CAD and COVID-19

Today I began a unit on Computer-Aided Design (CAD) with my engineering students. Because a background in CAD was not a prerequisite for the class, but many of the students have expertise given various roles on our school's competitive FRC Robotics Team (Ellipse 6814), my goal was to curate resources and develop a learning cycle that could engage all students. Below is the workflow for this unit that I plan to implement with the goal of continuing to use the current COVID-19 Pandemic as a lens.

• Step #1: Survey student experience with CAD using this form. See responses here.
• Step #2: Curate resources for students to obtain basic skills in a chose CAD program. Click here for Padlet board with resources for students to choose.
• Step #3: Challenge students to use new skills to perform a simple, yet specific CAD task that beginners would find accessible, and experienced students could amplify. See screenshots of images of products turned in today from a beginner (left) and a experienced student (right)

Picture	Picture

• Step #4: Ask students to read bout ways in which CAD (3D printing specifically) is being used during the COVID-19 Pandemic here and survey students about areas where CAD can be leveraged but are not observed in the article. See responses here.
• Step #5: Challenge students to use their newly acquired CAD skills to create a prototype to one of the ideas suggested above.