3D Printing Year One- Failures, Confusion, and Why I'll Keep Doing It

The first time anyone sees a 3D printer they are drop-jawed amazed. My reaction was typical, but the only difference was that I had unlimited access to design, print, and teach others how to use it. Anytime you are learning a new, seemingly sci-fi piece of equipment it adds a certain element of impossibility to it. Imagine if JFK challenged the nation’s poets to put us on the moon or Mike Tyson had to perform heart surgery. It’s a daunting task.

Design Process

My first step was to figure out the design process as I didn’t want to just focus on pulling files from the internet, but for students to experience the trials of true design and prototyping. An architect friend had turned me on to Google SketchUp years ago, though by turned me on to it I mean I watched him design something one day. With pro accounts free for schools and a plethora of video tutorials, threads, and my trusty architect friend a phone call away this seemed like the best starting point.

I jumped in head first and sent out some emails around school to staff and students to gain interest. I had a couple of lunch groups come in to try it out and with a few clicks we had built a small house. Before you know it we were starting to consider what we could design and why. This was a learning process for all involved.

Early Print (?)

It doesn’t matter who you ask, if you ask people what they want to print it seems as though you just asked them what they want to order off a menu in Burma. Shoulder shrugs, wide eyes and head shakes were all I got, followed by a range of 2D ideas such as company logos, names, and basic shapes. The first thing printed on our Makerbot Replicator was a XBox logo (it just said ‘xbox’) with a loop on top so you could hang it from a chain. This is not what I envisioned. We weren’t building artificial limbs or complex geometric art installations. I knew that this would have to evolve into a project/problem based activity or I would quickly be neck-deep in copyright infringements.

STEM Connection

My background is in the social sciences. I spent my college years contemplating Nietzsche and Durkheim and teaching years discussing world religions and human modifications. In order to bring some more left brain power to the table I collaborated with our calculus teacher as well as our aerospace instructor, Will Davis. The latter would prove to be my perfect guinea pig and our shared thirst for student failure (I’ll explain) fueled not only our curiosity but the students’ drive to keep on trying as well.

Students Navigating Google SketchUp

I use the term failure because I have found in life that we learn more through our failures than our successes. It’s the process that allows us to learn more than extruders and filament can ever teach. When you stop measuring your actions through success and failure and look at everything as a learning opportunity it changes your mindset. 3D printing became a practice in exploration for myself and the students. We measured, drew, consulted, researched, tinkered and prototyped until we arrived at the “most acceptable result”. Nothing was ever a success because everything can be improved.

Rockets Are Awesome

We’ve spent billions on sending hunks of metal into space. It’s driven innovation and given us so many things we take for granted. And anyone that tells you they never got lost as a child staring at the night sky, wondering what’s out there and if they could get there is a liar.

Our plan was to design fins for small rockets (10”-16”) to shoot out by the tennis courts. Students came up with some crazy designs. I saw some of the most complex geometry going on that I could ever imagine. On one fin I counted nine angles that we needed to know. These things were about 5mm thick so I figured out some tricks quick:

• Heated build plates are recommended.
• Blue painter’s tape on your build plate helps adhesion.
• Temperature and humidity can change a print drastically.
• Rubbing a glue stick across the tape helps with adhesion.
• Clean everything with rubbing alcohol; humans are some oily creatures.

Most of all I realized that successful prints were something you had to work at. It took time, patience, adjustments, and research. I also realized that a small rocket burns hotter than the melting point of PLA filament. Whoops. The rockets flew, but there was some considerable warping of the fins due to the heat of the reaction.

Final Print (red) Next to Factory Built Button

Our next rocket adventure came in the way of some accessories for the real deal. Our aerospace club builds rockets as tall as a man and shoots them up over 1,000 feet at an annual competition. The rocket is launched of a rail system and this requires rail ‘buttons’ to guide the projectile out of the stand. These things are small, practical, and perfect for us to tackle. With a newly purchased Printbot 3D printer we were able to adjust more settings with the Cura platform and experiment more with our printing (for better or worse).

The process was simply amazing. I can’t say enough about the tenacity of the students involved. We must have gone through 15 designs and ended up printing buttons that broke on launch day. No one complained, and I even got a big ‘thank you’ from the students and teacher.

Future Failures

At a glance, we failed. Our prints weren’t successful in accomplishing the tasks that we had at hand. They melted. They broke. But the learning that happened is the hidden gem. The collaboration between students as they tried to learn how to use a micrometer. Geometry teachers getting emails from students that weren’t theirs' for help with angle formulas. Printing, and printing, and printing again; each time raising the extruder temperature or changing the density. The process was what it was all about and why, in spite of the possibility of ‘failure’, I’m hooked on 3D printing for students.

DigiAEP: Connecting Disconnected Students

In 1995 the Texas Legislature established policy that, among other things, required school districts to create disciplinary alternative education programs (DAEP). These campuses were meant to be alternative locations to temporarily assign students that violated school policies and laws in general. While there are specific actions that can lead to placement at a DAEP districts exercise discretion when placing students for violations of campus and district codes of conduct.

While placed at a DAEP students can find a variety of circumstances depending on the district. In Manor, Texas, just east of Austin, students remain on the home campus roster, meaning the home campus teacher(s) remain the teacher of record. This theoretically allows an easy transition back to campus and avoids disruptive transfers. This system does create a need for communication and solutions for assignment and content distribution. This has created imperfect practices in the past due to unclear instructions, inconsistent campus policies, and slow transportation of paper assignments.

Clogging the Pipeline

Researchers have examined the link between school discipline, such as DAEP programs, and future incarceration. This “school-to-prison pipeline” was researched by the nonprofit Texas Appleseed in 2007 with some alarming conclusions. Students that had been referred to DAEP programs were five times as likely to dropout of school. With over 80% of the prison population listed as high school dropouts the connection between incarceration and completing high school was found to be significant.

Recidivism rates for DAEPs were reported at 30% in 2006-2007 in Texas creating yet another pipeline with students experiencing the “revolving door” effect, most commonly associated with prison recidivism. At Manor ISD's DAEP, Manor Alternative Placement (MAP), 2014-15 recidivism rates climbed to 18% with rates as high as 24% at specific campuses. While these rates were lower than the state average there was enough concern to prompt action.

While solutions to specific student behaviors involve many systems such as PBIS and RtI initiatives there was an obvious issue with recidivism and academic gaps in the numbers. By targeting the issue of workflow and campus connection it was theorized that the recidivism rate would decrease and academic success would rise, thereby impacting the risk factors for student drop out. The solution would come in the form of a digital tool that was already well established in the district.

DigiAEP

In collaboration with MAP principal, Dr. Marcus Jones, Google Drive was implemented to solve the workflow issues. By creating a district-shared folder, teachers are able to upload their assignments in digital format in order to eliminate the transfer of paper documents from home campus to MAP.  Teachers were trained on uploading assignments, how to name them for easy searching, and scanning solutions utilizing district owned iPads and scan apps. Most assignments are being created digitally by teachers so the process is fairly simple, and inadvertently saves the campus money for eliminating the need to print and send.

After a pilot year with a set group of teachers the system was set as official MAP policy and is being enforced throughout the district. Thousands of assignments have been distributed through this process, keeping the student on task with high quality instruction and connected to their teachers. Through campus-based initiatives a large portion of staff have also adopted learning management systems such as Google Classroom and students are literally still part of the class despite being miles away.

This type of distance learning opens up many possibilities with home bound students and district weather days. This has been practiced since 2013 in states like Illinois that have several snow days a year. To avoid adding days to the end of the calendar districts are experimenting with distance learning opportunities to deliver content, instruction, and assessment to their students.

While digital tools will never replace the facilitation of a teacher, they can connect the teacher

Teacher Screen Sharing with DAEP Student

to the students through video conferencing. Manor ISD has adopted the tool Zoom to connect DAEP students to their classroom teachers. Other tools such as Google Hangouts and Skype have been used in similar circumstances. These tools allow the students to receive direct instruction and present questions during their MAP placement. Perhaps more importantly the visual connection creates or continues the emotional connection between the student and their home campus.

An intended effect of this could be that the student is less likely to commit another offense when they return to their home campus that could get them sent back to the DAEP. While the variables involved in removing the recidivism issue are impossible to quantify, it is logical that a student that remains academically on track and emotionally tied to their home campus will be more likely to act in a way that allows them to stay.

While in a perfect world students would comply with rules and laws and the need for DAEP campuses would disappear reality ensures that alternative avenues exist for differentiation in education. Digital collaborative tools such as Google Apps for Education and Zoom open amazing possibilities to keep students, teachers, administrators, and the larger community connected. For more information on systems like Manor ISD DigiAEP, bringing Google Apps for Education to your school or district, or implementing digital tools and solutions email tejashanson@gmail.com.

*Update 3/11/16- After running 2nd Tri numbers Manor ISD district recidivism is at 11.2%, almost 7 points below last years rate.

Works Cited

"Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs in Texas." Disciplinary Alternative Education Programs in Texas. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.

“Texas School to Prison Pipeline.” Fitzgerald-Fowler, Deborah. Texas Appleseed. Oct. 2007.

"Online Learning Options Combat Snow Day Closures Across Country." EdTech. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.

Other Resources

"School-To-Prison Pipeline In Texas." School-To-Prison Pipeline In Texas. Web. 04 Mar. 2016.