Presently, American public education in the science classroom at the K-12 level is suffering criticism due to low student performance, which falls below the standards of global competitors. Such low student performance may be attributed the current lack of integrated real world technology into the science classroom. Therefore, in effort to improve the quality of science instruction and student performance, public education needs to implement additive manufacturing technology as a means to foster problem solving, logical thinking, and creativity. Additive manufacturing technology stimulates student engagement by encouraging problem solving through constructivism, constructionism, and hands-on learning, thereby improving the quality of science
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In most cases for science education, direct instruction is not an effective way to teach topics that deal with the physical world and complex systems, thus requiring hands-on instruction to learn new information (Gordon 1). This is where constructionism is a key element in propelling science education by having students build something tangible that can be learned from. With 3D printers integrated into the problem based learning strategy, students build something that engages them in a subject where they learn subversively through physical interactions (Solomon 2). Constructionism utilizes the 3D printer as an avenue for exploration, allowing a student to interact physically and learn through the process of creating a model from a thought. Additive manufacturing is the perfect tool to implement problem based learning through constructionism in an effort to promote science …show more content…
With the current system of standardized testing used in science education, students are not able to thinking beyond a basic level and have difficulty answering open-ended problems (Gordon 1). Through the implementation of open-ended problems with a problem based learning curriculum, students are able to understand scientific concepts on a real world level where there is more than one possible solution. Also, additive manufacturing is a great resource when it comes to open-ended problems because it can be used as a way to test different possible solutions in the real world, learn from mistakes when things fail, and test new solutions (Hall 1). Learning hands-on by testing solutions to an issue is the most effective way to learn science topics because it connects a common subject to a real world problem, allowing students to actively learn by finding one of many possible solutions. Through additive manufacturing technology, students are led to explore topics that branch off of a problem, thus promoting science education with hands on learning. Integrating additive manufacturing technology into K-12 science education develops and active learning environment propelled by problem based learning where students learn through constructivism, constructionism, and open ended problem
In most cases for science education, direct instruction is not an effective way to teach topics that deal with the physical world and complex systems, thus requiring hands-on instruction to learn new information (Gordon 1). This is where constructionism is a key element in propelling science education by having students build something tangible that can be learned from. With 3D printers integrated into the problem based learning strategy, students build something that engages them in a subject where they learn subversively through physical interactions (Solomon 2). Constructionism utilizes the 3D printer as an avenue for exploration, allowing a student to interact physically and learn through the process of creating a model from a thought. Additive manufacturing is the perfect tool to implement problem based learning through constructionism in an effort to promote science …show more content…
With the current system of standardized testing used in science education, students are not able to thinking beyond a basic level and have difficulty answering open-ended problems (Gordon 1). Through the implementation of open-ended problems with a problem based learning curriculum, students are able to understand scientific concepts on a real world level where there is more than one possible solution. Also, additive manufacturing is a great resource when it comes to open-ended problems because it can be used as a way to test different possible solutions in the real world, learn from mistakes when things fail, and test new solutions (Hall 1). Learning hands-on by testing solutions to an issue is the most effective way to learn science topics because it connects a common subject to a real world problem, allowing students to actively learn by finding one of many possible solutions. Through additive manufacturing technology, students are led to explore topics that branch off of a problem, thus promoting science education with hands on learning. Integrating additive manufacturing technology into K-12 science education develops and active learning environment propelled by problem based learning where students learn through constructivism, constructionism, and open ended problem