Sustainable Prototyping Challenges in Digital Fabrication Design Education

Abstract

Education in digital fabrication design involves an active learning environment where ideas are transformed into prototypes. The way design activities are carried out and the kinds of outputs are all impacted by this environment. Knowledge concerning sustainability practices and how it affects students' learning and skill acquisition is scarce. Therefore, the main goal of this study was to examine and evaluate learners' sustainability practices and educational experience in a digital fabrication class. A seven-week first-year university course covered the fundamentals of design and digital fabrication, including electronics design, embedded programming, 2D design, and 3D design. Students were encouraged to create and implement their own ideas by designing and building a physical prototype that interacts with its surroundings. They worked in teams and were required to document their process on a weekly basis. The documentation and the final design prototype were the main deliverables of the course. Sustainability requirements were integrated as evaluation criteria, including the use of sustainable materials, reusing components, building instead of buying, and easy-to-reuse project components. Data collected from student documentation, surveys, and prototypes were analysed to identify sustainable practices and learning aspects. Findings showed that sustainability as a process and sustainability about the final prototype should be addressed differently. This requires timely actions on sustainability by both students and instructors. Intervention programs should be aware of sustainability issues in digital fabrication without compromising design education, iterative prototyping, and learning.

Learning in a digital fabrication course on building tangible artefacts

“…However, the potential for open-ended idea generation and realization in educational contexts through digital fabrication is yet to be fully explored. Georgiev and Milara (2018) discuss the challenge of aligning the difficulty level of students' ideas with their current skill sets, while Suero Montero et al (2020) advocate for a student-centred approach that prioritizes the pursuit of students' own ideas. In navigating these challenges, teachers play a crucial role, as emphasized by Pitkänen and Andersen (2018).…”

“…However, the combination of open-ended ideation and the use of digital tools to realize complex designs has not been thoroughly explored. Various approaches have been suggested, such as balancing technical difficulty and capabilities (Georgiev and Milara, 2018), or incorporating student-led ideas (Suero Montero et al, 2020). Research has also investigated the teaching requirements for design based on tools and project types, which can affect the number of iterations (Iwata et al, 2020).…”