Objects to Think With

Editors: Glen Bull & Ryan Novitski
Technical Editors: Jo Watts & Rachel Gibson
Editorial Board: Jason Trumble, Liz Whitewolf, Michael Littman & Lauren Seigel

Contemporary Issues in Educational Design and Fabrication (ED&F) is sponsored by the International Technology and Engineering Education Association (ITEEA). During the past decade, many schools have established maker spaces with 3D printers, digital die cutters, and other fabrication tools. The educational effectiveness of fabrication tools in K-12 maker spaces requires access to useful Computer-Assisted Design (CAD) models and associated instructional supports. ED&F provides a site for review and publication of CAD models designed for K-12 education. Each submission should include:

1. an open-source educational CAD file or files and associated instructional materials such as fabrication and assembly instructions, instructional videos, and lesson plans, and

2. an accompanying article describing instructional use of the model and results of a pilot implementation in a classroom in a manner that will enable K-12 teachers to replicate this use.

Articles submitted for review may address the elements such as: (a) educational objectives and alignment with educational standards, (b) prior instances of use of related models and historical connections, (c) design considerations and challenges (d) fabrication and assembly instructions, (e) recommendations for revision and remixing, (f) explanation of ways in which students will demonstrate their understanding, and (g) description of pilot use in a K-12 classroom. Additional materials such as associated instructional videos can also be submitted. Once accepted, the article will be published in the journal with a link to the corresponding model in an educational CAD Model Repository.

Send inquiries about submission of articles and associated CAD models to: info@maketolearn.org

Most Recent

Volume 26  Issue 3  

The Sangala Initiative: Establishing a K–12 Engineering Program for East Africa

by Glen Bull, John Wanda, Kelly Dooley & David Slykhuis
Full Article Show Abstract

Lasting educational change in underresourced regions requires more than a donation of equipment or funding alone. The Sangala Initiative, a project initiated by the National Technology Leadership Society, addresses knowledge bottlenecks in the Global South by building local engineering capacity to better both education and the community, starting with establishing a K–12 engineering program suited to the needs and conditions of East Africa. Students in the program will design and fabricate scientific tools that meet genuine community needs — beginning with a 3D-printed microscope and a locally fabricated weather station — and acquire the expertise to maintain and extend those tools after high school. Anchored by a pilot at Hawthorne-Scribner High School in Uganda’s Mt. Elgon region, the initiative is guided by the principles of authentic purpose and reciprocal innovation. This article documents the program’s goal, structure, and early work and suggests ways member associations can collaborate to extend the model.