Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
has ever used this model and if any other visually impaired student beneited
from it. But the opportunity is there.
Original (left) and 3D printed replica of the clay model of
thermodynamics PVT
At the physics department where my father used to work, I remember see-
ing hallways laden with old, dusty teaching models of crystals, pendulums,
springs and ratchets. These models were beautiful, clearly made by someone
with love and care for teaching. Yet that care and talent was not enough to
get the models used by others: once the model's creator retired, so did the
model itself. But 3D printing might breathe a new life into these old models.
3D printers enable easier sharing and dissemination of physical models, and
increase the incentive for creating them in the irst place.
3D printing opens a potential motherlode of possibilities for creating teach-
ing manipulables. Custom-designed 3D printed teaching manipulables give
teachers the ability to make unique teaching tools that aren't in a standard
curriculum kit. Teachers can share and enhance one another's 3D printed
manipulables and adapt them for their own lesson plans.
At the primary school level, manipulables could explain simple concepts to
elementary school children. Students could create a three-dimensional model
of a rare insect or copies of delicate archeological relics. In more advanced
classrooms, manipulables can help students understand complex concepts,
like models of molecules or the parts for mechanical instruments.
