Community based Engineering and Design Workshop
SACH brings Community based Engineering and Design Workshop to Hopkinton
This summer, over the week of June 24-28, The South Asian Circle of Hopkinton (SACH) successfully brought 'Community Based Engineering' experiences for young children of Hopkinton residents entering grades two through five. SACH, in complete sync with their mission, was able to connect the strengths of South Asian communities and bring engineering learning for all Hopkinton students from different social, cultural and ethnic backgrounds. SACH facilitated and coordinated with UMass Boston’s Science Education community (COSMIC) to make this an enjoyable and engaging program for the children. The workshop was designed and led by Dr. Tej Dalvi, Professor of UMass Boston and resident of Hopkinton. Tej is also a member of the SACH board.
Community Based-Engineering includes looking for and solving problems in local communities using engineering ( https://www.communityengineering.org). The student goal for this workshop was 'Designing and building equipment for an Inclusive Playground in Hopkinton'. A unique feature of this workshop was having Hopkinton’s high schooler work as mentors for the young children. This created a fun filled, welcoming environment where engineering exploration was made an exciting, easily accessible and non-intimidating!
The main goals for this workshop were:Encouraging young kids to take agency in solving problems in their communities.
Getting kids introduced to civic engagement through experiential learning and empathy using engineering design thinking. Kids not only become aware of their community issues but also develop the resourcefulness to solve them.
Making meaningful connections that inspire communities.
Making connections within and across communities by bringing parents and community leaders of different backgrounds together. These connections not only bring awareness but also spark conversations, brings encouragement to kids of different age groups working together and inspires communities to think out of the box through a creative lens.
First the students discussed what it means to have inclusivity in playgrounds and were then introduced to the design challenge at hand. When they realized that Hopkinton does not have one, they quickly understood the underlying problem and began brainstorming solutions. They started ideating, sketching and planning out their steps while actively discussing and iterating with their peers and mentors. They eventually laid out their ‘blueprints’. They chose from a variety of recyclable materials like cardboard tubes, corrugated cardboard sheets, paper plates, cups and popsicle sticks to work with.
The mentors probe design questions to the kids before they begin executing on them. By talking to them through different steps in their plan, the mentors help the teams discover structural and engineering problems so they can brainstorm and iterate as they move along.
As soon as the children were introduced to the design challenge at hand, they very quickly understood the underlying problem and began brainstorming solutions. They came up with their ideas and a plan and laid it out on a ‘blueprint’. They chose from a variety of recyclable materials like cardboard tubes, corrugated cardboard sheets, paper plates, cups and popsicle sticks to work with.
The mentors probe design questions to the kids before they begin executing on them. By talking to them through different steps in their plan, the mentors help the teams discover structural and engineering problems so they can brainstorm and iterate as they move along.
The kids not only learn the patience and skills needed in the practice of iterative design and testing but also learn, through empathy, real problems in their own communities, take agency in owning the problem and solving it through resourceful thinking and creative problem solving. The other aspect of this program is that kids learn to work as a team by being respectful, listening to each other's ideas and what it takes to be successful team players.
The final day of the program ended with an EXPO where kids showcased their work and talked about their projects. Parents of participants, our own Superintendent, Dr. Carol Cavanaugh, high school Science teacher Mrs. Lechtanski, High school robotics teacher, Dough Scott, school teachers from Marlborough, educator and community member Jim Cleere and UMass Boston’s Dean for College of Human Development and Education Dr. Joe Berger were all present at the expo to interact and encourage the kids’ work. The parents and the community leaders truly helped SACH making this a meaningful community-connected learning experience.
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