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UNIVERSITY-BASED MAKERSPACES 391

problem will lead to different thinking. Pink points different than previous approaches. Any pre-scripted
to several open source examples, such as Wikipedia, solution to a problem cannot be an innovative
where every contribution is provided by users who are solution to that problem. Working on unstructured
almost exclusively not paid for the work and where problems allows the student to challenge assump-
intrinsic motivation has led to better and more inno- tions, restructure the problem, and find new paths
vative results than a traditional approach (10). Users to a solution. This also ties to the unstructured time
post on Wikipedia because they are passionate about set aside for 3M and Google employees.
the subject they are describing. Pink also points to Because unscripted thinking is central to innova-
3M’s “15% time” and then later Google’s use of “20% tive thought, university makerspaces should have a
time.” These companies allow their employees to significant amount of time for students to work on
work on their own projects about one day per week unstructured activity. They should not, for example,
(i.e., 20% of their time). These employees pursue new focus on structured classroom laboratory activities
projects that they are individually passionate about, but should instead allow users to explore and tinker
and this has been the source of several important without a defined outcome.
products for these companies. Pink outlines how
intrinsic motivation is especially important for cre- ENCOURAGING INNOVATION IN A
ative tasks. MAKERSPACE
The research on self-motivation suggests that uni- Substantial evidence suggests that the culture
versity makerspaces that are interested in producing of an environment has a significant impact on the
new innovations should focus on member-generated amount of innovation that is produced (12,13).
activities. They should not, for example, focus on
supporting existing classroom activities where the The history of innovation shows that certain loca-
outcomes are externally assigned grades. tions and times—such as Florence, Italy, during the
Renaissance, ancient Greece, Scotland in the late 17
th
and early 18 centuries, and Silicon Valley from the
th
Unstructured Activity
A second intangible element of university mak- 1970s to present day—produce a significant amount
of innovative ideas when compared to similar popu-
erspaces that are trying to produce innovation is lations and similar environments (13). The question
unstructured activity (11). Again, most student activ- then becomes why these locations at these times are
ities are highly structured. Classes have lectures and
laboratories where all activities are scripted. The stu- so much more innovative than other locations that
would seemingly have similar characteristics.
dent is given assignments to perform and then are The premise of this paper is that these innova-
told in lecture the way in which the problems are tion-promoting characteristics can be identified
to be solved. As an example, consider most home- and implemented (although imperfectly) so as to
work assignments in engineering education. These
assignments are very structured. The student is told increase the output of innovative ideas. This paper
to do a few specific, well-defined problems, usually proposes five characteristics that are important for
culled from a textbook, in a specified amount of time. university makerspaces to establish and develop a
The problems are sorted by chapter so the student creative and innovative culture. Certainly, not all of
knows which techniques to apply. Each problem will these characteristics are required, and having these
generally have exactly one correct answer (e.g., P = characteristics does not lead directly to innovation.
34.1 psi). Tests, lectures, and lab assignments are Instead, it is suggested here that having more of these
similarly structured. Some classes may have design characteristics tends to bring about a more creative
assignments with more flexibility, but they are gen- environment.
erally more defined (general subject area, time to
completion, scope of the problem) than the chal- Diversity of Ideas
lenges of innovation. Encouraging a diversity of ideas is important to
Innovation, by definition, is not structured. Inno- creating a makerspace that encourages innovation.
vation requires new approaches to problems that are A diversity of ideas is the necessary first step in