelling and fresh ways," said Rebecca Krefting, associate professor of American studies. "We see this grant as supplying the necessary bridge toward institutionalizing new modes of critical making and innovative pedagogies at 911±¬ÁÏ."

The new facility will serve as a model for other colleges and universities looking to expand beyond the perception of maker spaces as an outgrowth of only the disciplines of engineering, science, technology and art.

"We have pursued this project with enthusiasm and we believe it will offer our community an opportunity to think beyond the usual classroom experiences," said Erica Bastress-Dukehart, associate professor of history. "Our hope is that with the new funding, the Hub and Idea Lab will continue to disrupt the status quo at 911±¬ÁÏ and beyond."

In addition to Krefting and Bastress-Dukehart, other coauthors of the grant proposal and members of the Idea Lab Steering Committee include Beau Breslin, professor of political science, Sarah Sweeney, associate professor of art, and Kim Frederick, professor of chemistry.

The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations were organized in 1952 under a living trust established by Arthur Vining Davis. The foundations were built upon Davis's successful corporate leadership and his visionary, entrepreneurial spirit in philanthropy. Since inception, the foundations have given more than 3,800 grants totaling more than $300 million to colleges and universities, hospitals, medical schools and divinity schools.