Fab labs in education

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Introduction

See also:

Fab labs in education seem to follow several connected axis of development. For example:

  • Teaching technology and design for its own sake following a political and cultural agenda, i.e. empowerment (this is the thrust of original fab lab)
  • Teaching of "design" through modelling and physical realisation
  • Creation of manipulables (e.g. bricks of a warehouse) or persona
  • Models for teaching about past or present articifacts or abstract concepts
  • Having learners create such objects themselves.

Most conceptual foundations can be rooted in various strands of constructionism or even older learning theories or educational models (e.g. Dewey and Freinet). In addition, fab labs do have an political and cultural agenda. The relative affordance of fabbing tools in the early 2000's gave birth to a round of new Research and Development (e.g. Andersen et al, 2005 or Gershenfeld, 2005). In 2009, prices for devices like a 3-D printer a low enough for school budgets or even individuals.

As the power of desktop fabbers will increase and cost decrease over the next few years, Lipson et al. (2004:1032) argue that “more elaborate machines may be printable by a growing community around the world. Moreover, as new research leads to multimaterial functional freeform fabrication, we expect that incorporation of elastomers, lubricants, actuators, and sensors, electronics and power devices (Lipson, 2005b) will allow faithful replication and electronic sharing of an ever increasing scope of physical models and artifacts.”

Political, social and cultural issues

...


Raising interest for science and engineering education

Fab labs are one (among many) attemps to raise interest for science engineering education.

Gender issues

Dledlo and Beyers (2009) describe an effort to address the issue of inequality in girls’ and women’s access to science, engineering and technology (SET) education and careers through raising awareness on SET among secondary school girls in South Africa. Other studies cited, e.g. Gilley and Begolly (2005), Haataja, Leinonenn and Tervonen (2006) or Graham and Smith (2005), identify a global issue, although the percentage of women engineers and scientiest is much higher in some countries than in others. Results from this study was qualitative and encouraged further development and follow-up studies. “The girls indicated that this was an interesting session that stimulated their interest in computers and technology. They indicated that they were keen to learn more about computers as a result of this stimulating exposure. They were excited by the sense of achievement in their ability to design a product from scratch and produce a high-quality prototype in such a short period of time. This brought them a degree of satisfaction” (Dledlo & Beyers, 2009:429). In addition this report discuss two other interesting issues: computer anxiety and participation anxiety. Fab lab participation seems to require “team work, research skills, communication skills, design skills, technical drawing skills, entrepreneurial skills, computer skills, creativity, innovation, thinking out of the box and cooperative learning”. Although, the study doesn't make the claim, we believe that these are stumbling blocks and need to be overcome by longer exposure in order to become opportunities.

Haataja et al (2006:36), in their recommendations report address the question how girls are different from boys. They seem to imply that girls-specific classes may be beneficial. “When allowed to acquaint themselves with non-traditional sectors within their own group, girls’ perceptions of their own competences improved. It was more common for them to select the advanced syllabus in mathematics or apply to a university of technology than among their peers. It was highly noticeable in girls-only groups that girls helped and encouraged each other, allowed each other the peace to concentrate and had an active approach to technology.”. The authors also point out that girls may have typical topical interests. “It is however, important to notice that 1) although the content, examples and practices must include topics and themes that interest girls, one must avoid stereotypes (e.g. not all girls are interested in fashion)” (ibid, p. 35). Or even more clearly, the reports ends with the following final words on "Why do woment need ICTs":

Women need ICTs for the same reasons as men: to get more information to carry out their productive, reproductive, and community roles; to conduct their businesses, as a service of employment and to work in the ICT industry; to finnd resources for themselves, their families, their work, and their communities; and to have a voice in their lives, their community, their government, and the larger world that shares their issues and problems. In summary, they need ICTs to function in a digital world.” – or as we say in WomanIT: to prevent technology bypassing women30.

- Marja-Leena Haataja, Eija Leinonen, Marjo Riitta Tervonen (2006)

Teaching of design and fabrication

Fab labs were born in higher education (e.g. Gershenfeld:2005) and most of these are sponsored by academic institutions. Of course, technical hobbyists always did exist and and in many countries, schools do offer facilities and even classes for all sorts of bricolage. The most prominent fabber projects were founded by academics. E.g. RepRap by Adrien Bowyer et al. at University of Bath (UK); Fab@Home by Evan Malone while he was a PhD student at Cornell. Commercial low-cost printers are sold as tool for design classes. E.g. a Desktop Factory printer is advertised as “With the Desktop Factory 3D printer, departments within large firms will be able to have their own dedicated 3D printers, and many small businesses, design firms and schools will be able to own this capability for the first time. Professional designers, engineers and students alike will be able to build inexpensive models from their designs before committing to expensive, custom prototyping” (retrieved 17:30, 25 June 2009 (UTC)).

While we will not discuss in detail obvious application areas of "fab lab techniques" in research and design, there exist a number of areas where cheap "fab lab" technology and in particular 3-D printers could be successfully used. E.g. Allard (2006) argues that “3D printing has the potential to overcome the barriers to the widespread use of RP in biological anthropology. The 3DP technology is easy to use, fast and economical to operate making it well suited to supporting projects in biological anthropology. The main limitation of the use of 3DP is the level of awareness of how it can be used to enhance or facilitate projects in biological anthropology.”

Burry (2006) analysis Antoni Gaudi's approach to thinking, modeling, and making. “[...] in considering the model as a design instrument, and modelling as a design process, Gaudi ­ has bequeathed us two bases for reflecting on how we make and use models today. The first is his creation of a unique process based on a geometrical codex whose value is shared by designer and builder alike. The second bequest is a process involving an apprenticeship that has stood the test of time inasmuch as the exact methods that he developed in his time are still in abundant use on the project today.”

These two examples illustrate that there is interest for "rapid prototyping" techniques in diverse areas outside of engineering, and that maybe should be taught in school, i.e. 3D scanning, modelling and 3D printing may enter curricula.

Models for education

Knapp et al. (2007) stress the benefits of physical models in a variety of educational settings, e.g. Mathematics, anatomy, molecular biology, aeronautics, chemistry, archeology: “Physical models have been shown to enhance learning in general student populations as well. Students learn in a variety of ways, and models allow students to include their sense of touch in the learning experience. The role of experience is emphasized in Piaget's description of cognitive development, that is, to know an object a subject must act on it and thus transform it - displace, connect, combine, take apart, and reassemble it. (Cohen, 1983).

Historic artifacts

Cuneiform Tablet: Source 3Dprintables

Lipson et al. (2004:1032) reports on “the use of computer-aided modeling tools and rapid prototyping technology to document, preserve, and reproduce in three dimensions, historic machines, and mechanisms. We have reproduced several preassembled, fully functional historic mechanisms such as early straight line mechanisms, ratchets, pumps, clock escapements and counting devices, including various kinematic components such as links, joints, gears, worms, nuts, bolts, and springs.”. The authors also argue that “One can realize many historical concepts that exist only on paper, such as Leonardo da Vinci's slider crank mechanism, as well as other models that exhibit more contemporary concepts from aerodynamics to molecular biology.”

Physical models of abstract concepts

Vitamin B12: Source: 3dprintables.org

Science education has a long tradition of using of models. If one goal of science education is to enhance and maximize an individual's special conceptual ability, then access to manipulatives is advisable for those individuals. This access to manipulatives might also enhance development of their logical abilities... Internality is positively correlated with student achievement, and experience with manipulatives tends to move external subjects toward the internal end of the internal external continuum. (Cohen, 1982)”. Knapp et al. also stress the general benefits of models and manipulatives, quoting a study from Lillard (2006) showing that children from a Montessori kindergarten significantly outperformed their peers at traditional schools in standardized tests of reading and math.

Vitamin B12: Source: 3dprintables.org

In mathematics education, for example, Eisenberg et al. already in 2005 made the following statement. “One of the most important shifts in mathematical crafts is due to the increased power and affordability of fabrication devices - essentially, new sorts of output devices - that work in conjunction with computers. (Cf. the recently-published book by Gershenfeld for an enthusiastic discussion.) There are a number of devices that are relevant to this theme, among which are: (i) laser cutters (which employ a laser to cut flat sheets of wood or plastic into desired shapes), (ii) 3D printers (which output 3-dimensional forms in plastic or plaster, among other possible materials), and (iii) computer-controlled sewing machines (which can embroider fabric according to computational control)”.

Among other benefits these authors point that “One usually-unheralded aspect of mathematical crafts (particularly in comparison to purely "virtual", computer-based activities) is that the use of tangible materials permits children to create objects and artifacts that populate their physical space. In classrooms, it is not all that unusual to see mathematical models placed on shelves, hung from the ceiling, assembled into mobiles, and so forth. The contrast with computer-based activities here is telling: a mathematical game or simulation may be marvelous, but it remains (for the most part) "hidden" inside the computer; unlike the physical products of crafts, which are simply present and continuous in children's spaces, an educational computer program is invisible unless consciously accessed.”

Building blocks for games and simulations

Computer supported physical manipulatives

The Tinkerlamp tabletop learning environment (EPFL)

A good example is the TinkerTable integrated learning environment. It is a “tabletop learning environment which allows apprentices to build small-scale models of a warehouse using physical objects like wooden shelves, docks and rooms as well as metallic pillars, all scaled at 1:16. The system is made of a 2m by 1.5m table covered with whiteboard material and a gallows carrying a camera, a projector and a mirror. The purpose of the camera is to track the position of objects on the table and transfer this information to a computer running a logistics simulation. The position of the object is obtained thanks to fiducial markers (similar to 2D barcodes) detected by StudierStube tracker. The projector is used to project information on the table and on top of the objects, indicating for example the accessibility of the content of each shelf or security zones around obstacles.” ( retrieved 13:44, 25 October 2009 (UTC))

“The TinkerLamp environment is a lighter and portable version of the TinkerTable. It consists of a projector and camera mounted in a metal casing which is suspended above a regular classroom table by an aluminum gooseneck. Shelves, pillars and docks are scaled at 1:48. The functionality of this small version is identical to the large version except for the size of the warehouse (32m by 24m on the TinkerTable but limited to 24m by 18m) on the TinkerLamp version”. The shelves (i.e. the manipulatives) were made with ABS plastic and could have been printed with a 3D printer.

Objects for the visually impaired

The Tactilelearning.org stresses the importance of tactile models for the visually impaired and present several devices made "by hand" for teaching. A similar project is Touch Graphics that produced a number of projects, some of which are commercially available.

Eisenberg et al (2005) demonstrated for example embedded computers within construction pieces that are used to create two dimensional and three-dimensional "cellular automaton kits". “By placing computers inside craft objects themselves, we can make those objects programmable, and can endow them with qualities of interactivity and autonomous behavior. In turn, this enables new sorts of mathematical content to be brought into the sphere of craft activities.”

Social issues and development

Sharing

Several repositories now exist that allow people to share (and take). Most 3D printers rely on the STL format described above and that decomposes a 3D structure into slices. There exist several options to create such a printable 3D representation.

Since most (active) teachers do want to adapt designs to their own needs, sharing of the model is not enough. Source code also must be shared, and ideally designers in various sub-fields also should share the same tools and ways of producting artifacts. For example, models for math teaching can be created with the following workflow desribed by Knapp et al. (2008):

STL Generator flow chart from equations to printed model of Rössler Attractor. Source: Knapp, Mary E., Ryan Wolff & Hod Lipson (2008). Developing Printable Content - A Repository For Printable Teaching Models PPT

Others may use 3D modeling software or 3D scanners.

Bibliography

  • Allard, Travis, T. (2006). The Role of 3D Printing in Biological Anthropology, University of Manitoba, Master Thesis, Allard 2006.pdf PDF
  • Anderson-Rowland, M.R. (2003). Why aren’t there more women in engineering: can we really do anything, ASEE Annual conference proceedings, pp. 7295-7307.
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