3D printing is a rapid production method that requires a general understanding of its advantages and disadvantages before applying it in educational environments. Below, you can find several benefits and potential pitfalls to help you make an informed decision before using 3D printing within educational environments.
Benefits: |
Potential Pitfalls: |
First-Hand Experience:
From the design phase to production, 3D printing offers faster iteration even for the very complex objects. Moreover, with easy reproduction and manufacturing, students can produce customized models and experience all phases of the design cycle first-hand. Encouraging Entrepreneurship: 3D printing provides customization, creates spot-on products for a specific customer group, and is easier than ever before. In addition to that, people can produce products on demand which diminishes costs and waste. These amenities can encourage 3D printer enthusiasts to create different ventures. Minimal Waste Material: Since most 3D printers use the materials necessary, there is minimal waste when compared to other conventional methods of 3D modelling such as carpentry or the use of stationary equipment. Cost: After the initial cost of buying or building a 3D printer, creating a 3D model is inexpensive. You can use this website to determine the cost of 3D printed objects. |
Speed:
Unfortunately, printing a 3D model is still a slow process even though it is possible to switch to different speed modes (by lowering the resolution of a print). Printing a small object can take as long as 2 hours. Health Effects: Some of the materials that are used for printing are carcinogens that can be very dangerous to a user's health. You can access an article by the Illinois Institute of Technology on this problem here. Before using a 3D printer, operators should be sure that the room is properly ventilated. Training: There are different companies that compete in the 3D printing market and endorse different materials, softwares, and formats. Each software is unique and requires individualized training, which is why the training process can be time consuming. Cost and Size: Although there are many affordable printers, having a dependable 3D printer with fewer limitations has considerable costs. Most affordable 3D printers allow approximately 120mm x 120mm x 120mm, depending also on the material used, but you can always assemble partial prints. |
Now let's get into some real life applications of 3D printing across classrooms:
3D Printing in Preschool
3D Printing can be a great activity for children as young as 5 to understand shapes, depth, inside/outside relationships and colors. A pre-school teacher used 3D Printers and an online 3D solid-modelling tool along with pen and paper to teach students 3D objects, side views, and positions.
3D Printing in K-12 Education
When used effectively, 3D printing can be connected to many curricular areas and provide more ways to engage students in active learning. In a technology class, for example, Vinny Garrison and his students in MacArthur Barr Middle School created 3D printed CO2 cars that they raced at the end of the class. If you want to try this project in your own classroom, the files can be found here.
3D Printing in Secondary Education
3D printing is transforming post-secondary education in various fields such as medicine, engineering, archeology and even culinary arts.
For architecture education, 3D Printing is a viable option to fabricate models that contain complex geometry, such as double-curved surfaces, multiple and intersecting volumes, and voids, etc.
Consider the example provided below. In this exercise, architectural students were asked to imagine and create a 3D model of a building form, using Rhino. They have a site model, which has been modelled as a single, closed volume. The site dimensions are 75m x 75m, and the provided model is in the scale of 1:500.
The students should imagine them for the site provided and model them using Rhino, while paying attention to the following rules:
Below you see three different submissions to this exercise. What do you think? In what ways has 3D printing had an effect on architecture education?
Comment below.
For architecture education, 3D Printing is a viable option to fabricate models that contain complex geometry, such as double-curved surfaces, multiple and intersecting volumes, and voids, etc.
Consider the example provided below. In this exercise, architectural students were asked to imagine and create a 3D model of a building form, using Rhino. They have a site model, which has been modelled as a single, closed volume. The site dimensions are 75m x 75m, and the provided model is in the scale of 1:500.
The students should imagine them for the site provided and model them using Rhino, while paying attention to the following rules:
- The building volume should not exceed the following dimensions: 50m (width, x axis), 50m (length, y axis) and 50m (height, z axis)
- The building should be complex so as to justify a 3D print. If it is very simple, there is no need to use 3D printing, and conventional techniques can be used.
- You should always pay attention to the scale (1:500), and try to avoid unrealistic designs (huge volumes, very thin spaces, etc.).
- The model should be suitable for 3D printing and in accordance with the rules mentioned earlier in the lecture. Thus:
- The whole model should comprise a single, closed (watertight) volume.
- It should be able to be fabricated without needing excessive supporting structures.
Below you see three different submissions to this exercise. What do you think? In what ways has 3D printing had an effect on architecture education?
Comment below.