Tinkering sounds like it implies a limited value or effort. As an amateur might tinker with a car engine, never digging too deep into its operations or causing any irreparable harm. In Philip K. Dick’s 1953 science fiction story, The Variable Man, the protagonist is a tinker from 1913 transported into a technology driven future because he has repair skills that are obsolete (2013). While a future government wants him to fix a device devised to be an ultimate weapon, he instead fixes it in a way to lose the war but save humanity. Before mass production and disposable culture, a tinker was a valued profession. A person who could repair anything with limited materials and only the simplest objective, make it work. Tinkering in the classroom is valuable for students to work through problems by physically interacting with objects.
As a tool for learning, 3D printers and CAD software bring the novelty of tinkering to act as a powerful engagement tool. Described by Keune and Peppler, tinkering is grounded in Papert’s constructionism theory (2018). This theory suggests that learners construct mental models about the workings of the world around them by engaging and manipulating objects to think with. Mental models help students understand the world around them until they encounter a new model to replace their existing ideas. Papert suggests that through physical engagement learners can the abstract can become concrete with objects to think with (1993). With this understanding it is suggested that teachers can intensionally design environments and learning kits to facilitate this experience. The 3D printer is idea for this application. No matter the course content, physical objects can be made and supplied in such a way that students can come up with multiple solutions to an open-ended problem.
Research by Poce and De Medio suggest that tinkering is playful practice led by inquiry-based learning with creative and aesthetic components (2019). Use of the 3D printer to make new parts, creative designs, or repair parts expresses a competency in an emerging, as yet identified, Gardner-esque technical intelligence. Tinkering is most effective when students have ownership of the topic, the format of the presentation, and the creation of questions (Harris, 2017). Within the classroom, tinkering promotes social and collaborative learning (Poce and De Medio, 2019). While promoting 21st- century skills, learners can also participate in the aspects of rubric and assessment design as well.
Tinkering is learning through play. Whether it is used for exemplars, manipulatives, or models 3D printers have little constraint on what they can make, limited only by the imagination. The Variable Man treats technology as a cautionary tale but that dreamers and tinkerers may solve the future’s problems, today.
Dick, P. K. (2013). The variable man: Short Story. Harper Collins.
Harris, G. (2017). Implementing inquiry-based learning through collaboration. Teacher Librarian, 44(3), 26–29. https://discovery.ebsco.com/c/36ffkw/details/bdwomnuqlb
Keune, A., & Peppler, K. (2018). Materials-to-develop-with: The making of a makerspace. British Journal of Educational Technology, 50(1), 280–293. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjet.12702
Papert, S. (1993). The children’s machine: Rethinking School In The Age Of The Computer.
Poce, A., Amenduni, F., & De Medio, C. (2019). From tinkering to thinkering. Tinkering as critical and creative thinking enhancer. DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals), 15(2), 101–112. https://doi.org/10.20368/1971-8829/1639
Marcus Szeiman 