STEM Sparks November 2025
Supporting the Effective Use of School Makerspaces for Science and Engineering Education: The NTLS Microscope Prototyping System
The National Technology Leadership Society (NTLS) is a coalition of twelve national educational technology associations and was established to advance effective use of technology for teaching and learning. The International Technology and Engineering Educators Association (ITEEA) is a founding member. The NTLS 3D-Printed Microscope is part of a broader initiative aimed at supporting the effective use of school makerspaces for science and engineering education. This NTLS initiative includes the establishment of an open-source peer-reviewed Educational CAD Model Library (www.CADLibrary.org).
A key goal of the project is to help students develop a deeper understanding of scientific concepts by designing and fabricating scientific tools and instruments. This process can encourage creativity and strengthen problem-solving skills (Ferretti, 2019). The components of the NTLS Microscope and associated instructional resources are available in the CAD Library (Watts & Bull, 2025).
The NTLS Microscope is a microscope design prototyping system intended to provide students with foundational skills that will enable them to design their own enhancements that build on the basic framework provided.
The strategy of purchasing the optical elements of the microscope and 3D-printing the mechanical components like the barrel and focus mechanism made it possible to fabricate a microscope for considerable savings in comparison with its commercial counterpart.
The 3D-printed microscope project was designed as part of a larger initiative to make teacher-validated and tested CAD models available to the educational community via the NTLS Educational CAD Library. A primary potential benefit is an improved understanding of microscope design and fabrication by technology and engineering students. The ability to subsequently use these scientific tools to enhance science classes is an added benefit.
This also can enable schools to extend the use of scarce resources Broken microscopes are sometimes set aside in school storerooms because the cost of shipping and repair can exceed the replacement cost. In those cases, the lens can be removed and used as the lens for an NTLS Microscope. A further advantage is that if a 3D-printed microscope breaks, a replacement part can be printed.
ITEEA has played a leading role in this initiative, working in conjunction with other national education associations who are members of NTLS. The educational materials and resources developed through these collaborations will be made available to ITEEA members through publication in the Educational CAD Model Library (CAD Library). The CAD Library is an opensource peer-reviewed repository of educational CAD models jointly developed by ITEEA in collaboration with peer associations affiliated with the National Technology Leadership Society (NTLS). Ultimately the goal is to provide technology and engineering students participating in this curriculum with authentic design and fabrication experiences that directly benefit the student as well as their school.
Read the full article, including Microscope Components, A Framework for Collaboration and Design, Computer-Controlled Microscopes and more!