Rapid Prototyping

Merging Arts and Engineering

Copyright 2009 IDEASLiesl Baum, photographer

What You NeedWhat You’re Getting

How to Make it Work The FlipCamAs the members of the IDEAS team, we are all educa-tors ourselves and are very interested in what happens in classrooms. If only we could travel along with this kit, it would be easy for us to be involved.

Instead, we turn to technology to help provide us a glimpse of the experience you and your students have with the project. That’s where the FlipCam comes in.

All we ask is that you document your students engaged with the program and related activities. Feel free to make the filming an integrated part of your experience. Give the camera to the students, do the filming your-self, pass it around to multiple students - however you want to document.

Once you are finished with the program and this kit, simply return the camera with all the other materials. Make sure you do not erase your video from the camera; we will take care of that once it is returned to us. You may, however, keep a copy of the footage for your own records.

All instructions for use are included in the original FlipCam box. We have also included extra batteries to allow for unlimited filming.

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Virginia Tech requires parent, student, and school assent/consent for participation in this data collec-tion. Please see the enclosed packet marked “IRB Procedures: Important” for more detailed proce-dures and forms.

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This box contains the following items for you to use:

Instructional bookletRapid Prototyping videoPrototype samplesArt supplies (foam board/shapes, tag board)Portfolio of items shown in 2 and 3 dimensionsFlipCam (with spare batteries)

* Please return all items with return of kit, with the exception of used art supplies.

In addition to what we have provided, you will also need the following things:

Television with DVD playerComputer(s) with internet accessProjectorArt supplies (scissors, tape, glue)

The concept of Rapid Prototyping can be introduced in several ways. We have provided a few ideas in this booklet. However, in order to experience the physical realities of prototyping, you need to have a prototyping machine.

Our project centers on the Fab@Home machine, which is an affordable, desktop version of a prototyping machine. To learn more about the Fab@Home project and machines, visit their website at: http://fabathome.org. We understand, however, that this may not be an affordable or practical item for schools to purchase. To get a feel for prototyping, we have provided you with a video of the machine in operation. Once students understand the concept of prototyping and how the machine works, they can begin designing their own products to be produced on the machine.

Instructions for designing and getting items printed are found in this booklet. Please feel free to contact the IDEAS team with any additional questions.

About the IDEAS Team

About this Booklet

The Integrated Design + Education + Art Studio (IDEAS) team is comprised of instructional designers from the School of Educa-tion at Virginia Tech. We are a research and development com-ponent of the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology. Our mission is to investigate methods and tools to enhance learning as well as critical and creative thinking in PK-12 classrooms. We support research focused at the intersection of the arts, creative technologies, and education.

The IDEAS team works closely with public school teachers and faculty at Virginia Tech to develop instructional methods that include products of the arts, include creative uses of technolo-gies, and can be used to teach content as well as develop critical and creative thinking among students. Our methods are the result of collaboration among faculty, teachers, and students.

Teachers help the IDEAS team by serving on the Teachers’ Advi-sory Board, designing and developing instructional materials, critiquing instructional materials, participating in focus groups, sharing their experiences with the materials, and participating in our summer workshops. For more information about working with us, please visit www.ideas.soe.vt.edu.

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The purpose of this kit and booklet is to allow you to bring Rapid Prototyping directly to your classroom. The Rapid Prototyping machine and the enclosed video were exhibited at the Experiential Gallery for Creative Technologies, a gallery located in downtown Blacksburg, Virginia. The purpose was to highlight the merger of the arts and concepts of engineering. In the gallery, members of the community, local public school students, and students and faculty of Virginia Tech interacted with the exhibit in many different ways. Now it is your turn!

The video provided shows the prototyping machine in operation. This booklet provides an overview of supporting curriculum materials. The instructional unit is: Rapid Prototyping with Simple and Compound Machines; an interdisciplinary unit designed for elementary school students.

The content on the following pages offers a preview of topics that can be covered in your classroom. For more in depth curriculum, visit www.ideas.soe.vt.edu.

We have also included a list of what is in this box and a list of all the equipment you will need to support this instruction and pursue further opportunities with Rapid Prototyping

Dr. Williams orients Susan Hudson of Franklin Countywith the prototyping machine

Liesl Baum, photographer

About the Artist

About the Art

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Dr. Christopher Williams is a dual-appointed professor of mechanical engineering and engineering education. His interests lie at the intersection of disciplines and in looking to tie the field of engineering to others, such as the arts. His interest in tying the arts together with engineering stems from the common idea

“...of having an idea and bringing it into the physical world…engineers do it for products, artists do it for art, and sometimes those come together.”

Prototyping plays a role in combining these disciplines in that it allows the product designers to design and test their products before time-consuming and costly production. He states: “Engineers have a lot of ideas and it would take them a long time to…create their ideas out of [materials]. Engineers like to have physical prototypes to get a feel for, and a look for, what their ideas look like.”

By bringing the concept of prototyping together with the arts, Dr. Williams encourages students to think beyond physical boundaries and create products with limitless possibilities. His goal is for students of all disciplines to find their role in engineering and explore possibilities they may not otherwise consider.

The purpose of this kit and booklet is to allow you to bring Rapid Prototyping directly to your classroom. The Rapid Prototyping machine and the enclosed video were exhibited at the Experiential Gallery for Creative Technologies, a gallery located in downtown Blacksburg, Virginia. The purpose was to highlight the merger of the arts and concepts of engineering. In the gallery, members of the community, local public school students, and students and faculty of Virginia Tech interacted with the exhibit in many different ways. Now it is your turn!

The video provided shows the prototyping machine in operation. This booklet provides an overview of supporting curriculum materials. The instructional unit is: Rapid Prototyping with Simple and Compound Machines; an interdisciplinary unit designed for elementary school students.

The content on the following pages offers a preview of topics that can be covered in your classroom. For more in depth curriculum, visit www.ideas.soe.vt.edu.

We have also included a list of what is in this box and a list of all the equipment you will need to support this instruction and pursue further opportunities with Rapid Prototyping

The concept of rapid prototyping is used in the field of engineering to do cost-effective testing of products before mass production. This project has been designed to illustrate the bridge between the arts and engineering; showing students with strong artistic skills their role in the field of engineering and vice- versa. Prototyping allows students to become designers without limits, encourag-ing them to think boundlessly about creating products without fear of physical or creative boundaries. The concepts of prototyping, construction and use of the prototyping machines, and development of products span multiple disciplines including robotics, simple and compound machines, 3D computer modeling, and materials science. The Rapid Prototyping project is the product of faculty and students within the departments of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. The construction of the prototyping machine also involved the talents of a local high school student interested in pursuing a career in engineering. Funding for additional development was provided by the Educational Enhancement Collaboration Grant program offered through the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology.

Dr. Williams orients Susan Hudson of Franklin Countywith the prototyping machine

Liesl Baum, photographerCopyright 2009 IDEASLiesl Baum, photographer

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Rapid Prototyping with Simple

Prototyping is used in many professions for a variety of reasons. Through a discussion of how machines, such as the Fab@Home, help designers, students will: * identify the benefits of prototyping for designers related to time, money, and materials.

Students will explore how rapid prototyping machines work and how simple and compound machines contribute to the overall operation. Activities will lead students to: * observe compound machines in operation, * identify a variety of machines and the role they play in the operation of a larger machine.

Prototyping MachinesThe Fab@Home machines shown in the video included with this kit are often used as an affordable way to explore the concept of prototyping. Through activities, students will observe how these machines work and what is required of the designers.

Introduction to Prototyping

This multidisciplinary unit is designed to supplement the study of simple and topics. For more complete lesson plans and

Constructing 3-D ObjectsThe process of translating two-dimensional pictures into a three-dimensional object is a difficult conceptfor students to grasp. Understanding this concept often requires students to physcially construct and deconstruct objects on their own. Activities will lead students to: * study two-dimensional patterns to make predictions on their three-dimensional shape, * design their own three-dimensional shape by first designing the two-dimensional version, * understand how objects are transformed from two- to three-dimensions.

Simple and Compound Machines

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and Compound Machinescompound machines for students in 3rd grade and covers the following instructional materials, go to www.ideas.soe.vt.edu.

Artist suggestions for three-dimensional design programs:

- Google Sketch-up is a good, intuitive, and free Computer-Aided Design (CAD) interface. You have to install a file converter (the printer needs a STL file), and there are many to choose from.

http://www.aec3dp.com/tutorial-convert-google-sketchup-file-solid-3d-printable-stl-cadspan-toolset

- Autodesk Inventor is a more sophisticated engineering-style CAD program used by Virginia Tech’s first-year Engineering program. This program is free to high school students.http://students.autodesk.com/

- FreeCAD(http://sourceforge.net/apps/mediawiki/free-cad/index.php?title=Main_Page)

- Blender (free), but more sophisticated (http://www.blender.org/)

*When submitting files, make sure you submit an .stl file.

Copyright 2009 IDEASLiesl Baum, photographer

Student-designed Prototypes

With a machine like the Fab@Home, it is easy for students to design their own product and have it printed on the machine.

If you or your school can’t afford your own prototyping machine, the IDEAS team is available to help. You can:

1. Have your students design a product based on your individual guidelines such as serving a specific purpose or solving a problem.

2. Translate the product into a computer-generated three-dimensional model using one of the recommended programs below.

3. Submit the graphic file of the final designs to the IDEAS team.

4. Provide the IDEAS team with a return address and we will mail your printed products.

*Please limit your submissions to no more than 5-7 designs. We suggest conducting a design contest with students and submitting the top finishers for printing.

Teachers create 3-D models as they learn about Rapid Prototyping

Teri Finn, photographer

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Credits and Acknowledgments Critical and Creative Thinking

1. Teachers should be critical and creative thinkers too. Students need thinking models who can illustrate and verbal-ize thinking strategies. Before students can develop into critical and creative thinkers, teachers must develop them-selves.

2. Create a classroom of dialogue. One of the most impor-tant elements of critical and creative thinking involves inter-personal and intrapersonal dialogue. Encourage students to talk to each other.

3. Teach more than knowledge. While knowledge is a key to the development of critical and creative thinking skills, students should also know the importance of asking questions (and the right questions), listening to others, examining other perspectives and monitoring their own learning.

4. Teach new habits that extend beyond existing thinking. Teachers should encourage students to move beyond their current methods of thinking and engage in new methods. This can occur through direct discussions about what an appropriate discussion involves, what the rules of discussions should be and how to respect opinions of all students.

5. Have well planned lessons. By developing a simple habit of thoroughly planning lessons, teachers can be more prepared to react to student thinking. For example, teachers can plan by generating a list of anticipated questions and responses and being prepared with reactions and answers.

6. Design curriculum around what is known. While the goal of instruction is often to teach entirely new content, it is very important to the development of thinking skills to build on existing knowledge and activate what is known.

10 Suggestions for Teachers to Foster the Development of Critical and Creative Thinking

In addition to instructional support for arts projects, the IDEAS team also focuses on fostering the development of critical and creative thinking skills among students. The conceptual model above illustrates a cycle through which students progress as they engage in the critical and creative thinking process. The following are suggestions made by several researchers on how to improve classrooms to develop and enhance these thinking skills. While this list is not exhaustive, it illustrates those that most strongly represent what is needed to develop strong thinkers. They are:

7. Keep an active classroom structure. Direct teaching and lecture-type lessons tend to suppress student thinking. Teachers can encourage critical and creative thinking in their students by providing them opportuni-ties to remain engaged and active in their learning whether through discussions, questions, hands- on projects, etc.; activity will keep minds lively and spirited.

8. Avoid “giving” answers. While teachers should provide some guidance in student discussions and questioning, they should avoid giving answers to all questions. Questions should serve to guide students to ask additional questions and arrive at their own answers. Teachers should also avoid quick responses to student questions and problems, giving pause and time for students to consider their own questions.

9. Develop inquiry skills. As previously mentioned, teachers should model their thinking strategies. In addition to this, students need to have models of inquiry to understand when to ask questions and what types of questions are appropriate for a given purpose. As students develop their inquiry skills, they begin to engage in thinking more independently and can explore the unknowns in more situations.

10. Writing. All researchers stress the importance of including writing as an essential part of classroom activities. Writing helps students organize their thoughts, recognize gaps in their knowledge, develop questions and determine a plan of action.

For additional ideas on fostering critical and creative thinking in your classroom and additional explanation of the conceptual model shown above, go to www.ideas.soe.vt.edu.

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Share...Did you use this project in a new way that worked well? Share your success stories here!

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For more information about IDEAS or additional materials to support this booklet, please visit:www.ideas.soe.vt.edu

Credits and Acknowledgments

Somiah Muslimani, School of Visual Arts, Virginia TechLauren Marion, College of Architecture and Urban Studies, Virginia TechAdam Antonioli, Computer Science, Virginia Tech

Katherine Cennamo, Professor, Coordinator of Educational Research and Development, School of Education, Virginia TechLiesl Baum, Instructional Design Project Manager, School of Education, Virginia TechPhyllis Leary Newbill, Assistant Coordinator of Educational Research and Development, School of Education, Virginia TechTeri Finn, School of Education, Virginia Tech

Additional thanks goes to Sue Magliaro, Director, School of Education and Truman Capone, Director, School of Visual Arts.

Graphic and Web Design

Integrated Design + Education + Arts Studio (IDEAS) Team

Rapid Prototyping Development

Christopher Williams, Mechanical Engineering, Engineering Education, Virginia Tech

Rapid Prototyping Teachers’ Advisory Board

Susan Hudson, 8th grade graphic arts, Franklin County Public SchoolsJoseph Wallace, high school art, Salem City Public Schools

Rapid Prototyping Curriculum Development

Liesl Baum, IDEAS Team, Virginia TechPhyllis Leary Newbill, IDEAS Team, Virginia TechTeri Finn, IDEAS Team, Virginia Tech

This project is funded through the Educational Enhancement Collaboration Grant program. Support for these grants is provided by: Virginia Tech Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech The Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology School of Education School of Visual Arts Collaborative for Creative Technologies in the Arts and Design

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