Session/artefact to be observed/reviewed: Workshop, 3D Print: Past, Present, Future
Size of student group: 10-20
Observer: Andrea Marfo
Observee: Kira Oliver
Note: This record is solely for exchanging developmental feedback between colleagues. Its reflective aspect informs PgCert and Fellowship assessment, but it is not an official evaluation of teaching and is not intended for other internal or legal applications such as probation or disciplinary action.
Part One
Observee to complete in brief and send to observer prior to the observation or review:
What is the context of this session/artefact within the curriculum?
It is outside of the curriculum as an extra session students have the option to book onto to enhance their studies.
How long have you been working with this group and in what capacity?
They are new students I have never taught before. Some may have come to drop in sessions previously but that is the maximum exposure they would have had.
What are the intended or expected learning outcomes?
PART ONE Live Session – ‘Understand that there are different types of 3D printing and how each of them work’
PART TWO Live Session – ‘Understand pros and cons of each technology and where each individual type is utilised best in industry’
PART THREE Live Session – ‘Be comfortable will how to run the FDM printers independently here at LCF’
What are the anticipated outputs (anything students will make/do)?
N/A
Are there potential difficulties or specific areas of concern?
A lot of students find technology in general overwhelming and so come to the session with a defeatist attitude already.
The technology can be very complex and sometimes students get lost through the explanation process.
How will students be informed of the observation/review?
Verbally at the beginning of the session
What would you particularly like feedback on?
How retainable the students find the information – would they be able to use the equipment by themselves after this session? Do they feel confident?
How will feedback be exchanged?
Written and spoken
Part Two
Observer to note down observations, suggestions, and questions:
Hi Kira
I had the opportunity to attend the last hour of your session on 3D Printing: Past, Present, and Future. I have provided some feedback on student engagement and their ability to retain information and use the 3D printer independently and overall view of the session.
General things
At the studio, I found a discreet spot to observe the lesson and noticed that the students were engaged and interacting well with you. Your body language was relaxed, open, and inviting, while your voice projected clearly and passionately as you spoke about 3D printing.
Student engagement, encouragement, and Information Retainable to them
The session was carefully designed to allow time for students to engage in discussions and ask questions about what they had learned, and the materials presented. To enhance and increase their involvement in the session Object-based learning was incorporated through presentations, software demonstrations, and samples of materials such as PLA, PVA, and resin.
You answered questions with detailed and warm knowledge which helped boost their confidence. The students remained engaged, took notes, and actively participated in the 3D printer demonstration and you also gave them little prompts to contribute to their understanding and gave them the opportunity to build up their knowledge of 3D printing.
Kira: ‘We have chosen our material and……….’
Kira: ‘We chose our material and we put our model in but…., what might go wrong with this do you have any ideas? It is silent for a second, and you give them a prompt, how big do we want this box to be (prompt)?’
Students: ‘Because it is in millimetres’
To help them inform you what they have learned so far.
Kira: ‘Do anybody remember………….. ‘
Kira: ‘Does anyone remember how much we need to print?’
All students replied: ‘One gram’
Students are looking for a sense of belonging when they are lesson, you demonstrated this by coming back to a question that was asked earlier in the session by addressing a question raised about the weight of the resin, you explained that a filling structure is needed, and a sample was passed around to illustrate this.
The students were engaged, calm and eager to learn about 3D printing. The presentation and demonstration were effective in providing enough context for them to use the equipment with confidence. As the session ended, the students continued discussing the 3D printer and software amongst themselves.
Teaching method/Lesson
The workshop was well-organised and informative. You explained everything clearly and at a good pace. You patiently answered all the questions asked by the students and provided helpful learning resources, such as the LCF Tech page for the Digital Learning Lab and upcoming tutorials.
You demonstrated inclusive practice by spelling out the word ‘purge’ after saying it aloud. This allowed students with learning difficulties or language barriers to take note of the spelling and search for the word later.
When a student asked a question, you saw it as an opportunity to enhance the learning experience for the entire group. Instead of providing a direct answer, you clarified the question to the rest of the group and then provided a detailed response that applied to everyone. Admirably execution, I plan to incorporate this approach into my teaching practice.
Your presentation was clear, well-labeled, and had a diverse mix of media. You gave fitting examples of how 3D printing machines are used in various industries e.g., cosmetics, fashion, food, film, medical, and engineering. You even passed around a sample of the material used to 3D print the Loewe bag handle. At the end of the presentation, you gave the students the chance for them to give feedback by asking the question below. I thought this was a lovely way to finish the session off.
- Kira: So, going forward in the future, what do you all think might happen, any things you think might take off or any of them example that excites you or might take off?
Overall & Suggestions for moving forward
The session was successful overall. The use of object-based learning proved to be effective during the session. You managed to keep the students engaged throughout the session with interactive questions and helped them develop a better understanding of 3D printing. The student seemed comfortable with you and wanted to follow up with their questions and you looked as well that you were comfortable with them.
The background of the software interface was black, which sometimes made it difficult to see the cursor’s movement or the function being used. I was wondering if there is an option to change the colour of the background of the interface or cursor or try out software like ZoomIt to zoom in and out of the specific area of the interface to prevent the model being created from merging with the background.
I suggest having an extra staff member to support the session. It will ensure all students receive help, as it can be hard to engage with every student. During the lesson, you missed a student’s question while answering another. An additional staff member can help avoid this in the future and for students who do not feel confident asking the question again. However, in this case, the student felt comfortable with you, so when another opportunity arose, she asked her question.
During the session, there was some noise coming from the adjacent studio (where 3D printers are), which was a bit distracting, especially when the students were actively engaged in the session. While I appreciate that the east bank layout is designed to be an open space for learning, it may be helpful to book a room when delivering a workshop to prevent any distractions and maintain student engagement.
During your teaching, you used some acronyms such as SLA, FDM, SLS, PLA, etc. I am not sure if you explained these terms at the beginning of your session. However, it might be helpful to create or add a QR code with information about each term that can be easily
accessed. This will guide students who are not familiar with 3D printing or who join the session later and help them understand the 3D printing terminology better.
Part Three
Observee to reflect on the observer’s comments and describe how they will act on the feedback exchanged:
These comments are very kind and reassuring, I appreciate the time taken to come and support me in learning how to teach better.
The points for improvement are all very valid and I will address them below:
- Software Background/interface
Thank you for noticing this, it is something I work with on a daily basis and so have never considered but is such a valid point, especially when the screen is so large, the mouse and model can easily get lost.
Within one of the softwares I use there is a way to change this manually and so I will try this for my next session, however the other one I don’t believe there is and so I will look into the suggested software to zoom into specific areas. I believe this would be a great addition to the session and make the class much more inclusive
- An extra member of staff
This is a lovely point however would be very difficult to implement within my team. The explanation of a missed question is an issue and maybe I could combat that some other ways, such as having smaller classes more often, or a dedicated time for students to ask questions. I will also raise the suggestion of having a supporting staff member to my line manager as I can see huge benefits from this, especially in some of my other workshops.
- Excess noise
This is an interesting point as the space has been designed for the class to be able to flow between the teaching space and the machine room easily and so booking a room elsewhere would make the dynamics of the session very different. Maybe I could split the workshop into two halves, one held in the noisier space that we were using where we have direct access to machines and the other half in a separate classroom where it is quieter for more of the theory based work. Other options could be discussing timetabling sessions when machines are less in use and so less noisy, or using a movable sound barrier across the open part between the two spaces to insulate the sound better when teaching
- Acronym help sheet
I agree wholeheartedly, having an acronym “cheat sheet”, hand out, poster or QR code with information online that is easily accessible would be incredibly useful as Andrea is correct there are tones of acronyms within 3D Printing and it can get very confusing. Will be implementing a solution to this ASAP. I think I will use a mixture of the suggested QR code to stake students to a sharepoint page with a definition for each acronym and also posters on some of our information boards in the room to support their learning there and then