Did you catch the latest Mathcad blog post by Chris Hartmann, titled "Teach and Learning Corner: Mathcad and Constructivism (Part 1)"? In this blog post Hartmann, PTC's Senior Academic Program Manager, writes about the importance of intellectual property (IP), modern theories of learning, and improvements that can be made to STEM education by the engineering community. Here's an excerpt:
"For teachers, like engineers, the extra effort required to foster the development of intellectual property is really hard work. In both settings, however, the evidence indicates that the process adds tremendous value. In both education and in engineering design, the process of developing intellectual property is worth the effort required to engage in effective project (or classroom) management. I make this comparison because of I currently see and hear tremendous amount of interest in the improvement of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in the engineering community. Based on the argument above, engineers may be very well positioned to contribute to the constructivist reform dialogue. The process of constructing knowledge in schools, even at the very earliest stages, benefits from the same patterns of social interaction (brainstorming, review, concept design, review,…) that engineers employ on design teams. Scientific research on learning tells us that this is true. Consequently, engineers may well be able to contribute to the improvement of STEM education by helping teachers learn to better manage and develop students’ intellectual property. This contribution should be considered complimentary to the mathematical and scientific expertise that engineers also bring to the classroom."
Make sure to read this interesting blog post by clicking here!
Enjoy!
