Open Education Studies, 2022; 4: 339–344
Research Article
Natalija Budinski*, Zsolt Lavicza, Tony Houghton
Opportunities for 3D printing in Hybrid Education
https://doi.org/10.1515/edu-2022-0175
received March 29, 2021; accepted August 22, 2022.
Abstract: In this paper, we present 3D printing examples
that we developed and unitized for hybrid teaching during
the global pandemic. We highlight the benefits of 3D
printing in classrooms and opportunities for developing
different knowledge and skills, starting from mathematical
and technological knowledge to communication and
collaboration skills. During our activities, we used
GeoGebra for 3D printing preparations, it was also utilized
for online students’ activities, while supporting theoretical
background students gained in real classrooms. Since 3D
printing technology in the classroom is at its beginnings,
the presented observations are highlighting teaching new
kinds of strategies supported by 3D printing.
Keywords: 3D printing; Geogebra; mathematical and
technological knowledge.
1 Introduction
3D printing creates objects from digital designs by
overlapping thin layers of a particular substance in a
precisely desired shape. Once a futuristic technology, 3D
printing has become realistic, available, and affordable to
use in different activities. This opens new opportunities
to create various objects, from toys to medical implants.
Numerous companies and manufacturers are finding
different ways to use 3D technology in production.
Its application ranges from tooling parts of objects to
end-use products. Research and predictions show that the
development of 3D printing will contribute to the quality
of our lives (Candi & Beltagui, 2018). Danit Peleg (https://
danitpeleg.com/), the author of a 3D printing clothing
collection expressed that we should forget shopping since
we will be able to download our clothes. Also, the car
factory Audi tool maker Hubert Waltl states that one of the
aims of his company is to use 3D printed metal parts for
regular car production (https://www.audi.com/en/career/
working-world/3d-printing.html).
Besides the use in different industries, 3D printing is
gradually finding its way into education and modeling.
The final 3D printed object is representing a learning path
where students travel from an abstract idea to a realistic,
useful, and applicable product.
In this paper, as a concept, we present our observations
of the use of 3D printing in hybrid classroom environment
trialed during the pandemic, where students have lessons
in a hybrid format, both online and in person. The new
educational settings that were established due to the
pandemic, opened many possibilities for the different
approaches in teaching mathematical content. In a short
period of time there were many challenges, and we decided
to observe the use of 3D printing in the hybrid classroom
to take a clear picture of the benefits of this innovative
approach. We have collected notes, students’ comments
and results that were informative in constructing a clear
picture of 3D printing applications for hybrid classrooms,
where activities connected to 3D printing were helpful
for students to transfer from theoretical to practical
knowledge, as well from online to real classroom settings.
Using 3D printing technology students had an opportunity
to observe the products of their knowledge and work.
2 Aim of the study
Following the research literature, we found the motivation
to describe our experience and contribute this to the
classroom practice. We considered that it would be
helpful to the teachers to learn from our experience how
to use 3D printing in the classroom. This paper presents
initial ideas and resources and the basis for applying this
tool in classrooms, and it can be a good starting point
in researching the learning of mathematical concepts
through 3D modeling. Our idea was to listen to the voice
of students to observe if the application of 3D printing
in learning mathematical concepts would be motivating
and worth applying in classrooms. In this paper, we are
describing the concept of the use of 3D printers in our
*Corresponding author: Natalija Budinski, Petro Kuzmjak school,
Ruski Krstur, Serbia, E-mail: nbudinski@yahoo.com
Zsolt Lavicza, Johannes Kepler University, Linz, Austria
Tony Houghton, University of Essex, United Kingdom
Open Access. © 2022 Natalija Budinski, Zsolt Lavicza, Tony Houghton, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.