Vision
& Philosophy
Peer teaching...concept maps...metacognitive instruction...
It's not surprising if these pedagogical terms aren't
familiar to the typical engineer. "Engineering and education
have no historical connection," says Picker
Engineering Program director Domenico
Grasso. "In the past, engineering faculty were chosen
on the basis of scholarship, even if they had no experience
in education. They had to learn on the job."
The
new vision, says Grasso, "is to treat engineering
education as a form of scholarship."
At
Smith, the engineering program has teamed up with the departments
of education and educational outreach to develop a new approach.
Picker Engineering Program faculty members are making fundamental
changes in what they teach and how they teach it.
The
Picker Program's curriculum includes a rigorous engineering
plan of study integrated with the liberal arts. That approach,
says Ford Motor Visiting Professor of Engineering Education
Glenn Ellis,
"helps
our graduates become engineers who understand their impact
on society."
To
teach most effectively, he says, engineering faculty are drawing
on best practices in education.
The
partnership is two-way: the Picker Program provides Department
of Education & Child Study faculty with tools for integrating
engineering into K-12 education and for developing a more technically
literate society.
