Attitude is “a disposition to respond favourably or unfavourably towards some psychological object.” Fishbein and Ajzen (1975) strikes a chord for me as a specialist technician within the field of 3D Printing and digital design. A large majority of the people I work with are much more comfortable using craft based hands-on techniques to design and create rather than technology. This attitude and misconstrued predisposition towards technology is a big barrier in my teaching and is something I plan to work on breaking down at the beginning of my sessions so that my students can come to understand software and machinery as something accessible to them. (Please also refer to my blog: Welcome to my Lab for more understanding of my teaching environment.)
The Technology Acceptance Model (Davis, 1989) suggests that there are two factors which contribute to how well accepted a computer system will be by potential users. These factors cover both perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. In this case study I will address the perceived ease of use as this seems to be the key issue with students approaching the 3D printing software and technology.
Having been experimenting with object based learning I’m discovering different ways to utilise this technique by students a 3D printed part and asked them to discover how the technology that created it works due to the clues they can see within the object – they were able to identify things such as layers, a lightweight feel (leading to the idea that the part was hollow) and the fact that it was all one colour suggesting that it was all one material. I have tested this and it has worked well to encourage students by building their confidence with machinery as they started to work things out for themselves about it.
In Storytelling the self as a pedagogic practice, the idea of individuals expressing their own journeys from their individual and unique perspectives they were able to take ownership of their learning for themselves (Osler, Guillard, Garcia-Fialdini, Cote, 2019) I want to merge these ideas by also giving the class the chance to look at the 3D printers and explore/create their own story as to how it works rather than me simply telling them in the aim to give them more confidence and ownership in their individual learning journey with the technology we utilise.
Bibliography:
- Ajzen I, Fishbein M, (1975) Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An Introduction to Theory and Research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley
- Davis F.D. (1989) ‘Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use, and User Acceptance of Information Technology’ MIS Quarterly Vol.13, (No 3, Sept 1989) available at https://www.jstor.org/stable/249008 (Accessed: 18.04.24)
- Cote S, Garcia-Fialdini A, Guillard I, Osler T, (2019) ‘An A/r/tographic metissage: Storying the self as pedagogic practice’ Journal of Writing in Creative Practice Volume 12 (Numbers 1&2)