Category: Educational Program

FixEd – Fixing Education

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Learning to solve problems

Challenging young people to apply their imagination & skills to the world around them

 

  • Award winning learning programmes for universities and schools

 

  • Equally relevant to design, engineering, STEM/STEAM and D&T

 

  • A 21st century mix of creativity, technical skills and social values
Join FixEd today
FixCamp

Our award-winning free programme runs in schools and universities in the UK and internationally. Working in teams Fixperts learn to develop skills in empathy, problem-solving and communications.

Engaging workshops, day camps and week-long courses assume that young people aged 9-14 hold the solutions to the problems of tomorrow. A hands-on brains-on experience using anything from sticks to drones.

Why fixing?

Fixing is a valuable way to think about change in the world – everyone can relate to ideas about repair and improvement. 

We don’t care if they consider themselves designers, engineers, artists, technologists or simply dreamers, our approach is proven to engage and equip young learners to use their imagination and skills to make things better.

Fixperts – Learning to solve problems

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Fixperts is a learning programme that challenges young people to use their imagination and skills to create ingenious solutions to everyday problems for a real person. In the process they develop a host of valuable transferable skills from prototyping to collaboration.

Fixperts offers a range of teaching formats to suit schools and universities, from hour-long workshops, to a term-long project, relevant to any creative design, engineering and STEM/STEAM studies.

Got 2 minutes? Watch our intro film

Access our FREE teaching resources and join the global Fixperts community

We offer free resources to run a one off project at your school or university or a range of packages to develop Fixperts in your institution.

Fixperts offers a range of teaching resources through 6 stages.

Click to view

Know someone who might be interested in teaching Fixperts? Share this page!

Fixperts teacher training

What is Fixperts?

Fixperts is a simple framework for teaching a human-centred design process in schools and universities. We provide teaching resources and training to enable educators worldwide to take advantage of its compelling nature.

  • Run in 30+ universities worldwide

  • Central to a Level 1/2 STEM Technical Award in English schools

  • Aligned with Design & Technology curriculum at Key Stages 3 and 4 in English schools (ages 12-16). Download our ‘Fixperts for…’ guide to see how Fixperts links to D&T, STEM, Science, Maker Mindset and Life Skills.

  • Winner of the international Blueprint Award for Design 2016

  • Rich archive of 400+ Fixperts films viewed over 500,000 times

  • Free basic materials

  • Structured as a non-profit organisation

Why is Fixperts popular?

Fixperts appeals to anyone who is looking for purpose and meaning in the application of their creativity and skills – that means most people!

Educators like Fixperts because it’s:

  • Open/free

  • Versatile: flexible and scalable

  • Proven

  • Connected

Learners like Fixperts because it’s:

  • Engaging

  • Applied

  • Shareable

  • Collaborative

  • Fixperts in schools

  • Fixperts in universities

  • Fixperts anywhere

  • Fixperts in schools

We have been developing our Fixperts programme in schools since 2016. A Fixperts project offers students the opportunity to engage with problems taken from the world around them and work in teams to research and develop solutions, sketch out ideas, model prototypes, and make a final product.

Fixperts integrates design & technology, engineering thinking and practical making skills and allows students to develop their creative skills through hands on model making whilst learning to improve their ideas through feedback. Most importantly students develop their creative problem solving skills through identifying, analysing and experiencing real problems seen in the world.

“…a compelling learning experience. They ALL wanted to improve on their work the next day.”

Teacher, King’s College School, Wimbledon

  • Fixperts in universities

Over 25 universities around the world run Fixperts and engage their students by working with real people and real needs. More than half have included it as part of their assessed curriculum.

Fixperts has worked with universities all over the world to instil the next generation of makers with the desire and tools to design for social good.

A Fixperts project asks students to explore the world outside of their classroom walls in order to find people with problems worth fixing. Using their ingenious design, prototyping and making skills, they create solutions that make everyday life a little better for their Fix Partners.

“The eye-level communication with the user is really valuable. You learn a lot about how to communicate with the person you are designing for. This is not so common in other parts of the course.”

Fixperts student

  • Fixperts anywhere

Anyone with imagination and a basic level of making skills can take up the Fixperts challenge. The guidelines are free and all you have to do is put your team together.

Click here to get started

How Fixperts works

Excite creative people with making skills to fix things for others …

Fixperts embark on a process which engages all their creativity and resourcefulness.

… make a film about it …

The process includes making a film that documents the process from start to fixed.

Download the Fixperts logo to use within your Fix Film!

Then send it to us using this form.

… and inspire others to do the same.

People might become Fixperts themselves, or maybe they’ll be inspired to solve the next problem they find.

Got it? Good. Now watch some FixFilms!

See full film gallery

Press

Versatile and Scalable Learning Formats

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As well as Fixperts for universities and schools, we’ve created FixHubs and Festivals of Fixing, we’ve explored the Future of Fixing through an exhibition seen by over 100,000 people in 3 countries and popped-up in museums, factories and online.

We’re not obsessed, honest! We’ve just found the idea of fixing to link ideas across design, engineering and technology, to be accessible across countries and generations and, most of all, to be relevant to the age we live in. Let’s fix this thing!

Fixperts

Fixperts is an education programme which challenges students to create ingenious solutions to everyday problems. In the process they develop a host of valuable transferable skills from prototyping to collaboration – it’s great fun too! Fixperts runs in over 30 universities world-wide and is growing in schools.

Find out more about Fixperts

“An inspiring and practical session. The workshop helped me re-evaluate how I teach the design process and I will definitely be using Fixperts’ techniques with all age groups.” 

Teacher, Bradley Stoke Community School, Bristol

Lead the child to construct for himself the tools that will transform him from the inside—that is, in a real sense, and not just on the surface.

Jean Piaget

FixCamp

FixCamp is a design and engineering activity camp for the problem-solvers of tomorrow.

Our first prototype for this all new format took place in Brixton, South London during the summer of 2018: for 15 days the engineers, designers and thinkers of tomorrow tackled big issues and built big.

Kids and their parents went crazy for FixCamp. The big question was and is: are we doing it again? If your school, university or company is interested in what happens next then get in touch!

Find out more and get involved

Big ideas!

We take visible issues from day to day life, and think about what they mean, from ageing population to new methods of manufacturing.

Acting locally, thinking globally!

Being proactive is important, being prosocial is critical.

Skills for the future

Our work is driven by the amazing accessibility of new technology; the skills we offer are technical, creative and critical. The decision of what to make is as important as being able to do it.

Learning through making

Making is a way of thinking; through making things real our young Fixperts understand their power in how to change the world around them.

FixEd Membership

We have different packages to ensure that you get access to the connections, content and programmes you need.

What do we offer?

  • Network: by signing up you become a member of FixEd community

  • Resources: presentations, session warm-ups and printable templates

  • Support: from information and advice to bespoke content for your specific context

  • Training: FixEd offers online and in-depth training depending on your requirements

Who is it for?

  • Individuals

  • Primary and Secondary Schools

  • Universities

  • Organisations

Sign Up