Curators' Meetings

General
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Notes for October 2023 (10/6/2023)

Participants:

Sumreen Asim - Elementary Science Curator
Steven Greenstein - Math Curator
Ryan Novitski - Engineering Curator
Liz Whitewolf - Technology Curator
Glen Bull - P.I. / Curator at Large

Andrea Borowczak - ASTE President
Jo Watts - Director, Make to Learn Lab
Cheryl Bai - Coding: Front End (CAD Library Interface)
Rishi Mukherjee - Coding: Back End (i.e., Dataverse)

  1. OpenFlexure Microscope: Andrea met with Richard Bowman, P.I. of the OpenFlexure microscope initiative at the University of Glasgow. Richard demonstrated the OpenFlexure microscope; Andrea has a video of the demonstration. Richard was pleased to meet Andrea, and reiterated that he is looking forward to working with her to adapt the microscope for use in schools. Andrea has identified a teacher in the Orlando area who will pilot the microscope in her biology class once the school adaptation of the microscope is completed.

  2. Scale: Andrea raised a question related to the issue of scale during the pilot implementation phase of the CAD Library. There was agreement that it would be better to focus on a small number of objects while process is being piloted.

  3. Teacher Survey: Sumreen noted that it would important to survey teachers and to be sure that we are responsive to their needs.

  4. Pinhole Projector: Steven Greenstein is going to work with Sumreen and Gerald Knezek to work through the process of entering the data and associated fabrication files into a Dataverse record. This pilot process will be used to inform decisions and recommendations about future directions.

  5. Submission Process: For the first year or two of operation, it is likely that curators will need to solicit entries for submission to the CAD Library. This will enable us to control the number of objects that are acquired and review during the initial pilot phases. … Once revisions to this process have been made as needed, Cheryl Bai will develop a submission form that can be used by authors to enter information about objects that are being submitted for review.

  6. Review Process: The review process will involve two steps:

First the objects must be replicated by someone other than the developer. Often this will be someone other than the teacher, such as a high school engineering student working with a teacher, a local Fab Lab collaborating with a school, or someone working in a makerspace in a nearby university.

After the object successively fabricated, with any revisions to the CAD files or assembly instructions made as required for successful replication, a teacher will pilot use of the object in instruction. This process will be used to make revisions to instructional supports (such as lesson plans, videos, etc.) as required.

Once the steps of (1) successful replication and (2) class use have been completed with revisions made as needed, the object can then be published in the library.

Note: Until an object is published, reviewers will be able to access the object in the Dataverse through use of a private URL generated for the review process.

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Notes for November 2023

  1. Development of Submission Process

Cheryl and Rishi are in the process of testing the form that they developed for submission of objects to the library.

a. An inquiry page will enable an author to submit an inquiry to a curator regarding an object to determine whether it would be appropriate for the CAD Library.

b. If the object is judged appropriate, the author can post a strand about the object in the CAD Library Forum. This strand will provide a thread for feedback to facilitate refinement of the object and also enable teachers to follow the development process and submit questions to the author after the object has been published.

c. Once the forum thread is established by the author, the curator can provide the author with a link to the submission page, which will be used to collect metadata about the object, including a link to the thread in the forum. This will generate creation of a record in the Dataverse.

d. The curator can then generate a private URL with links to the record in the Dataverse, arrange to have the object replicated, and arrange for a teacher to pilot use of the object once it is replicated.

e. The thread in the forum can be used to facilitate feedback about the object, making refinement of the object a collaborative process in which the community can participate.

f. Once the object is judged to be replicable and to be effective in meeting goals in a classroom setting the curator can publish the object. (Note: Only curators have the authorization to publish objects.) Once published, the object will appear in the CAD Library with a link to the corresponding thread in the forum that will enable ongoing collaboration, further refinement, and development of extensions for the object.

  1. Math Collection

A math manipulative, No Mas Caídas, was published in the Math Collection. This object was developed by Mayrobi, a teacher in New Jersey from the Dominican Republic. This mathematical game helps elementary-age students learn to count by forming groups of fives and tens. The game, developed in collaboration with Jessica, a pre-service teacher, drew on Mayrobi’s experiences as a child in the Dominican Republic. The design reflects her knowledge of a meaningful social and cultural context.

  1. Engineering Collection

Ryan Novitski conducted a workshop on the CAD Library at the 1909 Conference in Nashville, TN. Debra Shapiro, a middle school engineering teacher from Suffolk, Virginia accompanied him. They demonstrated ways in which objects from the Engineering Collection were used in her classroom. There was a positive response, and several teachers were recruited who plan to submit objects from their teaching to the CAD Library.

  1. Technology Collection

Liz Whitewolf provided an update on ongoing development of the Fab Learning Academy, which pairs teachers interested in developing educational objects with staff from participating fabrication laboratories.

  1. Science Collection

Gerald Knezik has submitted the Pinhole Projector developed by NASA for publication in the CAD Library.

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Topics for December 2023

  1. CAD Library - Submission Process Update (Cheryl and Rishi)
  2. CAD Library - External Review
  3. Math Collection Update
  4. Engineering Collection Update
  5. Technology Collection Update
  6. Science Collection Update
  7. External Collaborations & Partnerships