Below is the information I supplied to Laura-Beth ahead of her reviewing the 3D printing online content. The reason we went for an online observation is due to Jan-March being the quietest time in the 3D workshop (and across a lot of technical spaces within the university) due to units and projects finishing across the BA and MA courses. This means that there are less students in, and less bookings, so therefore less time to observe any in person teaching.
What is the context of this session/artefact within the curriculum?
The 3D workshop inductions are intended to provide information to students about the services we offer, and crucial health and safety, file setup, and material information. The purpose of the inductions being online means that students can complete their inductions at any time and from any device, reading and digesting the information at their own pace and without the need to book in-person workshops weeks in advance. The intention is to pass the onus of decision making and booking onto the students by providing them with the relevant information so they are able to plan their projects independently.
How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?
I have been a technician at LCC since 2020, and the inductions are relevant to all students from all year groups, both undergrad and post-grad. Some students you will end up becoming familiar with, some will do the inductions and only use the facilities once. Our inductions were previously housed on ORB, and this is our first academic year of using Moodle inductions so it’s been a learning curve for us and the students.
What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?
We intend to provide all the information you might need about 3D printing, from file setup to understanding the types of printing we have available. This information needs to be both accessible enough to people who may have never 3D printed before, while providing all the information needed to understand 3D printing and to set up Cura or Preform files for it. After completing the inductions we would expect students to understand the difference between printing with the Ultimaker and the Formlabs printers, and be able to set up files for each following the file setup guide.
What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?
In an ideal world we will have provided enough information in an accessible enough way that even a student who has never 3D printed before will be able to select a printer, download their slicing software, and turn up to their booking with a correctly set up file. Of course, some may struggle and will prefer to come and set their file up with us and this is also completely fine!
Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?
The inductions were created by two of us – a colleague who thought it more important to include as much complex information as possible in order to give a real world professional simulation, and myself who thought it better to have simple and minimal information online so as to not make the process seem intimidating – the result is sort of half-way between the two. I’d be interested to hear whether you think the inductions appear too complex or if they contain just the right amount of information!
How will students be informed of the observation/review?
Students will not be impacted by staff undertaking the Moodle inductions.
What would you particularly like feedback on?
If the information is too complex, if you think it could be condensed, if you think there is anything related to 3D printing that it misses out on!
How will feedback be exchanged?
As Laura-Beth will be observing online, feedback will be provided via this form and via email between the two of us.
Below is Laura-Beth’s feedback:
The induction guides to both the Ultimaker FDM 3D Printer and Formlabs SLA 3D Printers were well written and offered what I feel is the correct level of information, at a reasonable level of complexity for a beginner in the subject. The instruction on time, cost and likelihood of failed prints for the Ultimaker is very good and is really vital information. In the summary quiz you also mentioned if people don’t have laptops they can use computers in the workshop – this is great as it is considerate of students economic situation as some students don’t have personal high spec computers/laptops.
Regarding the Formlab printing it may be worth mentioning the minimal size thickness for formlab prints and the fragile nature of resin materials if they are too small or thin. For the Ultimaker it may be worth mentioning in the section on materials that there are other PLA materials such as mixed colours and wood filament but this may depend on what your department is happy to accommodate. As you have stated that you only use Ultimaker filaments, this may not be needed/possible. It may be worth giving them information for both printers about the use of external bureau and how set-up and energy consumption may also be a consideration on cost, as well as the expense of more complex materials. I also wonder for both printers if payment should be made in the hour time slot, to avoid people not paying/collecting prints, however this may be university policy and/or not a concern.
It was great to see how many opportunities and options students had for additional support should they need it, although I understand the hope is they will be able to do everything independently, maturity and confidence of students differs and you have clearly considered this which is really good to see. The how to use Cura and PreForm guides were also very
clear and comprehensive.(Not a big deal but just to mention I think there may be a minor error in the preform print guide. On page 5 you mention “0.1mm layer thickness gives a very high resolution print. 0.5mm prints in finer layers” I think it should say 0.050 as shown in the picture.)
The level of autonomy these guides give is excellent and puts the skills into the hands of the students whilst making them realize the realities and limitations of 3D printing which can sometimes be misunderstood. Signposting to other resources for building was well placed, and highlighting the skill and need for understanding slicing software is really important and was well documented and explained. I think Jules and her colleague have succeeded in creating an engaging, informative and clear resource for their students to learn and engage with this technology.
Below is my response to Laura-Beth’s feedback:
I’m thrilled with how positive Laura-Beth has been about our online inductions – it helps that she comes from a background of specialist 3D printing knowledge but also good to see her commenting on the accessibility of our online documents, and how we signpost students to where to get extra help when needed. We always want to make sure students feel like they are included and welcome in the workshop – even though it is often much easier when people have their own laptop we have never wanted this to be a barrier which is why we have a spare in the workshop.
We do have existing plans to update some of the information with some of the points Laura-Beth has raised, including talking about the fragility of thin resin prints. Unfortunately, due to the constraints of Moodle and the scrom packages uploaded from Articulate, we’ll have to make these changes over summer after the academic year is over otherwise we face forcing every student to have to do the induction again! For the PLA filament we do actually only use Ultimaker branded PLA – it’s the only brand that doesn’t void our warranty on the printers, and PLA is the most inert of all 3D printing materials. As we (the technicians) have to remain in the workshop all day we tend to avoid printing with ABS, Nylon etc – anything that releases smelly fumes really! We’ve not had much of an issue with students not collecting their prints – although the main reason we don’t take payment before the print has been completed is because we only charge for the successfully completed prints. If a printer fails overnight due to something outside of the student’s control we’ll usually shoulder that cost.
I’m very grateful Laura-Beth spotted that mistake on the file setup guide for Preform – this is indeed a typo and something that all three people who proof read the document have missed! This guide is unrelated to the scrom package induction so is actually a change we’re able to implement now.
I’m glad also that Laura-Beth raised that we were trying to give the students autonomy with the guides – this is what’s at the core of how we work in technical services; passing on practical skills to students which they’re able take with them to the professional world after graduation.