Sharlene Kroneck
DreamIT
Students have difficulty seeing the whole picture. In engineering it is very important for your work to be very accurate in the end product. By having a prototype part to be able to see and touch the product can make the whole assignment come together with a more complete understanding. A stereolithography (3D printer) machine takes the 3D math data from the design software and makes a solid prototype. This can be very beneficial to an engineering class. This would give the students a start to finish learning experience. This process will take them through multiple learning steps starting from an idea, to a sketch, to using 3D software (CATIA) to design a product, to actually manufacturing (prototyping) the product. CATIA is software used in industry worldwide on Automotive, Architecture, Aerospace, Ship Design and by smaller products such as Coca Cola and Tupperware in designing their products. The end product is important to the learning and full understanding to each student. When the parts are made the students are able to see and touch the end product this gives them the opportunity to decide if this is what they really intended to make, if there should be changes made, and if it fits all the criteria (assembly) and if the product is ready for manufacturing before money is spent in the production phase. Missing this process will cost the customer time and money if mistakes are not caught in the prototype stage.
I would like my students to have the experience of creating and producing the end product. They will be utilizing their previous knowledge and skills learned from manual drafting while learning the software provided to obtain a better understanding of the whole design process. My goal is to teach the software to the students so they have a complete understanding of how and why it is used. The students will have the opportunity to design a part (can be a new invention or something they feel they can improve upon) utilizing their skills learned in class and then have it prototyped. This technology is used in industry and is important for them to understand the reasons to utilize these engineering processes and be able to master their skills on the software and then develop the end product.
They automatically push themselves to go above what they have learned in class to be able to complete this project. The students in the past always seek more knowledge when they know they are going to have the end product. They like to prove to themselves, other students, and me that they have learned this technology and what they can do with it.
I will be able to assess the work of the students at the same time the students will also be able to assess their work. By being able to evaluate the solid 3D model the students can actually see and feel the product. 1. They can do some test on the product, feel if there are rough edges that will injure someone, of see if the material is thick or thin enough. Previous students have designed their parts with thin material which caused the part to break or to thick which will. 2. Cost too much money to manufacture or 3. The units were set wrong and the product has come out much larger or smaller (eg. a watch that came out the size of a wall clock).
DeLaSalle is an all boy catholic high school that educates about 800 students yearly. I teach engineering classes to juniors and seniors. DeLaSalle does not offer very many elective courses which I do not totally agree with. I feel that students need to be introduced to many different subjects and experience as many opportunities as they can be before they make college and career decisions. My goal is to introduce as many engineering opportunities and have them explore what they entail. Coming from the Detroit area most people automatically think of an engineer as a person that works for the automotive companies in mechanical/electrical engineering. I want my students to explore all types of engineering (aerospace, civil, packaging, electrical, chemical/ bio , and structural)in many different fields not just automotive. My school only has two computer labs and I utilize my room all day which only leaves one lab for the rest of the school to share. Our computers are pretty old but still work although the ergonomics of the class are not suited for growing boys. The computer monitors are set under the desks which leaves no room for their knees. I have inquired about purchasing tables that would allow the students to have the monitors on top of the table therefore allowing more knee room. Since DeLaSalle is a private school there is not a lot of money for elective classes. The administration realizes the importance of these classes but due to the budget we are not always on the top of the list or high priority.
I want my students to learn about all the engineering opportunities available to them. After all if you look around everything has to be designed and engineered before it can be manufactured. Understanding the process is important. Most importantly is having the student understand what steps need to be taken to complete a project. By understanding and performing specific tasks in Catia will make this clearer to them and being able to actually have their design in a 3D model will reinforce their learning.
As of right now my students are only able to view their designs on the computer screen. The only printer available to them to print on is a regular computer printer. This does not give students a true understanding of the size or shape. In industry there are plotters for drawings to be printed on. My dream is for my class to have a 3D printer in the classroom. This will allow my students to have a visual and hands on feel for their parts.
My curriculum is designed to build and challenge the students’ skills. The final project allows them to pick anything that they want to design. This project consists of using many different skills combined. Usually they are so excited to design something that interests them they tend to try harder and try new design techniques that may not have been introduced in the class. They are encouraged to look back on previous projects and use ideas from them and build upon. This helps them look back and reinvestigate the previously used operators in catia but also use it in a more advanced application now that they are more comfortable with the software. This project displays the aesthetic understanding by proving that the use of a feature was used in a particular situation and can also be used in other applications to complete a new design.
Throughout the learning process the students are using previous knowledge ranging from their basic drawing technical class where they learned about orthographic projection, dimensioning, section cutting, and blueprint reading to show how to put an assembly together. They need to understand engineering drawings and will reproduce many parts from a manual 2D drawing to a 2D sketch using Catia software in order to reproduce a 3D model. After designing the basic shape in sketcher and adding material to develop a 3D model they will then put the finishing touches using the dress up features to complete the assignment. When the students are given the freedom to create and choose their own design they come to realize there are many ways to complete this assignment and have many opportunities to make changes and own their design while learning these features on Catia. During the course they are given many different assignments and different ways to complete them. There are many options to use to complete a design and they can choose which one is best for them. The different projects enable them to apply these new features to many different applications. One way students strive to learn is during these assignments (they need to communicate with their peers through technology). The students are required to design the part then check two other students projects to understand how they came up with their design and comment on how it was completed and how they might have went about completing it. This gives the student a better understanding and connections of how the features can be applied. During these lessons I record my screen thru video software on how these features are used and post the videos to allow the students to go back and review them for reinforcement.
My plan to evaluate the students this year is to compare the students previous years class that did not communicate through technology to this years students that will communicate using technology such as google docs, videos, blogs, twitter etc to log their findings and reflect on them. Previously the students had just discussed their projects with each other and made suggestions on how they might have went about completing the design. Another way they communicated in previous years was to mark up each others drawings. This is a technique they actually use in industry. There is a position called the “checker” he marks up the mistakes on the drawing in red and the designer goes back to make the changes. These could have been things that were over looked or maybe new changes that the checker thinks needs to be done. When using new technologies (google docs, blogs and twitter) they will not only have a better way to communicate they will also learn about the communication tool itself. This will give the students a better understanding and ways to explore the tools available today. Although, not all tools are going to fit into this class room environment this will allow for experience using the tools. This will familiarize them with it and will find another application to use it in another class or further down the road in their education. I also plan to implement pre/post tests to my classes. I would like to learn what knowledge my students have with different technologies, where they have learned them, where they use them, and how they use them. The post test would be used to collect their thoughts on which tools they liked best and where and how they think they will use them.
My class project promotes creativity and innovation. Each student is given the opportunity to design a product using Catia, they will need to collaborate using google docs and Microsoft Word to track their progress and present their findings to the class. At the beginning of the year they each pick a different engineering career, they will research this field by finding online resources and interviewing at least one professional in the field of their choice. During this assignment the student will use google docs, Microsoft Word and blogs to complete the writing portion and also, develop a web page as part of the presentation, they will use glogster to make an electronic poster where they can add web links movies, text clip art, pictures etc. All of their findings will need to have appropriate citations for all recourses used.
As I teach my students I target on all types of learners, I have written instructions at the top of the worksheets, there is a 2D and 3D iso view, and I demonstrate the icons from my computer on to the smart-board. I also video my lessons so the students can revisit these at their convenience. The students have many opportunities to explore each lesson by doing multiple assignments to master their skills. During the class I give them free time to express their own interests and creativity by allowing them to design their own parts.
These assignments target on critical thinking, the student has to analyze evaluate and synthesize every design before they can even start it. They need to figure out what is the best way to start the design, what will it be used for, what material is going to be used , how it will be manufactured and if it can be manufactured. They need to give enough information for the part to be reproduced by a human and/or a machine.
I plan to keep up to date with new technologies through sites such as classroom 2.0, Macul Space, The Partnership of the 21st Century Skills, Twitter, Blogs etc. These discussion forums are full of information on all types of educational topics. You can follow or join discussions that are interesting or related to your class. PBS Teachers Live is also a great site for webinars. TED (Technology, Entertainment and Design) is a great source for talks about different fields. I have shown a number of these talks to my students, they are “Ideas worth Spreading” I feel strongly about sharing my new found knowledge with my peers. During my certificate classes at Michigan State University I was already sharing my knowledge with other teachers and my students. As I learned something new I would show/teach my students how to use the new tool or share the benefits of my learning’s with other teachers. One of my favorite tools is Jing! I use this if I have a short lesson I want to post for my students to review at home or in class. Google Docs are also a great way to communicate with others. You can invite and allow others to access and edit your document from any computer.
By using the backwards design process to see the big picture. When the teacher writes their lessons, using the backwards design method and focus on seeing the big picture and knowing what we want our learners to understand and implementing technology tools to focus on a deeper understanding will promote learning. Using a template to design your lessons will help guide you.
Listed below is a guide to help with this process.
What overarching understandings are desired?
What are the overarching “essential” questions?
What will students understand as a result of this unit?
What teachings and learning experiences will equip students to demonstrate the targeted understandings?
What “essential” and “unit” questions will focus this unit?
What evidence will show that students understand….Performance Tasks, Projects
Quizzes, Tasks, Academic Prompts
Other Evidence (eg observations, work samples, dialogues)