Associate Professor of Science Education Bridget Mulvey and Elena Novak, associate professor of Educational Technology, took the second-place award for the Emerging Learning Technology Award, an international competition sponsored by the Association for Educational Communications and Technology.
With support from a Martha Holden Jennings grant, is a research-practitioner partnership between Kent State University and Holden Elementary School in Kent, Ohio. Mulvey and Novak's team engaged in extensive co-planning, facilitation and evaluation of a two-month long, standards-based STEM unit for second graders at Holden. Their 3D Printing Dinosaur Habitat Unit is an engaging, hands-on project focused on fossils and organism survival.
The project introduced students to 3D printing technology, engineering practices, computer-assisted design, and STEM careers within a science classroom. Learners iteratively designed, tested and improved dinosaur models to create innovative 3D printed dinosaur models with moving parts.
"A unique part of this unit is that we framed it with a Design Thinking Model that was adopted by the school to promote creativity and design across the curriculum," said Mulvey.
Presented by the Association for Educational Communications and Technology, the the Emerging Learning Technology Award promotes the production and utilization of the latest innovative technologies through the creation of a network of individuals engaged in the design, development, implementation, use, and study of these tools in myriad settings. Submissions should clearly indicate how the emerging learning technology tool supports cognition, literacy, accessibility, collaboration, engagement, or motivation for learning. Emerging learning technologies are defined as any technology that has yet to be fully realized in educational settings.
鈥淐ollaborating with Holden Elementary's teachers to help their students design and 3D-print their own dinosaurs was truly inspiring,鈥 said Novak.