Abstract
This perspective article outlines the design and development of a 3D Printing Ecosystem (3DPE) that aims to lay the groundwork for STEAM education. The 3DPE is a coordinated system of hardware, software, and people that has been intentionally designed to scale computer-aided design (CAD) and 3D printing (3DP) at an institutional level. CAD and 3DP are two prime examples of technologies that support STEAM by blending engineering with the arts. These technologies, however, are typically only taught in select university courses that focus on engineering, product development, and industrial design. In recent years, the availability of affordable, reliable, and highly maintainable 3D printers has created an opportunity to infuse CAD and 3DP as a shared set of literacies that can cross disciplinary boundaries. The 3DPE consists of a decentralized series of 3DP labs, a centralized 3DP server, and faculty training. Using a train-the-trainer model, the 3DPE supports STEAM education by training faculty in CAD and 3DP while also providing ongoing curricular support to infuse these skills into their courses through project-based learning. This article provides preliminary examples of how the 3DPE is supporting STEAM education and offers advice for others seeking to replicate the model.
Highlights
There is currently a gap in the widespread adoption of computer-aided design (CAD) and additive manufacturing technologies, such as 3D printing (3DP), that is limiting the interdisciplinary integration of these innovations into science, technology, arts, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) education
The teaching of CAD and 3DP conventionally occurs in select university courses that focus on computer graphics (Payne, 2015), general engineering (Chong et al, 2018; Taheri, 2018), product development (Yang et al, 2019; Savolainen and Collan, 2020), and industrial design (Junk and Matt, 2015; Ford and Minshall, 2019)
The 3D Printing Ecosystem (3DPE) is designed to be replicated at other institutions
Summary
There is currently a gap in the widespread adoption of computer-aided design (CAD) and additive manufacturing technologies, such as 3D printing (3DP), that is limiting the interdisciplinary integration of these innovations into science, technology, arts, engineering, and mathematics (STEAM) education. These additional funds have allowed for the purchase of five iMacs for the visual art lab, 74 new 3D printers distributed across three 3DP labs (i.e., business, engineering, and visual arts), upgraded print beds, extra parts for maintenance and repair (e.g., nozzles, filament tubes, belts), wireless hardware (e.g., Raspberry Pi 3, webcams, and USB cables), over 100 kg of PLA filament, funding for three student assistants, and a 1-year extension of the print server license These shared resources support faculty and students by ensuring the 3DPE is resilient enough to meet demands of scaling these 3D technologies across dozens of undergraduate courses. Additional examples of subject areas where faculty members are interested in implementing tools include business majors creating entrepreneurial prototypes to help students develop an understanding of emerging business opportunities, education majors creating elementary mathematic manipulatives, biology faculty printing experimental cellular structures and apparatuses, and art collaborating with chemistry and the nursing program to investigate alternative materials to create complex structures out of clay, monomers, and polymers to be used orthotics and other medical applications
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