First Year Engineering Assistive Technology Design Module
The challenge: Develop a three-week module for a first-year engineering design course (+800 students) where they can be introduced to 3D-modelling and rapid prototyping technology
Design Team: Me, module instructors, occupational therapist and a client who lived with limited mobility
Videos from some of the project in 2017 and 2018
The approach: The module and the course were designed based on the Team-Based Learning (TBL) methodology
- Chose assistive technology as the theme for the module
- Identified the learning objectives (LOs) for the module based on the course’s LOs
- Designed a project in an area of assistive technology students could complete in 3 weeks
- Brought in the stakeholder inputs for those projects using video recordings
- Developed the lectures and tutorials where students did very interactive exercise for their projects and also to learn more about 3D-modelling and rapid prototyping
Key learning or insights: Less is more – really giving time and allowing the students to dig deep creates a more positive learning experience. Being intentional on creating connections and flow between the different sessions is appreciated.
The impact of findings: This last year the third cohort of engineering students completed this module – that is approximately 2500 first year engineering students who have used rapid prototyping technologies and 3D modeling to develop an assistive technology.
My specific role: I was the curriculum designer for the module. I worked closely with the teaching team, the project stakeholders, the tutorial instructors, and students to develop this module and improve it.