  An overview concerning 3D printing (a.k.a. additive manufacturing) within the
context of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education
at the college/university level is provided. The vast majority of quoted papers
report self-made models for which faculty members and their students have
created the necessary 3D print files themselves by various routes. The
prediction by the Gartner consulting company that it will take more than ten
years from July 2014 onwards for Classroom 3D Printing to reach its Plateau of
Productivity in one of their hallmark Visibility versus Time (Hype Cycle)
graphs is critically assessed. The bibliography of this book chapter sums up
the state-of-the art in 3D printing for STEM (including nano-science and
nano-engineering) education at the college level approximately four years after
Gartner's prediction. Current methodologies and best practices of college-level
Classroom 3D printing are described in the main section of this review.
Detailed information is given mainly for those papers in which the authors of
this book chapter are authors and co-authors. A straightforward route from
crystallographic information framework files (CIFs) at a very large open-access
database to 3D print files for atomic-level crystal and molecule structure
models is described here in some detail. Because the development of
methodologies and best practices are typical activities of the penultimate
stage of a Hype Cycle, we conclude that (i) Gartner's prediction underestimates
the creativity, resourcefulness, and commitment of college educators to their
students and that (ii) Classroom 3D Printing will be a widespread reality
significantly earlier than the middle of the next decade (at least in the USA
as more than one half of the relevant/quoted papers originated there). An
appendix provides a brief technical review of contemporary 3D printing
techniques.
