Padlet Post #3: Engineering Design Cycle

This is third of a three-part blog post series on the use of Padlet during distance learning. This post DEFINITELY represents something I am very excited about and I sense is working very well: capturing student work during an engineering design cycle in the distance learning format.

Using the "Shelf" option in Padlet, I set up various columns for students to post evidence of progress as they iterate on projects in my engineering class. For example, two weeks ago students worked on a cycle called "Olga" where they imagined and the designed (via CAD) solutions for a character, Olga, from a Little House on the Prairie episode who was born with one leg longer than the other. Click here for the edited video clip I provided students which served as the prompt for the project.

Before students began the project I set up "Shelfs", one for each phase of the cycle. For this cycle, the four phases were as follows:

• Step 1: Rapid Drawing
• Step 2: Revised Drawing
• Step 3: CAD

By setting this format up via Padlet, students not only see their process emerge as they transition from imagining an idea to a CAD prototype, but they also see one another's ideas develop. The visible progress creates motivation because work can be critiqued throughout the cycle rather than hidden behind a Google Doc firewall.

Following the above project, students used a similar workflow to design a carrying case for my father's cochlear implant. In a fully remote format, the CAD model served as the final product.

The next engineering cycle used MakeyMakey circuits to build assistive technology controllers for people with physical disabilities. Because this work moved beyond CAD into physical prototyping, the Padlet added more columns to capture evidence from each phase.