- About the Lecture
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About the Lecture
Innovators from some of the nation’s top tech schools demonstrate their methods for making science and engineering education more engaging, if not fun.
At Tufts, Irene Georgakoudi hands out Legos to a freshman class on optics and lasers. While conveying properties of light and principles of laser operation, she hopes to excite students about physics and engineering. Teams design and build instruments out of Legos, and conduct experiments, gathering and recording data. Georgakoudi says with some sophisticated add-ons like motors, light sensors and control modules, Legos can “enhance understanding of basic concepts, promote creative thinking, provide practical experience with building and controlling instruments and promote teamwork.”
Shekhar Garde of RPI aims to feed the minds of an even younger audience. His Molecularium, an animated musical film introduction to the world of molecules, targets K-4 children. If this country is falling short in producing scientific and technological talent, Garde believes, we must convince kids that “atoms and molecules are amazing and interesting, and that it’s cool to learn about them.” Instead of a planetarium experience, Garde and colleagues focused on expanding the minuscule – water molecules, carbon atoms – and telling a story about the transformation of matter with cartoon characters. He’s hoping to move to an even bigger medium, IMAX film, with foundation help.
From her research studying how long air traffic controllers need to adapt to new technologies, Amy Pritchett figured that introducing novel technologies and methods to her institute peers would not be instantaneous. While many instructors have already developed technologies suited to their particular curriculum, other faculty remain completely uninterested. In her own industrial engineering course, students use a website for asynchronous dialogue to review each other’s designs. Pritchett believes what’s needed in the classroom is “not new technology but work processes,” especially those designed around cognition. Only by demonstrating that new technologies are effective and reliable in the classroom, and by showing how to implement new applications, will faculty want to sign on.
At the University of Michigan, Peter Chen has come up with an introduction to computing systems that allows first year students “to experience the joys of engineering,” harnessing both enthusiasm and creativity. His Microprocessors and Music course demands that students conceive a product, then design, build, test and report on it. In the process of creating music machines, students pick up the basics of digital logic, computer architecture and embedded systems. Chen “plays” some of these products, which, he says, gave students a sense of pride and accomplishment. The course yielded overwhelmingly positive reviews among students as well as deep interest in pursuing computer engineering careers.
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- About the Speakers
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About the Speakers
Moderator: Thomas L. Magnanti
Dean, MIT School of Engineering
Institute Professor Professor of Management Science and Electrical EngineeringThomas L. Magnanti has been an MIT faculty member since 1971. He was a founding co-director of MIT's industry-university collaborative research and educational program, Leaders for Manufacturing Program, and its on-campus off-campus graduate program, System Design and Management. He has previously served as head of the Management Science Area of the Sloan School of Management and as co-director of MIT's interdepartmental Operations Research Center.
Magnanti is editor of the journal, Operations Research, and currently serves on the Boards of the Ford Design Institute and Emptoris, Inc. He was a visiting scholar at the Harvard Business School and held visiting scientist appointments at Bell Laboratories and at GTE Laboratories.
Magnanti is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received master’s degrees in both Statistics (1969) and Mathematics (1971) from Stanford University, where he also received the doctorate in Operations Research (1972).Linda Abriola
Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Dean of the School of Engineering, Tufts University
Irene Georgakoudi
Assistant Professor Biomedical Engineering Department, Tufts University
Alan Cramb
Clark and Crossan Professor of Engineering and Dean, School of Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Shekhar Garde
Elaine and Jack S. Parker Career Development Professor, Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Don Giddens
Lawrence L. Gellerstedt, Jr. Chair in Bioengineering, and Dean, College of Engineering, Georgia Tech
Amy Pritchett '92, SM '94, SCD '97
Associate Professor of Cognitive Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and Industrial and Systems Engineering Departments, Georgia Tech
David C. Munson Jr.
Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Dean, College of Engineering, University of Michigan
Peter Chen
Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, College of Engineering, University of Michigan
- About the Host
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About the Host
iCampus
Video Player
Educational Technology Exemplars for US Schools of Engineering
- Moderator: Thomas L. Magnanti
- Linda Abriola
Irene Georgakoudi
Alan Cramb
Shekhar Garde
Don Giddens
Amy Pritchett '92, SM '94, SCD '97
David C. Munson Jr.
Peter Chen - December 1, 2006
- Running Time: 1:19:01
