Fostering Creativity with 3D Printing

3D printing (3DP) is a relatively new technology that enables computerised designs to be transformed into tangible three-dimensional products. It is rapidly growing in popularity, with the world market expected to reach 21 billion US dollars during 2020 (Kwon, 2017). The primary benefit of 3DP is that it enables prototypes and designs to be produced in a cheap and timely manner (Kwon, 2017).

3DP in education

3DP has value in educational settings as it provides students with the opportunity to interact with 3D structures as tangible objects, rather than having to visualise them based on two-dimensional representations (Da Veiga Beltrame et al., 2017). This enables students to form intuitive understanding of the properties of objects by drawing on their “well-developed modes of human sensation” (Da Veiga Beltrame et al., 2017, pp. 7). For example, science students could use 3DP to familiarise themselves with the properties of scientific objects, such as molecules, that cannot be observed or handled in their normal proportions.

Fostering Creativity

3DP is particularly useful for prototyping designs, and this is the aspect of 3DP that most allows student creativity to thrive. Prototyping could be used in various subjects. For example, students could build weapons of war in a history class, or sculptures in an art class. Pink (2011) suggests that reflection and critique are essential elements of the creative process as they provide the opportunity to improve initial ideas. In this respect, 3DP fosters creativity by allowing students to examine their initial designs and to enhance later models. This iterative process allows students to incrementally improve designs, and is likely yield much more creative ideas than would a single-step process.

Furthermore, the opportunity to utilise a novel technology with abilities beyond merely accessing and managing information is likely to create student interest, enjoyment, and engagement, which have all been identified as important elements in fostering creative energy (Hennessey & Amabile, 2010; Song, 2018).

Potential Limitations

Despite its potential benefits 3DP has numerous practical difficulties. Generally only one student can print at once, and printing is slow and time-consuming. Although teachers could create designs and print them for students before class, this would fail to utilise the creativity capacity that makes 3DP printers so appealing.

Additionally, the machines are still novel and therefore little research has investigated how best to utilise the technology for educational and creative purposes (Kwon, 2017). Furthermore, teachers are likely to have to invest time and effort into becoming competent with the machines and determining the most effective way to incorporate them to achieve creativity (Song, 2018).

Getting Started

3D Printers are available at Officeworks and various other technology stores. The entry level price is approximately $300, however the most advanced machines go into the tens of thousands of dollars. The cheapest model at Officeworks is the safe and portable Da Vinci nano, which features in the video below.

References

Da Veiga Beltrame, E., Tyrwhitt-Drake, E., Roy, I., & Shalaby, R., Suckale, J., & Pomeranz Krummel, D. (2017). 3D Printing of biomolecular models for research and pedagogy. Journal of Visualized Experiments, 121: 1-8.

Hennessey, B. A., & Amabile, T. M. (2010). Creativity. Annual Review of Psychology, 61: 569-598.

Kwon, Y. M. (2017). Case study on 3D printing education in fashion design course. Fashion and Textiles, 4(26): 1-20.

Pink, D. (2011). Creative fluency. In L. Crocket, I. Jukes, A. Churches (Eds.), Literacy is not enough – 21st Century fluencies for the digital age. (pp. 43-54). Corwin.

Song, M. J. (2018). Learning to teach 3D printing in schools: how do teachers in Korea prepare to integrate 3D printing technology into classrooms? Educational Media International, 55(3): 183-198.