As part of my endeavour to connect STEM in school to Industry, I was
invited by Avikshit Saras to be part of his WhatsApp workshop group on 3D
printing. Avikshit has been involved in 3D printing for the last 4
years. He engages with schools & colleges for installation of 3D printing
labs & 3D training. He has trained students & teachers at Indian School
Muscat, DPS Faridabad, Pathways Gurgaon, Shalom High and numerous other
individuals.
The learning was awesome and the application to daily life was
phenomenal. For ex: In the agricultural industry, if the farmer who has broken
a coupling of his pump or a sprinkler system, simply wants a nut for his
tractor, he has to travel to the nearest market in his tehsil or district to
procure it. But with a 3D printer, he can 3D print it and move ahead. Similarly,
with the fashion Industry, design your clothes and print
it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3s94mIhCyt4
Technology is moving so fast, schools need to be at pace so that
learning is relevant to the students. To show the relevance of 3D printing to
the schools and have it as a part of the school curriculum, I asked Avikshit
few questions. Please find his responses for the same.
1. What is 3D printing?
So, the book definition describes 3D printing, ‘‘as a group of
techniques used to quickly fabricate a scale model of a physical part or
assembly using three-dimensional CAD data.” Meaning to say, that as
aforementioned our goal is to create physical parts, models & objects. So,
to do that we design the same in a 3D CAD software, thereafter give a command
to the 3D printer to print or prototype the same. Essentially, we require a
software & hardware to reach our goal. The word ‘quick’ in the definition
is important too, as a long-drawn process would not add much value in terms of
time & money savings. The terminology ‘a group of techniques’ is more to do
with design as the starting point. This may involve designing by say drawing,
sketching, placing physical objects in a particular manner, visualizing etc
prior to actually starting the CAD design work.
2. How does teaching 3 D printing help connect STEM in school to
Industry?
The connect is very practical, creative, intuitive, communicative
& critical as well. All these have a long term bearing on the intellect of
a student. But we say, 3D printing can help students choose careers (say
engineering, product designing, architecture) based on their interest &
passion and not merely marks. But a student getting 90% is suggested by its
school to take up science irrespective of where her interest lies. In addition,
due to the experiential learning, students are able to get hands on, with what
they would be doing in the industry. So, STEM or STEAM in its true form is
supposed to be practical & relevant. Our industry for that matter is all
about implementing things that are workable, doable, practical etc. There is
little relevance of theory in the industry. Question no. 2 & 5 are
interlinked and the answers may overlap.
3. Which STEM topics in school lend itself to the learning of 3D
printing?
Curriculum integration i.e. aligning 3D printing to the curriculum
is quite dear to us and we do this for schools. 3D Printing as the technology
stands is akin to the photocopying services or photocopy machines of the 1980s
– 1990s. Therein each organization for their printing requirements had to
outsource their jobs or later installed photocopiers in house. But there was no
single discipline where the printing was not applicable. It was cross
disciplinary and same is the case of 3D printing. Its applicable across
subjects and we position it as an alternative learning medium for students.
Students learning is more practical when say they can design a cuboid pencil
box, 3D prints it and thereafter do the volumetric & surface area calculations.
This is in contrast to just being given mensuration formulas to rote learn and
pass a closed book exam. Are we testing knowledge or memory?
4. How can teachers prepare themselves to bring in relevant updates to
curriculum periodically?
We say that teachers know their job very well. We are merely adding
value to their efforts by way of training them in 3D printing. As
aforementioned an alternative learning for students becomes a teaching tool for
teachers. At times a student is unable to visualize the 3rd dimension
but while we were taught 20 years ago mensuration in the same manner. Draw a
rectangle, then dotted lines on the top, imagine the 3rd dimension
and now it becomes a cuboid. This may have been the case due to technological
limitations, but now we have the technology to create a cuboid in class so why
shouldn’t we use it? Also, there are students having different learning
abilities, as some are kinaesthetic, sensory, auditory or visual. But why do we
then treat them all the same? Just as text books went from having black &
white pages to colour, to more graphics, to audio & video options, to
simply make learning easier & fun for students. But now the technology has
evolved that the pictures in the book can be brought to real life, given to students
to hold so they can check them out more minutely, in detail, feel it so as to
again make their learning easier & fun. In our endeavours we do emphasize
on teacher training so that the knowledge remains in the school, otherwise
vendors & students come & go, so does the knowledge.
5. How relevant is it to connect STEM in school to Industry? How do you
plan to bridge the gap?
Teach 3D Printing in schools is the answer and not just us but the
government also thinks similarly otherwise they wouldn’t have launched ATL
where 3D printing is one of the key topics. School learning has to become more
practical & relevant to the current times. Students need to be updated with
a host of 21st century wisdom and not just trigonometry,
calculus, Pythagoras theorem etc. As aforementioned students with the help of
3D printing can choose their careers based on their interest / passion, and not
merely marks. People have started offering internships at the school level to
students so actually they can have a feel of it is in say an architect’s
office, a product designer’s job or in an engineering-based firm or industry.
This is way above than what KidZania offers at their end. The bridge or
transition is far easier or smoother for students who undertake such internships.
Avikshit is based in Delhi and I am in Mumbai but still technology brought like minded people together. Thus how about embracing technology positively and using it to advance your knowledge.
How about creating a STEM chapter in school on 3D printing wherein students are taught
how to?
1. Design a 3D printer
2. Work with a 3D printer
3. Apply their STEAM concepts to 3D printer to create new discoveries
and inventions.
The canvas is wide open, all it needs are passionate teachers to explore
and fill it with diverse colours and images. The video link shows how teachers are using it to promote STEM learning. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW3sMFEybms
Note: Avikshit can be reached on (+91 98101 63654). He runs regular courses on 3D printing.
I Print My Things - 3D Prototyping
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