From Making to Micro-Manufacture

‘All Together Now’ - Integrating Horizontal Skills in CareerTechnical Education Classes with Making and Micro-manufacturing

“…'Making through Micro-Manufacturing' (M3) for Horizontal Learning 'Making through Micro-Manufacturing' (M3) is a production model that provides a framework of how the flexibility of customization that comes with Making can be married with the concerns of production engineering 7,8,35,36 . For this work, we use M3 as a framework to unify the various works we have covered earlier to explain our pedagogical model for our present study.…”

“…In this paper, we seek to understand how to design a horizontally integrated CTE learning curriculum so to create generative scenarios where students can apply a broad array of skills for flexible, small-scale production environments. Our curriculum examines how students are given various projects to complete, based on the mix of Making aligned concepts (i.e., basic electronics, digital fabrication tools, and programming) and manufacturing/production concepts (i.e., manufacturing systems, productions schedules, and production management); all this based upon the M3 production model 7,8,9 . To support the design of such a curriculum, we will follow a de-scaffolding approach 10 , whereby students are given various projects to complete, initially supported by the research team through prepared materials (based on the aforementioned concepts) and offer direct support during projects; this support characterized as a kind of scaffolding for students to participate in the projects.…”