1. Making of an Open Makerspace in a
Secondary Vocational School in Austria:
Development, Activities, User Behaviour
and Gender Balance
Nanna Nora Sagbauer, Klaus Stocker, Michael Pollak, Martin Ebner
edMedia Conference July 2021

2. Research Questions
edMedia, July 2021 - Nanna Nora Sagbauer, Klaus Stocker, Michael Pollak, Martin Ebner
Q1
Is there a need to introduce makerspaces to secondary schools in Austria?
Q2
How can an open makerspace in and used by a school be developed?
Q3
Which maker activities are suited for an open makerspace in and used by a
school?
Q4
What effects do makerspaces in secondary vocational schools have on
their users?
Q5
How can gender balance be supported by makerspace activities?

3. HTL Hollabrunn
• Small town in Lower Austria
• Higher Federal Technical College (Höhere Technische Lehranstalt)
• ~1200 students in year 9 to 13
• ~140 teachers
edMedia, July 2021 - Nanna Nora Sagbauer, Klaus Stocker, Michael Pollak, Martin Ebner

4. The need of a makerspace
• Final project for all students in their last year
• 80 – 150 working hours
• Professional machinery for rapid prototyping
• Interference with regular classes
Number of final projects at HTL Hollabrunn from 2005 to 2019
edMedia, July 2021 - Nanna Nora Sagbauer, Klaus Stocker, Michael Pollak, Martin Ebner

5. Making of the
open makerspace
• Initial Funding – € 80 000
by ProHTL competition
• Ongoing Funding – Sponsoring
and user fees
• Legal framework – liability rules
and legal conditions require a
commited private organisation
edMedia, July 2021 - Nanna Nora Sagbauer, Klaus Stocker, Michael Pollak, Martin Ebner

6. The makerspace
• Laser cutter, CNC-mill,
embroidery machine, 3D-
printers,…
• 3 rooms on 100m² with separate
entrance
• Open 24/7 with access card and
video surveillance
• Students, teachers, alumni,
external users
edMedia, July 2021 - Nanna Nora Sagbauer, Klaus Stocker, Michael Pollak, Martin Ebner

7. Statistical evaluation of user data
September 2019 - February 2020
• 49 students, 34 school employees, 5 external users
• over 2,300 logged entries to the makerspace using the access system
• entries peaked in December 2019
• average activity of machine use was 2.4 hours per day including holidays
• laser cutter and the 3d printers were the most popular devices
• recorded on-time of the laser cutter was 510 hours
• 3d printers processed 440 jobs, each lasting for about 4 to 12 hours
• 225 jobs on the embroidery machine took an average of 30 minutes
edMedia, July 2021 - Nanna Nora Sagbauer, Klaus Stocker, Michael Pollak, Martin Ebner

8. Name and logo competition
• In cooperation with two partner schools
• Over 100 suggestions
• Preselection by a jury
• Voting by students on social media
edMedia, July 2021 - Nanna Nora Sagbauer, Klaus Stocker, Michael Pollak, Martin Ebner

9. Makerchallenge
• 44 students (year-12 )
• 7 weeks
• 19 hours in class and lots of students´ free time
Task:
• Make a give-away for our makerspace
• Maximum product cost for serial production: € 5
• Use the lasercutter and a 3D printer
Software
Electronics
3D printers
Lasercutter
edMedia, July 2021 - Nanna Nora Sagbauer, Klaus Stocker, Michael Pollak, Martin Ebner

10. Makerchallenge workflow
Ideas
Assign-
ment
Artefact
ment
De velop
1h 3h 15h
Sponsor
Teacher
Sponsor/
Jury
Teacher
Student Student
Teacher/Expert
edMedia, July 2021 - Nanna Nora Sagbauer, Klaus Stocker, Michael Pollak, Martin Ebner

11. Makerchallenge –
Student´s view
Realise my
cool thing
Can I
do
this?
Who can
help ?
Setbacks
are ok!
edMedia, July 2021 - Nanna Nora Sagbauer, Klaus Stocker, Michael Pollak, Martin Ebner

12. Challenge presentation
Foto: Bollwein/WKNÖ
Foto: Buchgraber/HTL Hollabrunn
edMedia, July 2021 - Nanna Nora Sagbauer, Klaus Stocker, Michael Pollak, Martin Ebner

13. Makerchallenge – Teacher´s view
High motivation
Combining theorie with practical implementation
Students actively seek know-how
Setbacks and failures are part of the development process
edMedia, July 2021 - Nanna Nora Sagbauer, Klaus Stocker, Michael Pollak, Martin Ebner

14. Summer@HTL
• Yearly week of summer camp
• 96 year-7 students in 12 groups
• HTL students (year-10) as
peer-guides for each group
Kinder@HTL
• Holiday camp in autumn break
• 45 year-3 to year-6 students
Holiday Camps
edMedia, July 2021 - Nanna Nora Sagbauer, Klaus Stocker, Michael Pollak, Martin Ebner

15. Gender
balance
Age 13 Age 7-12
edMedia, July 2021 - Nanna Nora Sagbauer, Klaus Stocker, Michael Pollak, Martin Ebner

16. Conclusion
edMedia, July 2021 - Nanna Nora Sagbauer, Klaus Stocker, Michael Pollak, Martin Ebner
Q1
There is a need to introduce makerspaces to secondary schools in Austria
Q2
The developed of an open makerspace in and used by a school takes time,
effort and money. And it is worth it.
Q3
There are many maker activities which are suited for an open makerspace
in and used by a school.
Q4
We recorded positive effects of the makerspace in a secondary vocational
school on the users, such as increased motivation and resilience.
Q5
Participants` age of maker activities was identified to be a major factor
for gender balance.