makeSPACE: Inside the Box

the makeSPACE Team

Curious about what the natural world can teach us about our own psychology? Perhaps you're seeking a curated cultivation of all things creativity. The makeSPACE pod offers listeners a kindred (auditory) spirit in the exploration of creativity in education. Stay up-to-date with the latest in research, insights and curiosities gleaned from the continuing makeSPACE project.

Episodes

  1. Reflecting on the Research Process

    APR 22

    Reflecting on the Research Process

    makeSPACE: Inside the Box

    54 min

  2. 09/23/2025

    Interviewing an Object

    makeSPACE: Inside the Box

    28 min

  3. 03/19/2025

    Omnivore's Delight

    makeSPACE: Inside the Box

    23 min

  4. 06/13/2024

    Episode 8: Let's do the Math!

    Episode Notes In this episode the Creative Engagement Lab team reviews and discusses two excellent teacher examples from the makeSPACE Foundation Course. These teachers adapt and apply creative routines to their existing math curriculum, aiming to support and enhance student understanding in particular math concepts.

    20 min

  5. 02/26/2024

    Teacher Innovations and Experiments

    Episode Notes Teachers are innovators! In this episode Philadelphia educators share their classroom adaptations of makeSPACE Creative Routines, opening new paths to student engagement and success with their unique invitations into creative thinking and action. To find a few examples of makeSPACE Creative Routines visit Our Work.

    19 min
  6. Creative Resource Shuffle

    10/02/2023

    Creative Resource Shuffle

    Episode Notes We encourage you to bring the Creative Resource Shuffle into your classroom or event. What a rich experience!

    16 min

  7. 04/05/2021

    Teacher Talk with Michelle Colbert

    Michelle Colbert is an educator at Fir Ridge Elementary. She works to honor the voices of all her students through a variety of projects and disciplines -- including 3-D printing and CAD; CNC machining; laser engraving; robotics and electrical engineering; circuit boarding; graphic design; and woodworking. In this episode of Inside the Box, we Zoomed with Michelle about her classroom and her teaching process.

    44 min

  8. 02/24/2021

    The Labor of Delight

    In July 2018, poet, teacher, and author Ross Gay had an idea—what might happen if he wrote about something he found delightful as a daily practice for a whole year striaght. His idea grew into The Book of Delights, a selection from his yearlong meandering through the experiences, observations, and reflections that arose from his daily “essayettes” and developing “delight radar”. Today, we have a conversation with Ross Gay about the world of delights.

    47 min

  9. 02/10/2021

    How are you Creative?

    At makeSPACE, we believe that the creative process is participatory and for everyone. And so we ask our partners to think about creativity from a different perspective. This approach to understanding creative potential—and our capacity to produce creativity—follows the same logic proposed by Stan Kuczaj. Dr. Kuczaj, a comparative psychologist and dolphin expert, wasn't satisfied with the narrowly standardized approach to cetacean research. He implored his fellow researchers to ask, “not how smart are dolphins, but how are dolphins smart?” In this episode, we find parallels between this inquiry and our own creativity.

    21 min

  10. 01/27/2021

    Everyone is Creative

    If we look for it, we can find small, modest acts of creativity happening all around us. In this view, we are all implicitly creative. We don't need a grandiose vision to channel our creativity. And we don't need to possess a special skill or trait to begin the process. In other words, everyone is creative. Today's episode examines the life of Maria Sibylla Merian, a pioneering scientist whose life is a study in pursuit of developing curiosities and burgeoning creativity.

  11. 01/12/2021

    Origins

    In the early 1970s, a psychologist named J. P. Guilford set out to study creativity as a natural extension of his work in human psychology. One of Guilford’s most famous studies was the infamous nine-dot puzzle, aligned in a 3-by-3, box-shaped grid. He tasked participants with connecting all nine dots without lifting pen from page. The solution requires moving outside the constraints of the box to extend lines beyond the grid's borders. Hence, thinking outside the box. In our inaugural episode, we'll explore the ways in which our constraints limit our creative potential. And we'll, of course, examine solutions to these limitations - both inside the classroom and out.

    40 min
  • 11 Episodes

About

Curious about what the natural world can teach us about our own psychology? Perhaps you're seeking a curated cultivation of all things creativity. The makeSPACE pod offers listeners a kindred (auditory) spirit in the exploration of creativity in education. Stay up-to-date with the latest in research, insights and curiosities gleaned from the continuing makeSPACE project.

Information

  • Creator
    the makeSPACE Team
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    11
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2026
  • Show Website
    makeSPACE: Inside the Box