"Real-world teaching and learning: How the Maker Movement will transform higher education"

Steve M. Potter, Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Laboratory for Neuroengineering
Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering

ABSTRACT
During his 13 years with the Coulter BME department, Potter developed several innovative approaches to both lecture and laboratory teaching. For these, he won the top teaching awards both from Georgia Tech and the University System of Georgia. He has spent the past two years on sabbatical exploring the Maker Movements in Seattle, Ireland, and the Bay Area. People of all ages and from all backgrounds are meeting in maker spaces to share equipment and ideas, and to learn from each other. Instead of DIY, DIT (Do It Together) is becoming the new norm for STEM education. This represents a paradigm shift from the ways that science and engineering are usually taught, to an approach that mixes the real world with the classroom, and student assignments are projects that benefit the real world. BME Faculty can enhance their curriculum and get more satisfaction from teaching, by incorporating project-based learning into all their classes, not merely those called PBL or "design" courses. This takes problem-based learning to the next level by making the students' efforts result in enduring solutions and products, which are not forgotten once the semester is over. Real-world teaching and learning is highly motivating for students, and it results in graduates who are much better prepared for jobs in the real world. Potter recently resigned from his position at Georgia Tech to pursue a career as a freelancer in the Maker community. 

Engineered Biosystems Bldg.
1st floor, CHOA seminar room
Reception to follow in EBB lobby