Making brings with it myriads of possibilities of learning and expression. The hands-on nature makes it a worthy candidate for implementing pedagogies centered on learning by doing. Further still, with Making not being confined to any particular field, it leaves open possibilities for Makers to express themselves however they like. With this as inspiration, we believe that making is a great way to broaden participation by broadening the contexts of engineering. Makers can engage in activities directed by their personal interests, and at the same time experience and learn from the core tenants of engineering.
For this project, we aim to make a game that embodies these ideas of broadening contexts and participation in engineering, and also showcases the humanistic side of engineering. Staying true to the aforementioned aspects of making i.e. learning and expression, players of the game would get to learn about different aspects of engineering, and at the same time be able to color their end products with their personal expressions.
All players will get to work with a game kit provided by us which they can put together however they like, making an end product related to engineering. They will be encouraged to think aloud as they work through the game, so we can help them articulate their thoughts better along the lines of the encouragement behind the game.
We will make the game kits at our in-house fabrication lab, using laser cutting, 3 D printing, paper plotting and other material available around the lab. As players complete their products, they’ll be encouraged to tweet/facebook with a particular hash tag to initiate and fuel conversation about making and the humanistic aspects of engineering.
Nicholas Jubelt is a Junior in electrical engineering technology at Purdue University. Outside of class, he mostly helps gather and analyze data with graduate students in engineering education. He works to make engineering a more diverse field. Nicholas is passionate about his work, and really enjoys working with pre-college students who may be interested in studying engineering. To gather interest in engineering, he works with modern technology, such as 3D printers, laser cutters, vinyl cutters and more. He envisions a world where engineering does not have one predominant face, but rather the faces of millions around the world.
Dr. Avneet Hira is an Assistant Professor in the Human-Centered Engineering Program and the Department of Teaching, Curriculum and Society (by courtesy) at Boston College.
Dr. Morgan Hynes is an Assistant Professor in the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University and Director of the FACE Lab research group at Purdue. In his research, Hynes explores the use of engineering to integrate academic subjects in K-12 cla
Are you a researcher? Would you like to cite this paper? Visit the ASEE document repository at peer.asee.org for more tools and easy citations.