Is there any way to make math fun? Andreas Kaiser believes 3D printed puzzles are the way forward, especially if students can make their own.

Andreas Kaiser has always had an interest in puzzles. However, he truly found the use for them while teaching math at a high school.

He wrote on an Ultimaker blog post: “Every single one of my 100+ students had failed their last math class, and most had never passed a math class in their lives. They were convinced that they would always hate math, and I was starting to believe them.”

However, one day he decided to bring in his puzzles. It’s then, he says, that things changed. Every student was interested and worked together to solve the puzzles. Ever since this breakthrough moment, Kaiser has been using puzzles with all of this students.

Kaiser recently challenged his engineering students to 3D print their own puzzle. The results were impressive.

Students Play ‘Escape the Room’ with 3D Printed Puzzles

Kaiser explains: “We had just gotten our new Ultimaker 2 3D printer, and I thought it would be a great way to practice their new CAD skills and test out the printer.”

Kaiser asked his students to choose one of his puzzles to duplicate. The students then created drawings by hand and used a caliper to measure the parts.

They used Autodesk Inventor to model the pieces. The students then created an assembly file to ensure that everything would fit together before they began 3D printing.

Rather than simply recreating the puzzles, students modified the design and created their own ideas. One team even created a Cryptex, the puzzle box from the Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.

However, Kaiser adds that they ran out of time before printing all of the models. But this isn’t the end for his puzzles. He adds that he has partnered with two math teachers. They hope to have math and engineering students join forces to create an “escape the room” project.

This involves engineering students creating 3D puzzles boxes that house secret codes which the math students design. Each code divulges a clue needed to escape the room… Who said math can’t be fun?

Source: Ultimaker