Venture Center, Pune 19th SIL talk on Weaving Social Objectives into Engineering Education by Dr. Chris Byrne | 9 March 2019

Venture Center, Pune is happy to announce ----

19th SIL talk on Weaving Social Objectives into Engineering Education by Dr. Chris Byrne (Founding faculty member, Cascadia College, Seattle, USA)

Organized by Venture Center

Saturday, 9 Mar 2019 | Time: 4.30 – 5.30 pm| Training room, 900 NCL Innovation Park (Networking tea at 4.00 pm)

Abstract of the talk:  How do we balance the need to cover the required technical material in a class with the desire to support the growth of our students as people who understand technology in a larger context, including its impact on the world?  While there are no simple solutions, Chris proposes that social objectives could be woven into STEM education in a threefold way – using the scientific method to explore injustice; using scientific principles as metaphors for understanding social justice; and using classroom practices that model a more just environment.  In this talk, Chris will present examples which she has used in her classroom teaching in the United States.

Speaker: Dr. Chris Byrne (Founding faculty member, Cascadia College, Seattle, USA)

Chris is a founding faculty member of Cascadia College, a 2-year institution located outside of Seattle, USA.   She earned a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering (1986), a Master of Science in Engineering (1988), and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (1996) from the University of Washington, Seattle.  Her dissertation was on the use of Virtual Reality (VR) as an educational tool, which was one of the first doctoral dissertations on VR in the United States. She has worked at several companies including Philips Research Labs in New York State and Pacific Northwest Bell telephone company in Seattle.

  

For the past 16 years, Chris has taught Physics, Engineering, and Mathematics at Cascadia College.  Her interests include: interactive learning; scaffolding lessons for all skill levels; and incorporation of social justice themes within her classroom.  She is a member of the organization, “Engineering, Social Justice, and Peace – A network of activists, academics, and practitioners dedicated to Social Justice and Peace”

Register at: http://tinyurl.com/hs5y56t   (free registration, but mandatory)  

More details regarding the Social Innovation Lecture Series on: http://venturecenter.co.in/siip3/sil.php