Local kids will have activities galore to keep them entertained – and learned – this school holiday season with CQUniversity’s Makerspace workshops.
From robotics, drone basics, to arts and craft with a tech twist, the interactive, hands-on workshops are catered for participants between the ages of eight and 16, curated and developed specifically to inspire young, imaginative minds.
Allowing young people to delve into the world of STEM, CQUniversity Senior Lecturer and Head of Course for the Master of Teaching (Primary) Dr Michelle Vanderburg said that the fun and interactive nature of the workshops provide a fertile learning environment allowing young minds to explore and develop new skills.
“Making learning fun and interactive not only provides young people with the opportunity to participate in an entertaining and stimulating activity, but engages them to consider new possibilities for themselves,” Dr Vanderburg said.
“Through the workshops, they will be able to work directly with the types of robotic technologies used in industry, learn how to code and safely fly drones, as well as create robotic-assisted art that they’ll be able to take home with them.”
Parents/guardians and attendees will also have the opportunity to participate in an optional research component of the workshops, which aims to better understand how engagement with the Makerspace activities may encourage STEM literacy and interest, and skill development.
“It’s insightful for us as creators of stimulating learning activities to observe how young people interact with the Makerspace activities and other attendees, as it informs how to best provide not only an optimal learning environment – but also how to best support and encourage exciting possibilities for the next generation,” Dr Vanderburg said.
“Participation in the research is completely optional and will have no bearing on their participation in the Makerspace workshop. They will still have a fabulous time!”
Workshops will take place between December 16–17 with morning and afternoon sessions at CQUniversity’s Bundaberg campus.
More workshops are being scheduled in January and will be added to the booking link soon.
To be added to the Makerspace mailing list and be the first to know of future workshops, please contact Dr Vanderburg at cqumakerspace@cqu.edu.au.
Bookings for the workshops can be made by visiting the online here.
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