Teaching and Learning

I was encouraged by reading “A Tiny Engineering College Shakes Up Teaching” in the recent Chronicle of Higher Ed.  It ran under the banner: Can Innovation Stick?

Withing the framing discussion of the obstacles and strategies of change within teaching methods, the article talked about the approach at Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering; a test- bed for teaching innovation; being founded 11 years ago specifically to improve the way engineering is taught.

Being an advocate of project-based teaching and discovery, I was encouraged by the the paths they are forging. For example:

Students design and conduct experiments to determine the structure, composition, and properties of items like a bicycle helmet or a razor. They must also research historical versions of the object, and construct a thesis on the intended purpose, cultural significance, and social and environmental impacts of both the present-day and historical artifacts.

The open-ended and multifaceted nature of the exercise is typical of Olin's approach. Trying, failing, and eventually succeeding at solving complex problems of their own choosing helps students understand content and gain confidence that they don't get from receiving a check-plus on a problem set, says Brett A. Rowley, a senior at Olin.

"The world is not a problem set that's in the back of the book," says Mr. Rowley, who transferred from Carnegie Mellon University. "The world is fuzzy and hard, and there are lots of dead ends. Olin is like that for four years."

And, I liked this:

Three tenets should ideally underlie any change, Ms. Townsend says. The first is to help students be intrinsically motivated. The second is to use project-based learning effectively. The third is to think about curriculum through user-centered design. "You can't design your curriculum until you know who your users are and what they value," she says.

As a footnote, one of the comments following the online article reads:

"I have to throw in a mention of Olin's library. Very innovative place, clearly designed with the same student-centered and project-based mindset that seems to be the hallmark of the college. They had lots of materials on hand that students could use for creating and building. Olin's library stands out (for this librarian) in terms of aligning almost perfectly with the mission and culture of its parent institution."

Food for thought, if not action.