Message from Jose Macedo, Chair

Taking Learn by Doing to the Next Level

What's afoot in our classes and labs is truly remarkable. It exemplifies a new generation of Learn by Doing, which includes a distinct Innovate by Doing approach to engineering education.

This newsletter issue features a sampling of how our department is teaching and reaching students in fresh and exciting ways.

• Foundry-founder Martin Koch has perfected a blend of Learn by Doing and Innovate by Doing. In the foundry, also known as Net Shape Lab, about 350 freshmen each year experience hands-on metal casting – a vital manufacturing skill in California and the United States. They start by casting a small work of art, such as a medallion, metal coaster or even a chocolate bar, which invariably inspires a "Yes, I can make cool things" moment. They enjoy, as freshmen, the kind of hands-on, real-world moment that their counterparts in many other universities won't experience until their senior or graduate years, if then.

• Some of our classrooms are being turned "inside out" – which is to say classrooms aren't for lectures anymore. It means students who have already watched – and perhaps re-watched – the lecture on their laptop or iPod, from the comfort of home ... or wherever. So by the time they enter class, they're ready to solve problems, and discuss and apply what they've learned. For a generation of students who grew up in a digital world, accessing lectures "virtually" is a natural extension of how they access and assimilate knowledge. Cal Poly IME is among the nation's top schools experimenting with this model, and it's putting us at the fore of engineering education research. It will be a topic at the ASEE Conference, which Cal Poly hosts April 19-21.

• Three new classes combine facilities engineering, simulation and process improvement, and work measurement. They are not only multidisciplinary, they embrace multi-level proficiencies as well. Teams are a mix of sophomores and seniors, which creates near-peer mentor and leadership roles for the upper classmen; and, for their younger cohorts, provides guidance, modeling and the opportunity to see the learning continuum – how their basic knowledge can grow into advanced applications within a couple of short years.

And that's just a few of the ways we are doing, innovating and leading. Be sure to visit us during Open House, April 12-14.

Jose Macedo

Return to the Winter 2012 Newsletter.