research-article

Inclusion and Education: 3D Printing for Integrated Classrooms

Authors:

William Easley,

Samantha McDonald,

Amy HurstAuthors Info & Claims

ASSETS '15: Proceedings of the 17th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility

Pages 281 - 290

https://doi.org/10.1145/2700648.2809844

Published: 26 October 2015 Publication History

Abstract

Over 60% of adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) in the U.S. are unemployed; this is more than twice the unemployment rate of the general population [19]. Of the adults with ID who are employed, only half receive competitive wages alongside co-workers without disabilities. While the enactment of IDEA [20] has helped to promote access to education for people with ID and other disabilities, there are still obstacles to employment. Misconceptions about ability and lack of opportunities to learn and practice employability skills contribute to this problem.

Our research explores employability and integration through the lens of 3D printing, an innovative technology touted as a means to self-employment. We successfully taught young adults with intellectual disabilities many technical skills required for 3D printing through an integrated, post-secondary course on 3D printing for entrepreneurship. In this paper we report on our methods for designing this course and discuss the benefits, challenges, and strategies for teaching 3D printing to an integrated cohort of students. We offer recommendations for educators and describe technology obstacles unique to this user demographic, and the impact of integrated, postsecondary courses on employment outcomes for students with ID.

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Cited By

Higgins EOliver ZHamidi F(2025)Supporting Campus Activism through Creating DIY-AT in a Social Justice Aligned MakerspaceACM Transactions on Accessible Computing10.1145/371596518:2(1-25)Online publication date: 31-Jan-2025
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3715965
Szechyńska-Hebda MHebda MDoğan-Sağlamtimur NLin W(2024)Let’s Print an Ecology in 3D (and 4D)Materials10.3390/ma1710219417:10(2194)Online publication date: 7-May-2024
https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17102194
Domingos Dias WSoares JCorrêa Guimarães LEspinosa Martínez NRamos Luz Tda Costa Soares Sousa Lima YHuebner R(2024)Exploring additive manufacturing in assistive technologies to transform the educational experience: empowering inclusionJournal of Complexity in Health Sciences10.21595/chs.2024.241197:2(81-94)Online publication date: 8-Sep-2024
https://doi.org/10.21595/chs.2024.24119
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Inclusion and Education: 3D Printing for Integrated Classrooms
1. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing profession
      1. Assistive technologies
  2. User characteristics
    1. People with disabilities

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cover image ACM Conferences

ASSETS '15: Proceedings of the 17th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers & Accessibility

October 2015

466 pages

ISBN:9781450334006

DOI:10.1145/2700648

General Chair:
Yeliz Yesilada
Middle East Technical University Northern Cyprus Campus
,
Program Chair:
Jeffrey P. Bigham
Carnegie Mellon University, USA

Copyright © 2015 ACM.

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

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SIGACCESS: ACM Special Interest Group on Accessible Computing

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 26 October 2015

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National Science Foundation

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ASSETS '15

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ASSETS '15: The 17th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility

October 26 - 28, 2015

Lisbon, Portugal

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Cited By

Higgins EOliver ZHamidi F(2025)Supporting Campus Activism through Creating DIY-AT in a Social Justice Aligned MakerspaceACM Transactions on Accessible Computing10.1145/371596518:2(1-25)Online publication date: 31-Jan-2025
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3715965
Szechyńska-Hebda MHebda MDoğan-Sağlamtimur NLin W(2024)Let’s Print an Ecology in 3D (and 4D)Materials10.3390/ma1710219417:10(2194)Online publication date: 7-May-2024
https://doi.org/10.3390/ma17102194
Domingos Dias WSoares JCorrêa Guimarães LEspinosa Martínez NRamos Luz Tda Costa Soares Sousa Lima YHuebner R(2024)Exploring additive manufacturing in assistive technologies to transform the educational experience: empowering inclusionJournal of Complexity in Health Sciences10.21595/chs.2024.241197:2(81-94)Online publication date: 8-Sep-2024
https://doi.org/10.21595/chs.2024.24119
Suchanek OMeissner JAngelini RSpiel K(2024)From Participation to Solidarity: A Case Study on Access of Maker Spaces from Deaf and Hearing Perspectives: Von Partizipation zu Solidarität: Eine Fallstudie zur Zugänglichkeit von Makerspaces aus Gehörloser und Hörender PerspektiveProceedings of Mensch und Computer 202410.1145/3670653.3670670(140-155)Online publication date: 1-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3670653.3670670
Mathur JMiller SSimpson TMeisel N(2024)Using virtual reality to orient parts for additive manufacturing and its effects on manufacturability and experiential outcomesAdditive Manufacturing10.1016/j.addma.2024.10442194(104421)Online publication date: Aug-2024
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addma.2024.104421
Borgos-Rodriguez KPiper A(2023)Understanding Participation among Disabled Creators in Online MarketplacesProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36101057:CSCW2(1-28)Online publication date: 4-Oct-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3610105
Li MAflatoony L(2023)A Parametric Design Tool to Support Customized Adaptations of Assistive Technologies for People with Hand ImpairmentsProceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility10.1145/3597638.3614492(1-4)Online publication date: 22-Oct-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3597638.3614492
Higgins EOliver ZHamidi F(2023)Towards a Social Justice Aligned Makerspace: Co-designing Custom Assistive Technology within a University EcosystemProceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility10.1145/3597638.3608393(1-13)Online publication date: 22-Oct-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3597638.3608393
Easley WHurst AMentis HHamidi F(2023)Youths' Usage of an Informal Chatting Tool in an After-school 3D Print ShopProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/35795947:CSCW1(1-20)Online publication date: 16-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3579594
Hamidi FEasley WHurst A(2023)A Quantitative Study of Youth Employees' Use of an Informal Chatting Tool at a Workforce Training Program2023 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)10.1109/FIE58773.2023.10343221(01-08)Online publication date: 18-Oct-2023
https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE58773.2023.10343221
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