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.
Beta Lab @ Home
In person mentoring is on hold indefinitely due to COVID-19
closures, but we have moved our efforts online. We developed
simple but robust making at home kits — visit our
supplies list to build your own — and have partnered with
the Boys and Girls Club of
Sacramento to deliver some of these maker kits to families.
We have creating online activities and hosting making sessions to
encourage young people to play and make things. Check out our
social media channels (below) for more information and search for
#HomeMakeKit for activities beyond our project :
Spring 2021
Interested in taking the course and mentoring with us in Spring
2021? Fill out the 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
Undergraduate Lead Mentor: Ann Rainey
