In this course, you will need a mindset of a problem solver. The structure of this course will have less teaching from the instructor and more learning by yourself. Many works of literature and learning science researchers identified one fact that learning is an active process of seeking new knowledge rather than delivering existing knowledge. The class will ask you to think about what you don’t know and what you want to learn. The course will help you develop YOUR knowledge and skills that need to use in your teaching as well as your daily lives. This learning process will be challenging because sometimes you may feel ambiguous and unclear. However, this process is very natural and will help you to develop the ability that manages unfamiliarity.

In order to implement the philosophy, each week will have a pre-class session where you will read some articles or will be asked to watch show lectures provided by the instructor. Then, the majority of class hours will be used for productive discussions and hands-on activities that cannot be done alone. The purpose of the class is to assure two things: what you don’t know and what you want to know.

The capstone design project will be housed in the same philosophical foundation. Each team will run similarly to the way a business would run their product development teams. This course will use a student-centered approach where we will abandon the familiar “lecture/homework/exam” format that you are familiar with this. Students will need to engage in more team participation and hands-on approach to learn where you become a problem solver rather than a knowledge consumer. By designing new products, you will expand your knowledge and skills in 21st-century skills: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity with research skills including scientific inquiry, engineering design, and technological problem-solving. Also, this course will help you develop creative thinking skills by practicing brainstorming; new concept generation, screening, and selection; developing solutions, and assessing your solution. As you develop your project, you will need to document all the processes of designing on your online portfolio platform with notes and reflections.

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