University of St. Thomas, MN mechanical engineering student Brynn Kasper explores engineering with students at St. Paul’s Metro Deaf School. http://www.stthomas.edu/engineering
After applying to the Playful Learning Lab in the School of Engineering at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN, mechanical engineering student, Brynn Kasper came up with an idea for a series of units on the different engineering fields for an afterschool program at St. Paul’s Metro Deaf School. Kasper combined her love of engineering with another of her hobbies - American Sign Language. This video shows the week the engineering lesson is on Mechanical Engineering. Students design and build forts for a contest based on the video game Angry Birds. Each group learns whether its design protects pigs from birds. The Playful Learning Lab’s director, Dr. AnnMarie Thomas says that you learn more about something if you are laughing about it. Beyond the fun, Dr. Thomas says that there is a serious pursuit of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math known as STEM. STEM Outreach particularly to deaf students is less discussed so it is a fairly unique program. Ultimately the engineering exploration unit’s goals are to broaden minds, improve critical thinking and increase real-world application. Metro Deaf School sees the impact of the special and fun learning environment to teach engineering. Kasper reflects it all goes back to the University of St. Thomas’s ability to reach out to advance the common good. The University of St. Thomas has a uncommon, hands-on engineering program.
