Practice Report from Lachenzelg School (Zurich): Testing of a Laser Cutter Project in Cross-Grade Classes

Abstract

This paper describes the Advent project at Lachenzelg school in winter 2022. The goal was to continuously decorate a Christmas tree with personal creations. One to three secondary students per class should be able to participate. To achieve this, each class was supposed to choose their “Word of the Year 2022” during class council meetings. Subsequently, two ‘design representatives’ were selected from each class to graphically represent this word in a speech bubble and cut it out using a laser cutter. This process resulted in weather-resistant acrylic ornaments for the Christmas tree. Besides decorating the tree, the classes also explored other design possibilities with the laser cutter. This report sheds light on the process of this project and presents lessons learned.