As Aims Community College partners with Alquist 3D to scale up the 3D construction printing industry in Greeley, they’ll have a healthy pipeline of K-12 students who have already begun hands-on learning with 3D printing technology, even in rural parts of the county.
Johan van Nieuwenhuizen is the Superintendent of Weld County RE-1. He said the district, which has more than 1,990 pupils in Gilcrest LaSalle Platteville and LaSalle, has been pursuing career and technical education opportunities over the last few years. Mindy Kain is the innovation coach for Weld RE-1. She said that as part of this initiative, nine 3D printers were installed in each school.
CTE offers students enhanced educational opportunities to choose the career they want once they graduate from high school. Weld RE-1 provides CTE electives like robotics, videography and drone classes.
The 3D printers, thanks to CTE grant funds, have transformed the learning experience in the district.
Platte Valley RE-7, which serves more than 1,000 students in the Kersey area, purchased its first 3D printer in 2008, upgrading in 2016 to a device that’s easier to maintain and produces better quality products, according to Darren Horn, a technology teacher at Platte Valley. The district’s students also have access to a plasma cutting table and two laser cutters.
Horn says that these devices are student-driven and they focus on three different technical areas: agriculture technology, business technology, and engineering technology.
Van Nieuwenhuizen stated that research shows that students remember more lessons when they are exposed to a variety of senses.
“3D printing is really about projects that students can feel and touch,” he said. “We also know that students are more engaged in the learning process because it’s not just ‘sit and listen to a lecture.’ It’s learning and doing at the same time.
“I think it’s a win-win for our students.”
Kain also says that 3D printers can help students develop their critical thinking skills and learn how to solve problems. The 3D printers create “a huge list” of project-based learning opportunities, she added.
Agriculture students created models of livestock production plants and then printed them in 3D to learn about design skills. These projects encourage students to think about their future.
Kain said it’s not easy to go through the 3D-printing design process, yet these students persevered. The students are taught through mistakes how to overcome them, and also develop interpersonal skills useful for their future careers.
Horn, who assists with the technical support and maintenance of each device, says that students at Platte Valley’s agriculture department use a Plasma cutting table which uses a plasma torch to cut metal. The table was purchased around five years ago. Students have made bumpers for trucks and benches at the elementary school. They also created hundreds of signs and brackets that were intricately cut.
Platte Valley High School’s technology classes, such as advanced systems and advanced welding, use 3D modeling software to create prototypes, Horn said. These include mounting brackets, scaled models of cars, solar cars and hundreds of other models — all tested for functionality or structural integrity.
Weld Re-1’s science departments used the printers for 3D DNA model creation. Students in Weld RE-1 have also access to a cool device called a freeze-dryer.
This opens the way to project-based teaching through experiments using freeze-drying. Kain said that students conducted a science experiment using a freeze dryer and dehydrator. They wanted to know which method preserved food better and tasted better.
Instructors of Weld RE-1 also use 3D printing technology to create math manipulatives. Kain claims that students can learn concepts better by doing it themselves.
Kain added that computer-aided designs can be used in the construction industry to produce a prototype model before building a larger-scale model. Additionally, fourth graders use an “entrepreneurial mindset” while working with the 3D printers.
Kain believes that 3D technology can create growth opportunities and change mindsets. It helps students understand it’s OK to mess up and that they learn and grow with each mistake.
“The students show what they know in so many different ways,” she said. “It’s not just about testing. It’s about growth and opportunity and knowledge and background … those soft skill characteristics that we want our students to leave us having.”
Weld RE-1 is used by the printers to produce many items, such as greenhouse flowerpots that are placed in the community gardens. Other products include customized woodshop projects for special needs children and fidgets toys for elementary school kids.
“All of those skills make it so much more easy and cost-effective than anything else we could do,” Kain said.
Platte Valley owns two laser cutters – one bought in 2016 and another in 2019 – for the BOSS Program, which is designed to give students a real-life office experience through a student-run company. Students can use this technology to create plaques, wall artwork and other products as well as personal projects.
According to van Nieuwenhuizen, Colorado school districts that are underfunded struggle to get extra funding for pool project. Fortunately, several organizations outside of Weld RE-1 have helped enhance project-based education and CTE opportunities in order to ensure that students receive the best possible education.
CTE funding helped add 3D printers to the collection thanks to partnerships formed with the Weld Trust and Boxlight.
Van Nieuwenhuizen stated that he would like to see more devices, such as 3D printers, brought into the district. He asked community members to donate money or devices in order to help Weld County students learn.
“We are just very appreciative and grateful for the good people and organizations that are supporting K-12 education,” van Nieuwenhuizen said. “Project-based learning seems to be a modality that engages students more, and we are privileged to have these devices that help us do exactly that.”