Megelas, Alex (2014) Power Up! Learning in a Hackerspace. Masters thesis, Concordia University.
Preview |
Text (application/pdf)
2MBMegelas_MA_F2014.pdf - Accepted Version Available under License Spectrum Terms of Access. |
Abstract
This qualitative research project considers the acquisition of technological literacy in the lived, physical context of the Foulab hackerspace, a community of practice located in Montreal, Quebec.
Hackerspaces are an offshoot of hacker culture. They are physical sites (garages, lofts) where individuals who sometimes self-identify as hackers come together to share tools and knowledge, and collaborate on projects of a technological nature. As educational communities, hackerspaces are member-led and member-funded. Initiatives stemming from hackerspaces including computer programming, electrical design and small electronics projects.
Power Up! participants were six individuals, including the lead researcher, who all identified themselves as having experienced barriers to engaging with technology. The research objective was to see how (if) Foulab would contribute to participants overcoming their reluctances, successfully complete a project and in so doing, acquire mastery over the tools and knowledge required.
Participants were required to design and build a bicycle-powered electricity generator with the support of the Foulab membership, facilities and tools.
While the project was successfully completed, there were clashes between the lab and Power Up! project which prevented the project from being fully integrated into Foulab. The research project documents this and how, as a result, Power Up! grew into its own peer-based learning community.
Participants met at Foulab weekly for ten weeks. At the onset of the project, participants were asked to take part in a written reflection and a group conversation in order to consider their prior and current engagement with technology.
Participants then began to develop a methodology for working together that first saw them engage in research into the theoretical fundamentals of electrical conductivity and electrical project design. They then came up with a design for the bicycle-powered generator and gathered the tools and parts necessary to assemble it.
This process, and the participants' engagement with each other and with Foulab, was documented in field notes by the lead researcher. At the conclusion of the project, participants took part in a group discussion to reflect on the experience.
| Divisions: | Concordia University > Faculty of Arts and Science > Education |
|---|---|
| Item Type: | Thesis (Masters) |
| Authors: | Megelas, Alex |
| Institution: | Concordia University |
| Degree Name: | M.A. |
| Program: | Educational Studies |
| Date: | July 2014 |
| Thesis Supervisor(s): | Waddington, David |
| Keywords: | Hackers, Hackerspaces, Communities of practice, awesome, Etienne Wenger, Jeanne Lave |
| ID Code: | 978978 |
| Deposited By: | ALEXANDRE MEGELAS |
| Deposited On: | 05 Nov 2014 20:23 |
| Last Modified: | 18 Jan 2018 17:48 |
References:
Applebaum, Jacob. 2010. "Keynote lecture." Lecture, HOPE 2010, The Hotel Pennsylvania, New York, July 16.Apunkt Schneider, Frank, and Grenzfurthner, Johannes. 2010. "Hacking the Spaces." Monochrom. Accessed November 21. http://www.monochrom.at/hacking-the-spaces/.
Birden, Susan. 2002. "Collective Transformations, Collective Theories: What Adult Educators Can Learn from the Boston Women's Health Book Collective." Lecture, Adult Education Research Conference, Raleigh, NC.
Berkana Institute. 2010. Accessed December 11. http://www.berkana.org/.
Blankwater, Elgin. 2010. “Hacking as a Way of Life: Ethnographic Research on Hacker Communities” (Msc, Sociology, Univeriteit van Amsterdam).
Cavalcanti Gui. 2013. "Is it a Hackerspace, Makerspace, TechShop, or FabLab?" Make Magazine, May 1. http://makezine.com/2013/05/22/the-difference-between-hackerspaces-makerspaces-techshops-and-fablabs/.
Chonavec, Donna, Elizabeth Lange, and Lee Ellis. 2008."Social movement learning: A catalyst for action." In Mobilizations, Protests and Engagements: Social Movements in Canada, edited by Marie Hammond Calaghan and Matthew Hayday, 188. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing.
Chubb, Aaron, and Elizabeth Lange. 2009. “Critical Environmental Adult Education in Canada: Student Environmental Activism.” New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education 124: 61–71.
Clark, Christopher. 1990. “What You Can Learn from Applesauce: A Case of Qualitative Inquiry in Use.” In Qualitative Inquiry in Education: The Continuing Debate, edited by E. Eisner & A. Peshkin, 327–38.. New York: Teacher's College Press.
Culton, Kenneth R., and Ben Holtzman. 2010. "The Growth and Disruption of a ‘Free Space’: Examining a Suburban Do It Yourself (DIY) Punk Scene." Space and Culture 13(3): 270–84.
Deseriis, Marco (2011). “Improper names: The minor politics of collective pseudonyms and multiple-use names.” New York University. Dissertation.
Freire, Paulo. 1970. Pedagogy of the oppressed. 30th anniversary ed. New York: Continuum.
Freedom Downtime. 2001. Directed by Emmanuel Goldstein. DVD.
Garfinkel, Harold. 1967. Studies in Ethnomethodology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Gershenfeld, Neil A. 2005. Fab: the Coming Revolution on Your Desktop--from Personal Computers to Personal Fabrication. New York: Basic, 2005.
Goldstein, Emmanuel. 2008. The Best of 2600: A Hacker Odyssey. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley, 2008.
Groenendyk, Michael, and Riel Gallant. 2013. "3D Printing and Scanning at the Dalhousie University Libraries." Library Hi Tech 31: 34–41.
Heirs Project. 2010. "Grounding Principles." Heirs to a
Fighting Tradition: Sharing Our Stories, Working for Justice. Heirs Project. Accessed December 11. http://www.heirsproject.org/grounding_principles.shtml.
Hackerspaces. 2014. “HackerspaceWiki.” Accessed July 2. http://hackerspaces.org/
Kera, Denisa. 2012. “Hackerspaces and DIYbio in Asia: Connecting Science and Community with Open Data, Kits and Protocols.” Journal of Peer Production 1(2): 1–8.
Kera, Denisa. 2013. “Innovation Regimes Based on Collaborative and Global Tinkering: Synthetic Biology and Nanotechnology in the Hackerspaces.” Technology in Society 37 (May): 28–37.
Lave, Jean, and Etienne Wenger. 1991. Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Lessig, Lawrence. 2005. Free Culture: The Nature and Future of Creativity. New York: Penguin.
Lindtner, S. 2012. Remaking Innovation. Accessed July 2, 2014. http://www.ics.uci.edu/~lindtner/documents/Lindtner_Remakinginnovation.pdf
Ludlow, Peter. 2010. "Wikileaks and Hacktivist Culture." The Nation: 25–26.
Mentor, the. 1986. “The Hacker Manifesto.”
Moilanen, Jarkko. 2012. “Emerging Hackerspaces –
Peer-Production Generation.” IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology. 378: 94-111
Raison, David. 2010. “Hackerspaces, Postmodern Learning Spheres beyond the Virtual?” (Diploma thesis proposal, University of Innsbruck, Austria). Accessed July 2, 2014. http://david.raison.lu/hackerspaces_online.pdf
Robertson, Evan D. 2010. Hacker Spaces: User-Led Innovation and Economic Development. Atlanta: Georgia Institute of Technology.
Silver, Jay. 2009. “Awakening to Maker Methodology: The Metamorphosis of a Curious Caterpillar.” Cambridge, MA: MIT Media Lab.
Taylor, Edward W. 2010. “Cultural Institutions and Adult Education.” New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education 127: 5–13.
Tweney, Dylan. 2009. "DIY Freaks Flock to ‘Hacker Spaces’ Worldwide" Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital. Accessed July 2, 2014. http://www.wired.com/2009/03/hackerspaces/.
Wenger, Etienne. 1998. Communities of Practice: Learning, Meaning, and Identity. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Wenger, Etienne. 2012. "Communities of practice: A Brief Introduction." Accessed January 1, 2014. http://wenger-trayner.com/theory.
Winn, Joss. 2014.“The University as Hackerspace.” Accessed July 2. http://joss.blogs.lincol.ac.uk/2012/03/16/the-university-as-a-hackerspace/
Repository Staff Only: item control page
Download Statistics
Download Statistics