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Dave said, “We have students come up with wild and wacky design ideas
that they spend a lot of time making by hand, only to discover too late that
their design doesn't work in the physical world. Instead, they should be doing
iterative design, testing and improving along the way. Students should design
it, print it, try it, and then try it again,” he concluded.
Dave works with teachers from other parts of the school curriculum. He
explained that other teachers are experimenting with applying 3D modeling
software and 3D printers to teach students to design and print DNA structures,
models of cells, or replicas of objects of historical signiicance. A recent project
with students in a geology class is a good example.
For a geology class, Dave helped students design a topographic depiction of
Mount St. Helens before it erupted in 1980. First, students printed a model of
the intact volcano, pre-eruption. Then they printed their topographic models
of the volcano after it erupted, complete with a gaping crater in its center. “In
arts and humanities courses, students can design and print artistic sculptural
forms or historical buildings,” he said.
A 3D printed model of Mount St. Helens
