Doing Science in the Undergraduate Classroom Using Rapid Prototyping

哥伦比亚大学要求在本科入门课程中使用快速原型设备，该课程要求学生为正在进行的研究问题设计、构建和测试他们自己的实验解决方案。本课程教授CAD和基于CAD的原型设计技能，学生可以快速学习，然后将其应用于现实世界的科学问题。强调研究问题的几何和设计方面，而超越学生能力的技术方面则作为固定输入呈现。这门课程的反复尝试哲学给教授和助教带来了沉重的制作负担，因为由于它的入门性质，学生没有原型制作的背景。所要求的设备将大大减轻这一负担，并改善学校现有的CAD设施和课程与基于CAD的原型制作能力之间的联系。该课程没有先决条件，吸引了来自整个大学的学生。尽管一开始让人望而生畏，但学生们热情地接受了“设计”教授的挑战，他们很高兴自己的努力得到了认真对待，尽管他们的技术背景有限。这门课程本身可以作为一个国家模式，使本科生能够在研究机构从事原创性的科学工作，也可以吸引新的学生进入理工科。作为该提案的一部分，哥伦比亚大学已承诺资助师范学院对该课程进行全面的教育评估，并由研究生电影学院制作一部关于该课程的纪录片。这些具体成果加强了拟议的评价和传播计划。

Rapid prototyping equipment is requested for use in an introductory undergraduate course in which students design, build, and test their own experimental solutions to an on-going research problem at Columbia University. The course teaches CAD and CAD-based prototyping skills that can be quickly learned by students and then applied to a real world, scientific problem. Geometric and design aspects of the research problem are emphasized while technical aspects beyond the student capabilities are presented as fixed inputs. The cut-and-try philosophy of the course places a heavy fabrication burden on the professor and course TA because, by its introductory nature, students do not have prototyping backgrounds. The requested equipment will greatly reduce this burden and improve the linkage between the School' s existing CAD facilities and curriculum and its CAD-based prototyping capabilities. The course has no prerequisites and has attracted students from throughout the University. Although initially daunting, the challenge of "out designing" professors has been enthusiastically embraced by the students, and they appreciate that their efforts are being taken seriously despite their limited technical backgrounds. The course itself may serve as a national model for enabling undergraduates to perform original scientific work at research institutions, and may also attract new students to science and engineering. As part of this proposal, Columbia has committed funds for a comprehensive educational evaluation of the course by Teachers College and a documentary film about the course by the Graduate Film School. These concrete deliverables strengthen the proposed evaluation and dissemination plans.