Honors Activity - Scavenger Hunt
- Due No Due Date
- Points 0
This project was the product of a collaboration between Susan Henson of Lawrence Tech and faculty here at FIT. The activity was officially written up as follows:
WIP - Tool Scavenger Hunt with Maker/Fabrication Project
The event will require students to visit the following sites:
A) CAMID (off-campus on Palm Bay Road with shuttle service from the parking deck behind the dining hall each hour on the "45" and arriving to CAMID on the hour.), and if desired, Larsen Motorsports;
B) L3Harris Student Design Center (summary laser cutter overview , laser cutter certification, and 3D printer overview videos) and Machine Shop; and
C) Olin Engineering 326 for Arduino + Dr. Brenner's Basics of Making class.
Tours will alternate between sites B) and C) for a total of one hour (two hours if doing the Larsen part of the tour, followed by visit to A) for an hour, or vice versa.
E-mail Dr. Brenner at jbrenner@fit.edu to get into the certification process for 3 laser cutter and 3D printer training
Description
Purpose: As a way to increase maker/fabrication success of incoming freshmen, they are exposed to the various tools available on campus via a low pressure scavenger hunt. Students then use various tools, including the ones they had to "find", to build a project of the instructor's choosing.
This card was inspired by B-Fab Workshop 2019 and FIT Makers Subnet Initiative. - Tool Scavenger Hunt w/ maker/fabrication project.
Learning Objectives
The Tool Scavenger Hunt has a few learning objectives:
Expose students to the different tools available on campus.
Put students on a random team to work collaboratively to complete a task.
Have the students become familiar with collaborative tools (Google Drive, Google Docs).
Orient freshmen students to the campus layout and locations of key maker labs and tools.
Provide students with a “tool catalog.”
The supplemental maker/fabrication project objectives include:
Students working collaboratively on a maker/fabrication project and build a prototype.
Introducing students to and having teams implement design requirements and constraints.
Students begin to develop experience with tool usage as they must employ a tool that was researched during the scavenger hunt.
Educational goals: Incoming freshman have a range of maker/fabrication skills sets. The skills range from students having no experience to students owning 3D printers. What we have traditionally observed in the past is that the stronger builders build the “team” project. A scavenger hunt will help bridge this gap and orient all students relative to basic tool function and tool location. Students then utilize a tool they've researched to assist in the building of a maker/fabrication project.
Mindset goals: Becoming acclimated to what tools are available and where they are located will allow students to integrate tool usage into their maker/fabrication project (Connections).
Description of the scavenger hunt activity with maker/fabrication project: Each student will be placed on a team depending upon class numbers. Each team will randomly pick 3+ tools to find and become familiar with. Pictures with descriptions/function/usage will be required (see tool template). By implementing the researched tool in the maker/fabrication project, students must use curiosity on how to best build their project using their tools. Students must also follow and implement customer-driven design requirements to create value.
Instructor Tips
Faculty will need to collaborate with those who manage the various maker tools at their school. Tool lists need to be generated in preparation for the scavenger hunt. A map of key maker labs or shops where the tools reside is helpful too.
In order to create the tool catalog after the tool scavenger hunt, students must share their documents with the rest of the class. We used a shared Google Document where students pasted their information into that one Google Document and then saved a copy to their own Google Drive. Other options are welcome (e.g. OneDrive, OneNote, etc.) as long as students share their information so that all students can make a catalog. The catalog should then be structured so tool information can be retrieved quickly.
The follow up maker/fabrication template provides a starting point for a school-specific maker/fabrication project. At Lawrence Tech (LTU), our freshmen build a three-component can crusher. A copy of this assignment has been included to provide inspiration. Both documents include a QFT (Question Formulation Technique - similar to Brenner's questions and issues sheets) to promote curiosity and critical thinking.
The attached Google Form can be used to assess tool familiarity before and after the scavenger hunt.
Susan Henson, Lawrence Tech, https://engineeringunleashed.com/card/653, WIP - Tool Scavenger Hunt with Maker/Fabrication Project | Engineering Unleashed. Students are NOT permitted to access this web site.
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