The curious and creative minds of today’s teachers and students will be put to the test as Brock’s Hamilton campus hosts an event in its Makerspaces.

Brock’s Instructional Resource Centre will welcome 40 kids and practising teachers from the Halton Catholic School Board Wednesday, Feb. 22.

Makerspaces are arenas in which students and teachers can explore, learn and create, relying on the trial and error method and learning from the entire process, rather than just individual steps.

The Makerspaces in Brock’s Instructional Resource Centre have an added program focus.

“We’re different in the way that we are focusing on how our teacher education students can integrate it into their teaching and how they can use Makerspace and Maker mindset within their teaching and lesson planning,” says Shannon Welbourn, IRC Library and Media Supervisor at the Hamilton campus.

Participants will focus on creativity, collaboration, critical thinking and communication, which are all considered required skills of the future learner.

While students will be making and exploring, teachers will be doing the same, but from a different perspective. IRC Manager Kim Pelchat said that’s a major goal of the Faculty of Education’s Makerspace.

“The IRC at Brock University is at the forefront of offering this curriculum idea for student learning,” she said. “It’s providing students in the Faculty of Education with the resources to master the Makerspace concept.

Pelchat said that, in addition to the exploration and play aspects of Makerspaces, there is growing research suggesting these activities are good for mental health, creative self-discovery and learning new hands-on skills.

Wednesday’s event is the third in a series of Makerspace events hosted by the IRC. On Thursday, March 2, the St. Catharines campus will host 30 Early Childhood Education students for a session and on March 25, the Makerspace in Hamilton will host an event for teacher candidates.