Beta Lab

Beta Lab

Overview Lee Martin

Build. Engineer. Tinker. Adapt.

The Beta Lab at UC Davis studies how young people learn and develop through participation in making and the Maker Movement. We investigate the nature of learning that occurs during extended, youth-driven maker projects, and we design learning environments and tools to support learning through making.

Learn about our making and mentoring during the COVID-19 pandemic at this Community Engaged Learning blog post.

Beta Lab

Check out the our robot petting zoo start page, which we use at our K12 sites. Or check out our social media channels for updates and more project ideas:

Spring 2023

Interested in mentoring with us in Spring 2023 and beyond? Fill out the interest application and we will get back to you.

About the Name

Beta stands for Build, Engineer, Tinker, Adapt. Our lab encourages a beta-testing approach to youth projects, where the work is naturally seen as in process – substantive but imperfect, where mistakes and setbacks are an expected part of the process of learning and making.

Project Personnel

Principle Investigator: Lee Martin, Associate Professor of Education
Graduate Student Researcher: J C Leapman

Project Alumni
Lead Mentors: Ann Rainey, Dorothy Hung, Joshua Lopez, Abby Uayan,
Graduate student researchers: Colin Dixon, Sagit Betser, Jade Lee

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