Students are asked to document their research, measurements, drawings, physical prototypes, interviews, and iterations of 3D prints.
Steven Jones, Arlington Public Schools (USA)
When most people think about 3D printing in education, they might visualise a whole range of creative and beautiful products – whether it be topographical maps, DNA models, assistive devices, rockets, architectural models or many other amazing things. What we mustn’t forget is that there’s a whole creative process to get to these outcomes and that’s what we’ll be looking at in today’s blog.
In a recent survey with 14 PrintLab Pioneer teachers, we asked them about their strategies for students documenting the design process when working on 3D printing projects. Our aim was to gain insights about what is documented and how it is documented, including what applications or methods are used. Before we get to the full answers from the survey, here are 3 key learnings we took away from the responses:
1. The design process is just as important (if not more important) than the outcome. It was pretty much unanimous that teachers wanted to see evidence of the various stages of the design process – from research and idea generation to 3D CAD, 3D printing and iteration.
2. A wide range of applications are used. There was no clear-cut ‘winner’ in terms of what applications/programs were used to document the design process. Answers ranged from paper portfolios and worksheets to Powerpoint, Google Docs, Padlet, Seesaw and more.
3. Rubrics are a popular method of assessment. Several teachers mentioned their preferred method of assessment is the use of rubrics against portfolios and other bodies of work.
Let's now move on to look at the full answers from the survey. A big thank you to our wonderful Pioneers for their continued support. We are sure you’ll agree that their insights are a big help and inspiration to others in the community!
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