This Design-Based Research (DBR study) within teacher education deals with a study of creativity and innovation in Makerspace in the field of the arts and crafts and design. The study is a case study based on a specialization module of teacher education called “Creative and innovative design processes”.
The focal point was a study of a learning design that has been targeted over several iterations to promote creative and innovative processes with the laser cutter.
Previous research within this DBR has shown that digital manufacturing technologies take time to learn, time to use in teaching and that it is difficult to avoid the technologies being perceived as limiting and controlling the creative and innovative processes. Based on the results, the following guidelines were envisaged in the de- sign: to lower the difficulty of the digital design tools, and to allow time for partici- pants to acquire skills in designing with the technologies. Both were intended to in- vestigate the extent to which it would open up creative and innovative work processes.
The results of the study showed that in order to work creatively and innovatively with the technologies in the makerspace, it requires participants to have the skills to work with the tools to a degree so that they can express themselves using them. The study also showed that the technologies are often perceived as controlling and limiting the creative process, especially at the beginning of the process.