Join us for a peek inside the unique curriculum creation and delivery process at Olin College in this series of developmental sessions based on some of our signature courses. In this series of 90-minute virtual sessions, educators will experience the Olin approach to creating a course that puts students at the center of their learning experience. Each session features Olin faculty who will share their design process, project-based class activities, and the pedagogies used in Olin courses.

All individual sessions are free! Special packages for access to recordings if you are not available for the live session, or would like to distribute the sessions to a broader audience at your institution through your faculty development program or center for teaching and learning.

What sessions are offered in this program?

February 17, 2021 • 11:30 am - 1:00 pm (EST)

Let’s get interdisciplinary: Developing and running “Six Microbes that Changed the World” – a course at the interface of science and society

In this talk, Olin instructors Jean Huang and Rob Martello will introduce their interdisciplinary course, Six Microbes that Changed the World, and will explain their motivations, design process, and implementation strategies. The talk will include discussions of other interdisciplinary courses at Olin, as well as some of the broader approaches and outcomes related to interdisciplinary integration.

-- Rob Martello | Jean Huang

February 25, 2021 • 10:00 am - 11:30 am (EST)

Identity Development in Emerging Adults: Who Are We Working With?

This workshop will introduce participants to psychological perspectives on identity development in late adolescence and early adulthood. A framing lecture will provide foundational knowledge for hands-on activities aimed at fostering a developmental perspective about our students.

-- Jonathan Adler

March 03, 2021 • 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm (EST)

How to Critique

We’ll explore and try out resources designed to help people give and receive effective critique in order to improve their work, their process and their workplace. We’ll also look at examples and discuss how to introduce critique into a class or studio.

-- Tim Ferguson Sauder

March 12, 2021 • 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm (EST)

Leveraging Smartphone Sensor Apps in Quantitative Engineering Classes

Building physical intuition around abstract concepts in mechanics, differential equations, and frequency domain analysis is a challenge in foundational engineering classes. This challenge is amplified in remote settings or in very large classes where access to laboratory setups is limited. In the Quantitative Engineering Analysis course stream at Olin College, we leverage the powerful sensor suite in modern smartphones to create a series of accessible hands-on learning experiences that range from introductory exercises to synthesis projects. In this session, we will introduce the various sensors available in modern smartphones, the apps we use to access and export this data, and example exercises we use in our courses. In particular, we will focus on using the gyroscopes and accelerometers in the phone to explore angular velocity, oscillatory motion, and the Fourier transform. We will also present a “Wearable Sensors” inspired project where students generate value for a user group by collecting, processing, and interpreting motion data from their phones.

-- Jeff Dusek | Melinda Malley

March 19, 2021 • 11:00 am - 12:30 pm (EST)

Doing Good in the World: Raising ecological consciousness in engineering education through contemplative pedagogies

Contemplative pedagogies create opportunities for greater connection, awareness, and insight by connecting knowledge to practice and self to context – practices that are increasingly important in today’s interconnected globalized world. Participants in this workshop will experientially understand how contemplative pedagogies such as meditation in a classroom context, beholding, and reflection can be used to promote ecological consciousness in engineering education.

-- Yevgeniya Zastavker | Madhvi Venkatesh

March 23, 2021, 12:00 pm - 1:30pm (EST)

Learning and Identity as Exploration, Participation, and Pathways

Students are not just in school to learn; they are also doing the real work of constructing an emerging adult identity. As educators we care about student learning and identity development, although we often only explicitly concern ourselves with the former. Yet the two are inextricably linked, and thus we have an inherent interest in how our pedagogies are enabling or hindering for both. This workshop will examine the dynamic connections between learning and identity development, drawing on perspectives from personality psychology (narrative and status models) and social learning theory (communities of practice). In doing so, the workshop is grounded in approaches that challenge the role of normative classroom pedagogies. Participants will discuss communities of practice common to educators and students and consider pedagogical strategies to foster exploration, participation, and pathways to support student identity development.

-- Jonathan Adler | Scott Hersey | Benjamin Linder

March 29, 2021 • 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm (EST)

Sustainable Design: Equipping Students to Engage for Change - From eco-design to generative organizational design

We are engaging and inspiring students to bring forth a more socially and environmentally just (flourishing) world through a novel approach to sustainable design, significantly impacting their life choices and career pathways. We will share a project-based approach, based on 15 years of experience, for equipping students with mindsets, principles, and practices, from eco-design for realizing product-service-systems to generative organizational design.

-- Benjamin Linder | Tess Edmonds

April 01, 2021 • 10:00 am - 11:30 am (EST)

Projects with Purpose: Telling Stories About Why You Care

Olin is increasingly focused on understanding and sharing how personal and institutional values can inspire and motivate our work. This workshop offers creative, scaffolded ways for participants to access and distill why they care about their work. Participants will leave with an integrated story about their personal stakes in an individual or team project, as well as with prompts and tools to help colleagues and students do the same.

-- Jonathan Adler | Gillian Epstein

April 9, 2021 • 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm (EST)

Biomimicry: Engaging Students in Design Inspired by Nature - A model for integrating engineering and the natural sciences for sustainability

From studying a leaf to make a better solar cell to emulating natural processes to develop living buildings, the discipline of Biomimicry emulates forms, processes, and ecosystems to facilitate innovation (Benyus). We will share our experiences developing and teaching biomimicry across disciplines including a skills-based framework for engaging students in the biomimicry design process with an emphasis on sustainability and creating conditions conducive to life.

-- Benjamin Linder | Jean Huang

April 14, 2021 • 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm (EST)

Making the Olin Shop: Culture, Space and Student Innovation

Olin College has re-imagined its Shop from a traditional, production-focused facility to an active learning environment. A large focus of the initiative is on student growth and development. This session will showcase how the Shop has integrated the College’s fabrication resources within the curriculum in a more meaningful manner and aligned with the college’s mission, which has increased accessibility of equipment and spaces and established a culture of safety and stewardship with the Olin community.

-- Daniela Faas

April 20, 2021 • 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm (EST)

Engineering Systems Analysis: A Multidisciplinary Approach to Mid-Level Engineering Courses

Both ECE and MechE programs typically offer linear system theory and feedback control in similar, yet separate courses; in contrast, we’ve built an integrated, multidisciplinary course that effectively covers these topics for students in both majors, satisfying prerequisites for advanced courses in either discipline. Taught in a studio setting, ESA (Engineering Systems Analysis) successfully integrates two subject-matter, specific-content courses—Signals and Systems (ECE) and Dynamics (ME)—into a single course that focuses on the development and application of general mathematical modeling and analysis tools to support the engineering design process, culminating in a robot stabilization project.

 -- Chris Lee | Diana Dabby

April 26, 2021 • 3:00 pm - 4:30 pm (EST)

Grand Challenges and Individual Reflections: GCSP and Bridging the Engineering/Humanities Divide

Olin College Professors Alison Wood and Rob Martello will share details of their course, “Change the World…”, with an emphasis upon its role in Olin’s Grand Challenges Scholars Program. This course is taken by engineering undergraduates interested in addressing larger issues throughout their lives and careers. We will talk about how we explore ethics, social issues, global context, the importance of personal reflection, and other topics through class discussions, scaffolded assignments, and individual and team projects.

-- Alison Wood | Rob Martello

Click the "Tickets" link on the right to register for as many sessions as you'd like.

We also offer a recorded package if you can't make the live sessions, and a deeper engagement package for institutions looking to add these session to their faculty development program.

Questions?

Contact us! engage@olin.edu