Associate Professor Dr. Marli White teaches human anatomy and physiology at Collin College. In 2017, she decided to figure out a way to give her students more hands-on experience.
“In my class, students have to do two lab reports, and I wanted to explore another avenue where they could work together and do a group project that could take the place of one of these lab reports,” White said.
She decided to seek the help of Collin Associate Professor Val Curry, who teaches art appreciation and helps run the makerspaces at the Plano Campus (Spring Creek). Together the two combined arts and sciences to create a prosthetic hand using the makerspace.
Collin College libraries had begun implementing makerspaces that year as well. Makerspaces are collaborative work spaces that use high-tech tools to facilitate learning, making, and exploring.
White said she was fascinated by the spaces and saw all the learning possibilities they would bring to Collin. She began to think of ways to use the spaces that would be helpful to her students.
Curry said he was excited to share his knowledge and experience with his colleague to develop something practical and relevant.
“I have a BFA in sculpture and an MFA in Arts and Technology,” Curry said. “My personal work has always centered around material research, biology, and technology (traditional and digital fabrication tools). Those three areas have been the domain of scientists, which is why it is such an exciting time to be alive now, since we have access to affordable and accessible tools.”
Together, White and Curry created a prosthetic hand using the 3D printers in the makerspaces located in the libraries at the McKinney Campus and the Plano Campus.
The prosthesis they created is designed to help people with missing fingers. They used a design from Thingiverse, a website dedicated to sharing user-created digital design files for 3D printers, laser cutters, and more.
White said the collaboration between arts and sciences opens the doors to endless possibilities.
“Most discoveries are made by people outside their disciplines or people who have exposure to other disciplines,” she said. “When we collaborate with other disciplines, I find it interesting to see what they are all about. Today’s students need to be able to work together as an effective, functional team. You never know what you can take away from a new discipline to expand and improve your own discipline – or your personal premises.”
White said she hopes to have her students use the makerspace more, as it would give them more hands-on experience. She also said she hopes more professors in other disciplines will take advantage of the tools available at any of the Collin makerspaces.
“Makerspaces are great in that they function as creative hubs. They provide tools, technologies, and access to open-source information,” Curry said. “These resources are accessible and versatile and can be adapted to any discipline. I see them as a way to extend the classroom. Being hands-on environments, they offer students and faculty learning opportunities that complement the traditional theory.”