IGNACIO – Two Ignacio Community Library programs are bringing a hands-on educational approach to town, helping patrons successfully develop new skills and interests along the way.
The library’s Makerspace and Idea Lab are places where patrons can access free tools to pursue their own projects. To teach them how to use those tools, library staff use a nontraditional, project-based learning approach in which hands-on projects introduce academic concepts. Inside the small room, imaginations thrive as library patrons embark on new projects.
“You can feel the energy of them wanting to know more,” said Ron Schermacher, a service desk manager who runs the programs. “What I do then is I throw out questions that they can grasp onto and go, ‘Oh yeah, what about that?’”
Library staff finished a grant-funded training program on designing interactive, student-led learning spaces earlier this year. Now, Idea Lab and Makerspace provide opportunities for all ages to access more than 15 software programs, 20 STEM and media tools, and an online product selling station.
“The opportunities for success in a different environment are so significant,” said Marcia Vining, library director. “People ... that have not had success in traditional learning environments can find that here.”
For Schermacher, the biggest impact comes from the program’s project-based learning approaches.
Schools should use it to adapt their teaching methods to reach younger generations, “because nobody wants to learn math when they have no idea what it’s going to be used for,” he said.
Mae Loebig, 13, is already involved in project-based learning at her school, Mountain Middle School in Durango. She came to the lab for an unusual project: using the 3D printer to build a set of lungs.
Loebig spent four hours learning how to use the printer to create the lungs. Loebig and the student team was creating a made-up fatal disease and then simulating its effects on the lungs for a Destination Imagination Medical Mystery challenge.
To create a realistic disease, she and her team studied diseases, anatomy and more. This spring, the project earned the team first place at the regional level and 13th place at the state competition.
The project-based approach “really builds up public speaking skills and more problem-solving skills than just like putting a test in front of a kid and being like, ‘OK, now, what did you learn?” she said.
smullane@durangoherald.com
