Photo: GEM students working (photo credit: GEM)
在许多大学校园里, after listening to conversations around the coffee pot, you begin to notice a trend in faculty comments: students aren’t prepared in math and physics, they spend too much time on ________ (fill in whatever the latest technology of the day is), and are not motivated to understand the way the world behaves using 500-year-old equations with arrows, 点, 十字架, 等.
Photo: 在科普实验室工作的GEM学生 (photo credit: GEM)
不过, teachers always want to inspire students to learn and help develop their technical and non-technical skills. At 加州大学洛杉矶分校, we believe this begins with meeting our students where they are. 作为老师, we are asking two fundamentally important questions: “What are 加州大学洛杉矶分校 students’ unique strengths, and how should their strengths impact our teaching?”
We know that 加州大学洛杉矶分校 students are more engaged with their family and community, 对帮助别人更感兴趣, and have more diverse life experiences than any group of students we have worked with. 作为老师, we want to use these strengths to build engineering and science skills. But how to use these strengths was not obvious.
图片:BOOST学生在工作 El Arca 社区计划(图片来源:GEM)
Working with engineering students performing a series of community projects, a path began to emerge. 学生 were proactively volunteering to create outdoor structures for preschool students, 洛杉矶动物收容所的存储系统, planters for individuals with developmental disabilities, 以及当地基督教青年会的操场设备. 学生 volunteered to complete these projects through my “Introduction to Mechanical Design” course and through the 科普 BOOST Program. BOOST以城市为中心, design-focused service-learning projects that students volunteer to undertake during their critical transition between freshman and sophomore years.
Working alongside students on these projects, I began to understand how we can use our students’ strengths to prepare them to become the next generation of engineers and scientists. The power of combining community partnership with engineering and science education has become the seed of a new 科普 initiative: 影响拉– Increasing Momentum through Partnerships and Community Transformation in Los Angeles.
Photo: GEM students working on Pine Tree Preschool 社区计划(图片来源:GEM)
The goal of 影响拉 is to harness our student’s inclination to give back to their community and use this inclination to help them develop as engineering and technology professionals. 影响拉 has both extra-curricular and curricular components. Our extra-curricular activities include the BOOST Program and the Golden Eagle Makers (GEM) club. 自2023年春天成立以来, GEM has grown into a diverse and dynamic group of approximately 20 dedicated interdisciplinary students who work together with local community organizations to improve people’s lives.
图片:创业板学生，博士. Bachman-North Central Animal Shelter project (photo credit: GEM)
在俱乐部成立的头10个月里, GEM与当地一家幼儿园合作, 动物收容所, 治安部门, 圣地南加州, Tikkun Olam Makers, 以及K-12课后项目. See the team in action in their regular postings on Instagram.
影响拉’s curricular component is a sequence of three one-unit courses open to all students who wish to engage in human-centered design to create solutions to problems identified by their community. 在第一道菜中, “以人为本的社区设计”,“学生们 identify a need on campus; learn to use interviews, 焦点小组, and surveys to understand stakeholder needs; and then work together to develop a solution.
在第二道菜中, “建立你的社区,“学生们, with the assistance of the faculty and peer mentors, identify partners in the community and apply the human-centered design skills learned in the previous course. 学生 also learn fabrication and manufacturing skills needed for their project, 包括编程, 应用程序设计, 电路建模, 微处理器, 加工, 和焊接. 学生 can then choose to take the third course, “通过指导加强社区,” and become a team advisor for the prior courses.
Photo: GEM students community project for Shriner's Hospital (photo credit: GEM)
Our first piloted course launches in spring 2024. 祝我们好运! Or feel free to join us if you have LA-based organizations to connect us with, 设计技巧分享, or resources at your or your company’s disposal that can help with our projects.
If you wish to learn more or get involved with any of these activities, 请直接联系我(电子邮件保护)). 我们了解整个科普社区, 包括校友和朋友, are continually dedicated to “committing to excellence and engaging with community,我们希望你能参与进来!