Using 3D Printing to Foster Self-Directed Learning in Adolescents: Preliminary Findings (Poster 13)

• In Event: AERA Poster Session Wednesday 4:20 p.m.
  In Poster Session: Technology, Instruction, Cognition, and Learning (TICL) Poster Session

Abstract

The present study examines if a project using 3D printing results in an improvement in adolescents’ self-directed learning (SDL) and confidence in 21st century skills (e.g., collaboration, critical thinking, creativity). Further, to understand how students benefited, the study examines how students with initially low and high SDL readiness and confidence in key skills respond to the project differently. Fifty-five adolescent girls across four grades (7-8, 11) participated in a researcher-led six-session 3D printing design challenge where they would plan, prototype individually and collaboratively, and 3D print two iterations. Preliminary pre-post-test results suggest that initially lower performing students primarily benefitted with learning gains in overall SDL readiness and confidence in key skills, while high performers’ confidence in critical thinking improved.

Authors

• Heather Ann Pearson, McGill University

• Adam Kenneth Dubé, McGill University