Abstract:

Design Thinking (DT) methodology was introduced in the early 70’s as a method to generate innovative ideas, focusing its effectiveness in bringing solutions to customers’ real needs. This methodology comes from the way whereby product designers work, and it can be considered as a tool to foster educative innovation in an effective way, attending to the use of technologies and economic viability.

Although DT is commonly used by large corporations, in order to match up customers’ needs to what is technologically factible, and to what a viable business strategy is able to put in value for the customer, that is, bringing an opportunity for market, its implicit capacity to generate innovation allows it to be used in other fields, for example in education.

DT can be brought to a classroom, either to develop a science project or a technology project, as an example. Taking into account the learning-teaching process, this methodology makes students to be main characters of their own learning process, being part of a community, leading to interactions with their classmates and with the society. Considering teachers, DT brings a range of tools to allow them to create efficient learning environments, that lead students to learn how to learn.

The NMC Horizon Report 2017 examines the potential impact of emerging technologies and its use in education and learning. This study refers to adaptive learning technologies, as well as to the teacher’s role change both in universities and colleges. According to this document, these educational institutions will be able to use technological tools to implement DT. 3D printers are currently one of the most used tools to create prototypes that show educational concepts. Since its use is increasing more and more, its combination with DT in the classroom provides an interesting way to make students learn by thinking and creating.

The intrinsic complexity of some subjects, as well as some concepts during learning stage, put the DT and additive manufacturing binomial in the view point to let students use their creativity and reasoning. This paper explains how DT and 3D printing can be used as a tool to explain first-year university students the crank-connecting rod mechanism and its applications to engineering purposes. DT methodology was employed to design the mechanism, by means of a computer aided design software, taking into account one of the possible application of this machinery.

Keywords:

Design Thinking, additive manufacturing, 3D printing, crank-connecting rod mechanism.