Abstract
A report of a year-long study in which the author engaged in 3D printing activity in order to determine how to facilitate and support skill building, concept attainment, and increased confidence with its use among teachers. Use of 3D printing tools and their applications in instructional settings are discussed. A hierarchy of 3D printing activities of increasing complexity, consisting of print trials, design experiments, and engineering tests, is identified and described. An iterative model that includes the development and refinement of 3D printing tools, geared specifically toward engineering settings is also described.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Aboufadel, E. (2014). 3D printing the MAA logo’s icosahedron. MAA Focus. 7-8.
Anderson, C. (2012). Makers: The new industrial revolution. New York: Crown Business
Bell, L., Brown, A., Bull, G., Conly, K., Johnson, L., McAnear, A., Maddux, C., Marks, G., Thompson, A., Schmidt, D., Schrum, L., Smaldino, S., Spector, M., & Sprague, D. (2010). Educational implications of the digital fabrication revolution. TechTrends, 54(5). 2-5.
Blender Foundation. (2013). Blender. Retrieved from http://www.blender.org
Bull, G., Chiu, J., Berry, R., Lipson, H., & **e, C. (2014). Advancing children’s engineering through desktop manufacturing. In J.M. Spector, M.D. Merrill, J. Elen, & M.J. Bishop (Eds.) Handbook of research on educational communications and technology (4th ed.) (pp 675-688). New York: Springer.
Doctorow, C. (2010). Makers. Tor Books.
Gershenfeld, N. (2005). Fab: The coming revolution on your desktop – from personal computers to personal fabrication. New York: Basic Books.
Hlubinka, M., Dougherty, D., Thomas, P., Chang, S., Hoefer, S., Alexander, I., & McGuire, D. (2013). Makerspace playbook: School edition. Makerspace.com: Maker Media. Retrieved from: http://makerspace.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/MakerspacePlaybook-Feb2013.pdf
John, M. (2014). How 3D printing is changing the shape of lessons. BBC News, Business. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/business-26871084
Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth. (n.d.). What is spatial ability? Retrieved from: http://web.jhu.edu/cty/STBguide.pdf
Kharbach, M. (2013). Importance of 3D printing in education. Educational technology and mobile learning. Retrieved from http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2013/03/importance-of-3d-printing-in-education.html
Kell, H.J., Lubinski, D., Benbow, C.P., & Steiger, J.H. (2013). Creativity and technical innovation: Spatial ability’s unique role. Psychological science, 24(9). 1831-1836.
Kuwalich, B.B. (2005). Participant observation as a data collection method. Forum: Qualitative social research, 6(2). Retrieved from http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/466/996
Lagoa. (2010). 3DTin. Retrieved from http://www.3dtin.com
Libow Martinez, S., & Stager, G.S. (2014). The maker movement: A learning revolution. Learning and Leading with Technology, 41(7), 12-17.
Lincoln, Y.S., & Guba, E.G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Sage Publications.
Lipson, H., & Kurman, M. (2013). Fabricated: The new world of 3D printing. Wiley.
New Media Consortium. (2013). Horizon report: 2013 K-12 education edition. Austin, TX: New Media Consortium. Retrieved from http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2013-horizon-report-k12.pdf
New Media Consortium. (2014). Horizon report: 2014 higher education edition. Austin, TX: New Media Consortium. Retrieved from http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2014-nmc-horizon-report-he-EN.pdf
Plewa, J. (2013). Volumetric imaging. Slideshare presentation. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/casereader/volumetric-imaging-20370309
Schaffhauser, D. (2013). 3D Printing in the classroom: 5 tips for bringing new dimensions to your students’ experiences. Retrieved from http://thejournal.com/Articles/2013/12/11/3D-Printing-in-the-Classroom-5-Tips-for-Bringing-New-Dimensions-to-Your-Students-Experiences.aspx?Page=1
Stanford University Computer Graphics Laboratory. (2013). Stanford 3D scanning repository. Retrieved from https://graphics.stanford.edu/data/3Dscanrep/
Stephenson, N. (1992). Snow crash. New York: Bantam Books
Wolcott, H.F. (2005). The art of fieldwork (2nd ed.). Lanham, MD: Altamira Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Brown, A. 3D Printing in Instructional Settings: Identifying a Curricular Hierarchy of Activities. TECHTRENDS TECH TRENDS 59, 16–24 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-015-0887-1
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11528-015-0887-1