Engineering a New Class in a New Space
For veteran teachers Kathy Finkenstadt and Brian Husted, teaching a new course in a new space during an unusual year is no small feat, but these two professionals are up to the challenge. They are teaching Engineering and Design Analysis, a full-year general elective. “The class not a science class and it is not a math class,” explains Husted. “Certainly, there are elements of each in the curriculum, but the focus is really on the process of solving a problem and understanding the needs of the customer/user.”
The class focuses on providing engineering principles in a project-based, collaborative space for 10-12th grade students of all abilities. The only prerequisite is the students need to have completed Algebra 1 as there is a level of math understanding needed. “The curriculum does a great job with ‘just in time’ instruction for when the students need a particular science understanding or mathematical tool to answer a question,” says Husted. “Often times the students are able to develop a list of what they need to know in order to solve the problem and identify for themselves where the gaps in their understanding are. This is a great mirror of the engineering industry where you are not necessarily an expert on everything and recognize that you need to seek additional information to come to a conclusion.”
The students work in teams, which can be challenging during this hybrid learning time. “Facilitating the teamwork and collaboration for the students virtually has been really difficult,” says Husted. “They are all trying to build the same thing, but in different homes. I have been really impressed with the work they have done and the level of detail they have been able to include.”
The class has focused on two different design/build projects – a portable camera obscura and a facemask. The students not only designed and built each, they created manuals for assembly. Here are two examples.
Being in the beautiful new Idea Lab inside the spacious Whitten Math & Sciences Center makes all the difference for this class. “The new building really facilitates the ability to even offer this class. We would have never had the space in the old building to accommodate the class. It also gave us the impetus to explore possibilities for new curricula knowing that we would have the IDEA lab and thinking about the opportunity for courses outside of the normal,” says Husted who is also keeping an eye out for how to grow this curriculum. “I do hope that this program will expand and that eventually we can offer an “Engineering 2” someday. We are trying to build some momentum for the new curriculum and in order to do this we need to get younger students enrolled so that they are still at Overlake for a future expansion.”