Two community colleges and a university are forming a Midwest Digital Fabrication Partnership (MDFP). The MDFP seeks to integrate Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)-based Digital Fabrication capabilities and resources into student learning experiences at the undergraduate levels of higher education. The major goals of the project are to: 1) integrate Digital Fabrication Laboratories into selected Product Realization courses to provide enhanced, hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) learning experiences; 2) assess the ability of Digital Fabrication Laboratory experiences to enhance student STEM competencies and attitudes; and 3) evaluate Digital Fabrication Laboratories as a STEM recruitment vehicle. This initiative also integrates program disciplines with Digital Fabrication orientation through development of articulation agreements between the three colleges.
A cross-disciplinary Fab Lab project team is being established utilizing staff and experts from the three colleges in the Mechanical Design, Applied Engineering Technology, Manufacturing Technologies, Information Technology, and Electrical-Electronics based programs. The team is identifying selected courses in their respective programs that have Digital Fabrication relevance for hands-on learning activities. To support this initiative, partner institutions are transforming existing laboratory space into new Digital Fabrication Laboratories with incremental capital equipment investments.
(MDFP) (NSF #0802388) successfully executed a project to integrate MIT-based Digital Fabrication capabilities and resources into student learning experiences at undergraduate levels of higher education in selected Midwest institutions including Fox Valley Technical College, Century College, Lorain County Community College and the University of Wisconsin-Stout www.usfln.org/mdfp.asp. Fab Labs consist of a group of off-the-shelf, industrial-grade fabrication and electronics tools, wrapped in open source software and programs developed by MIT. Perhaps more importantly, Fab Labs tap an almost universal passion to create and invent that can be used to motivate even non-technically oriented student into STEM disciplines. The MDFP team integrated Fab Lab and related STEM instructional content and learning experiences into programs and classes ranging from innovation and entrepreneurship to mechanical design, electronics, manufacturing engineering, and STEM disciplines while pooling relevant curriculum into a centralized repository. The MDFP project created and piloted a Digital Fabrication STEM Evaluation Methodology based on proven STEM Initiatives to analyze the STEM competencies and attitudes of Fab Lab Learners. Project staff developed a number of resources to facilitate future deployment of fab labs in USA community colleges. This included the MDFP Digital Fabrication Guide Series comprised of the: Introduction Guide, Initial Planning Guide, Instruction Guide, Curriculum Planner and STEM Curriculum Guide. Intellectual Merit- Planned & Realized The fundamental driver of MIT Fab Lab experiences is the high level of personalization and rapid translation of an idea or design into physical reality. This model translates to deeper learning, motivation, and commitment of both technical and non-technical learners. The intellectual merit of this program was evaluation of this model to enhance STEM competencies and attitudes while serving as a recruiting influence for students to pursue STEM majors. The assessments of over 1500 Fab Lab students and their instructors from nearly 50 different courses documented the merit of these experiences. Students valued their Fab Lab experiences ("very cool") and believed their understanding of key concepts and interests in STEM disciplines were enhanced. Teachers observed enrichment of visualization, mathematical and engineering skills. They also valued the unique, experiential ("hands-on, minds-on") learning and observed enhanced soft skills such as collaboration, creativity, innovation and critical thinking. Qualitative findings from interview videos confirmed an MDFP hypothesis that many learners have had "STEM Moments of Truth" at some point during their education where a learning experience may have really "turned them on or off" to Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics subjects or careers. The project successfully mapped the competencies and skills enhanced by Fab Lab experience to the 21st Century Skills and advanced manufacturing skill set. Additionally, preliminary assessments were made on how students think differently in a Fab Lab. Some MDFP work with pre-college students explored the transformative education process in which informal educational experiences were integrated into formal education. A fourth grade entrepreneurship unit was a prime example of how this can work successfully and lead to enhanced K-12 student learning and interest in STEM. Broader Impact While college enrollment is rising, the number of undergraduates with degrees in STEM disciplines is declining. Initial feedback on the learning effectiveness of digital fabrication laboratories ("Fab Labs") indicated strong promise as a tool for student engagement in STEM concepts. The Midwest Digital Fabrication Partnership tested and refined an emerging learning model for concrete, pedagogically-sound methods for integrating digital fabrication into STEM courses and degrees. The project validated an emerging correlation between highly engaging, project-based activities with student recruitment and success in STEM related fields. This can also be seen in the thousands of known "touch points" tracked by the MDFP partners in instructional, recruitment and dissemination activities. A written narrative does not adequately describe the impact of fab labs or the amazing stories happening in MDFP and global Fab Labs. Displaced workers have taken Fab Lab courses and launched businesses based on the experience. Biology students make fabrications for their class projects. Veteran instructors become emotional when describing their students’ excitement in fab labs as well as their own first fab lab project. Video clips show young learners passionately describing their personal fabrication project and saying, "I finally found the right place (Fab Lab) for me." With American technical education programs and teachers being drastically cut as the need for STEM skills soars, the impact of community college fab lab experiences and emerging learning model are becoming more critical and promising than imagined. With current economic challenges, today’s manufacturers are employing next generation manufacturing strategies to survive. Accordingly, the MDFP project is being transformed into the Digital Fabrication Learning Community (NSF#1104199). The DFLC project will establish a pilot learning community that expands the leverage of digital fabrication’s proven enrichment of STEM competencies and attitudes with selected learners and educators, while driving next generation manufacturing technician development throughout the USA.
