Investigating the Implications of 3D Printing in Special Education
Investigating the Implications of 3D Printing in Special Education
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DOI：
10.1145/2870640
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发表时间：
2016-05-01
影响因子：
2.4
通讯作者：
Hurst, Amy
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Buehler, Erin;Comrie, Niara;Hurst, Amy
3D打印等消费级数字制造正在兴起，我们相信它可以在特殊教育中发挥巨大的作用。尽管3D打印正在渗透到主流教育中，但很少有研究针对有特殊支持需求的学生进行3D打印的探索。我们描述了我们在这个主题上的研究和由此产生的贡献。我们最初进行了一项形成性研究，探索3D打印在三个地点的使用，服务于不同能力的人群，包括认知、运动和视觉障碍的个人。我们发现，3D设计和打印在特殊教育中具有三种功能：(1)STEM参与，(2)为可访问的课程内容创建教学辅助工具，(3)制作定制的自适应设备。作为我们形成工作的一部分，我们还讨论了在我们的一个调查地点与职业治疗师创建的辅助握手的共同设计中的一个案例研究。这项工作启发了使用3D打印机创造自适应设备的进一步研究。我们确定了这些治疗师的需求和限制，并发现了支持他们使用3D打印机的专用3D建模工具的含义。我们开发了基于治疗师反馈的3D建模软件GlipFab，并使用它来探索支持可访问性的内部3D对象设计的可行性。我们的贡献包括在三个特殊教育站点进行案例研究，并在此背景下讨论高效3D打印的障碍。我们通过更深入地研究利益相关者和GlipFab研究结果来扩展这些贡献。我们扩大了我们的讨论范围，以包括对这一领域的研究人员的建议，除了我们早期工作中为创建3D建模和打印工具的技术人员、寻求利用3D打印机的治疗师以及希望在特殊教育环境中实施这些设计工具的教育工作者和管理人员提供的精炼建议之外。
Consumer-grade digital fabrication such as 3D printing is on the rise, and we believe it can be leveraged to great benefit in special education. Although 3D printing is infiltrating mainstream education, little research has explored 3D printing in the context of students with special support needs. We describe our studies on this topic and the resulting contributions. We initially conducted a formative study exploring the use of 3D printing at three locations serving populations with varying ability, including individuals with cognitive, motor, and visual impairments. We found that 3D design and printing perform three functions in special education: (1) STEM engagement, (2) creation of educational aids for accessible curriculum content, and (3) making custom adaptive devices. As part of our formative work, we also discussed a case study in the codesign of an assistive hand grip created with occupational therapists at one of our investigation sites. This work inspired further studies on the creation of adaptive devices using 3D printers. We identified the needs and constraints of these therapists and found implications for a specialized 3D modeling tool to support their use of 3D printers. We developed GripFab, 3D modeling software based on feedback from therapists, and used it to explore the feasibility of in-house 3D object designs in support of accessibility. Our contributions include case studies at three special education sites and discussion of obstacles to efficient 3D printing in this context. We have extended these contributions with a more in-depth look at the stakeholders and findings from GripFab studies. We have expanded our discussion to include suggestions for researchers in this space, in addition to refined suggestions from our earlier work for technologists creating 3D modeling and printing tools, therapists seeking to leverage 3D printers, and educators and administrators looking to implement these design tools in special education environments.