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First, however, the next section will briefly review the etymological, conceptual
and theoretical roots of tinkering. Section 8.3 will touch on what can be learned from
tinkering. Both sections focus on the
what
-question before we move on to the
where-
question in Sect. 8.4. There we discuss the different contexts within which tinkering
can take place and focus on two contexts in particular, academic research education
and emerging countries. We then argue
how
tinkering success can be optimized
by taking psychological aspects into account, and end the chapter with a summary
conclusion.
8.2
What is Tinkering, Really?
To understand the roots of tinkering, let's first review the word etymologically, be-
yond the context of this chapter. Merriam-Webster's online dictionary describes a
tinkerer as 'a person who in the past traveled to different places and made money
by selling or repairing small items'. It becomes more interesting when we get into
the additional descriptions and synonyms, which describe a tinkerer as an 'unskillful
mender', and tinkering as 'to repair, adjust, or work with something in an unskilled or
experimental manner' with synonyms as 'to fiddle, fool, or mess', to 'play, monkey
or toy' and finally as 'to handle thoughtlessly, ignorantly, or mischievously'.
In the context of education, these roots contain interesting connotations that relate
to several key aspects of tinkering. Firstly, it emphasizes the tension between someone
who repairs but is to some extent unskillful. In fact, this aspect aligns with applying
tinkering as a tool to learn what you do not yet understand, either in an educational
context (“I don't yet have the knowledge”) or research context (the knowledge does
not exist yet). Secondly, it expresses a notion of experimentation, exploration and
playfulness. As such, it occurs in a safe environment where it is not a problem if
something fails, as we will have nonetheless learned something. Finally, it mentions
the notion of fooling, fiddling and messing around—this aligns with the tinkering
notion of re-appropriation, using tools or technologies in unintended ways or fashions
to induce different views or create tensions
From a learning theory point of view, a key related school of thought is construc-
tionism, as introduced by MIT Media Laboratory researcher Seymour Papert, which
in turn is linked to constructivism (Papert and Harel
1991
). According to this, learn-
ing should not be seen as the transmission of knowledge from instructor to student,
but as students learning by doing. It proposes an experiential learning approach in
real world settings and contexts, balanced by reflection on this experience to re-
construct and update the conceptual understanding of the world. In constructionism
specifically this is achieved by literally constructing prototypes and products.
In a creative science context, the concepts of producer, teacher and student may be
somewhat blurred. Imagine an interactive art installation that poses research ques-
tions or suggests certain theoretical extensions or conjectures. The creator of the
installation can be seen as the student and may have certainly learned something by
