PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. -- To help their students become more proficient in digital design and the use of 3-D printing, 36 teachers from 28 schools were treated to free workshops recently at Montclair State University.
The teacher workshops were paid for by the Picatinny Arsenal STEM Office as part of its extensive efforts to encourage students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The Arsenal is a United States Army research and development installation that employs thousands of workers in technical fields.
Beginner and more advanced workshops were held from July 10-13 at the university’s MIX Lab. Additional beginner workshops were held on Aug. 23-24. The instructors were Montclair professors Jason Frasca and Iain Kerr, co-directors of the Mix Lab, which is described as a new interdisciplinary hub for transformative innovation and digitally mediated making.
The workshops were designed to provide teachers with design skills, curriculum components, and the confidence to lead students as they learn to leverage 3-D design and 3-D printing technology.
Bridget Day, a teacher at Gregory Elementary in the West Orange School District, said she would use the workshop instruction as a model for how to teach students Tinkercard, a 3-D modeling program.
“As a new teacher, I really appreciate the way the instructors created practical applications for 3-D printing, so what I learned will definitely be incredibly helpful with my teaching practice,” Day said.
Laura Garrison, a teacher at Black River Middle School, said she appreciated how much thought was given to the instruction process. “I loved that you didn't tell us how to do things but let us struggle through the learning process,” she said.
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