An Engineer's Guide to Holiday Traditions

Over the course of four weeks, students will grow in their abilities to:
-- Critically analyze a technical brief to generate informed engineering questions
-- Engage in engineering discussion designed to identify the most important parts of a given problem
-- Use technical analysis to evaluate the merits of diverse solutions
-- Identify impacts of a particular engineering solution

I am a mechanical engineer and engineering educator with considerable experience in facilitating discussions on complex engineering topics. 

Each week, learners will be expected to review the problem statement before class. This is a one page document that contains a discussion of the holiday tradition and how engineers help solve the problem before providing 4 to 6 links for students to explore. Learners should arrive to class with 1 to 5 questions to start our explorations. 

The first problem statement will be shared in the classroom 5 days before the start of class where learners will have the opportunity to vote on what they would like to do first. Learners will also have an opportunity to suggest new topics for weeks 2, 3, and 4 of the class. Problem statements will be posted to the classroom immediately after our class discussion so learners have ample time to prepare for our next session.

Learners will be working collaboratively during class to find solutions to a realistic engineering scenario in an interactive discussion, providing ample opportunities for informal assessment.

50 minutes per week in class, and an estimated 1 - 2 hours per week outside of class.

Each problem statement contains a list of 4 to 6 internet links to guide further research into the topic. Learners are encouraged to explore the topic further using the initial list as a springboard.