3D Printing

As maker culture sweep into education digital design and production has been introduced into school curricula around the world. In Australia Processes & Production Skill is viewed as a key component of the new Design & Technologies strand of the Australian curriculum (ACARA, n.d). The increased use of 3D printers in school classrooms is a good example of attempting to implement this new curriculum. 3D printing is a technology that allows users to create three-dimensional physical products from a digital file.

Some educators suggest that 3D printing can promote students in active learning, design thinking and problem solving, especially in science, engineering, technology and mathematics subjects (STEM) (Wisdom & Novak, 2019). For example, engineering and design students can print out prototypes of their creations, biology students can study cross sections of hearts or other organs, chemistry students can print out molecules to study. 3D printing technology can even be used in special education by providing opportunities to individuals with cognitive, motor and visual impairments (Buehler, Kane & Hurst, 2014).

As a language teacher I think 3D printing can also be applied in language learning. This can be a project based learning. The final product is to design and print out a character of stop-motion narrative. Students are required to make an oral presentation on their final products in Chinese introducing the character’s name, age, family members, school, the clothes he/she wears, his/her hobbies. Moreover, for heritage learners or background speakers 3D printing can be a powerful tool too. For example, making a virtual museum exhibition displaying characters or objects in Journey to the West using SketchUp app.

One important point needs to be note is that the application of 3D printing should be treated as a means of learning, not as a goal of learning. This is somewhat reflected in reality. There is no point to print out some useless items at a high cost without involving cognitive challenges. The identification of “real needs” in design processes has been written in design-based technology education in Australian curriculum (Nemorin & Selwyn, 2017).

Additionally, Nemorin and Selwyn (2017) report that the practical application of 3D printing in one high school shows little evidence of challenging established processes and practices. Instead they believe 3D printing technology is just another way to reinforce traditional educational practices. For example, teacher as expert, classroom is regarded as the sole place of learning.

References

ACARA (n.d). Design and Technologies. Retrieved from https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/resources/curriculum-connections/dimensions/?Id=46737&YearLevels=42686&searchTerm=process+product#dimension-content

Buehler, E., Kane, S. K., & Hurst, A. (2014, October). ABC and 3D: opportunities and obstacles to 3D printing in special education environments. In Proceedings of the 16th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers & accessibility (pp. 107-114).

Nemorin, S., & Selwyn, N. (2017). Making the best of it? Exploring the realities of 3D printing in school. Research Papers in Education, 32(5), 578-595.

Wisdom, S., & Novak, E. (2019). Using 3D Printing to Enhance STEM Teaching and Learning: Recommendations for Designing 3D Printing Projects. In Integrating 3D Printing into Teaching and Learning (pp. 187-205). Brill Sense.