I am by no means a 3D printing expert. But I do have three 3D printers in my library makerspace (and one in my previous space). And I have a lot of students who are very interested in learning more about 3D printing.Cognitive learning theory in the classroom some students have built their own 3D printers from kits and love to come hang out and tell me about their latest projects. Other students have no CAD (computer aided design) experience but are eager to start building.Cognitive learning theory in the classroom in order to help all of these students better utilize and access our 3D printers, I created a short, intro to 3D printing session that I teach afterschool every quarter.Cognitive learning theory in the classroom it’s essentially an orientation to how 3D printing works, how to create a design and how to get it ready to print. How to teach an intro to 3D printing class to students

cognitive learning theory in the classroom

The basics of how a 3D printer works can be confusing. Many students think that they just need to send a file and they’ll have their 3D printed widget in a few minutes, like printing a report.Cognitive learning theory in the classroom they don’t realize that it usually takes hours. Part of teaching an intro to 3D printing session is explaining the basics at the appropriate level for your students.Cognitive learning theory in the classroom how a printer heats up filament, builds a model layer by layer, how each layer cools and attaches to the previous one. Talk about different kinds of 3D printers and different uses they have (prototyping, biology, house building, pancakes and chocolate!)

cognitive learning theory in the classroom

I usually like to have a 3D printer running so I can explain the process as students watch it as well. Sometimes I start up the print before class so that students can see what progress looks like.Cognitive learning theory in the classroom I’ll often also start a print during class so that I can explain how we send a file to the printer and talk a little bit about slicers, which are programs that prepare a 3D file for printing.Cognitive learning theory in the classroom

There are many, many different types of 3D modeling programs out there, ranging from simple drag-and-drop shapes to complex CAD programs. When I teach this introductory session, I start with a few basic programs so my students don’t feel overwhelmed.Cognitive learning theory in the classroom once they hit a point where they’re finding the limitations of those programs, that’s where we move into the complex ones. Tinkercad

Virtual reality allows for a different kind of 3D design experience.Cognitive learning theory in the classroom while tinkercad, morphi and other CAD apps are generally geared towards technical projects., medium allows you to sculpt with virtual clay. We have a ceramics and sculpture class that has used this program to create some amazing sculptures, which you can download from the program and 3D print.Cognitive learning theory in the classroom you can also import 3D files, allowing you to bring in scans of humans, objects, or creations made in other programs. They can be tricky to print sometimes, though, depending on the level of detail your students use.Cognitive learning theory in the classroom fusion 360

After students come to this orientation, they’re allowed to print items on the 3D printer. They can either bring in their designs on a flash drive or e-mail the .Stl file to me.Cognitive learning theory in the classroom I have them come in and walk them through the process of starting the print, then they can come back later to pick it up. Here’s some of the common questions I get about this process: do you charge students for 3D prints?Cognitive learning theory in the classroom

I have yet to do this. I calculated out the cost of a few projects once by looking at the meters of filament used (you can get this number in the slicing program) and the cost per meter of the filament we purchased.Cognitive learning theory in the classroom even a larger print came out to a only few dollars. For the sizes of most of my students projects, it maybe costs $1. I can work the cost of filament into my supply budget.Cognitive learning theory in the classroom for those who don’t have a supply budget that can cover filament, consider asking PTA to help cover costs, or use a fundraiser to help. Do you have rules about what students are allowed to print?Cognitive learning theory in the classroom

Students can print original designs or someone else’s design that they have tweaked and modified. Their prints have to be able to finish during the school day (approximately 8 hours).Cognitive learning theory in the classroom they can use someone else’s design without tweaking if it is part of a larger project they’re working on and it makes more sense than recreating the wheel.Cognitive learning theory in the classroom what have students used the printer for?

The variety is wonderful. I had a freshman design a baseball relief to use as part of an art project for our fundraiser gala.Cognitive learning theory in the classroom there were two 6th graders who designed figurines with swords and other props for their language arts book diorama projects. I had a senior download parts for a vacuum that he was building in his engineering class.Cognitive learning theory in the classroom one 6th grader made a 3D printed molecule model as a gift for her older brother.