We’re heading into a bit of a detour. My plan was to start covering the specifics of what we’re calling “writing for engineering” this week, but I actually want to hear from you all first about your wants/needs/desires from this course.

I preach a lot about student agency and I now I feel like I haven’t meaningfully checked in on you. I guess better late than never, and I’m sorry I didn’t do this sooner.

Academia is a funny place. We’re socialized to believe that we need academia more than it needs us. And what arises from this untruth, is that students are often forced to endure whatever structures are put in place to protect the institution (not the student).

So here’s the exercise: you are the consumer of your education — you’re most likely paying to be here, and even if a lot of it is covered, you’re spending your time within this system in order to receive a product (transferable skills and a degree?).

1. What would you like to takeaway from this course (transferable skill) by the end of this semester?
2. What learning systems have worked for you in the past and what has been the outcome of those experiences?
3. What learning systems do not work for you and you do not want to see replicated here (or anywhere)?

I was going to do this as a survey but I think it might be powerful to have all of our ideas together in one place. I bet there will be common themes. Hopefully based on your responses, I can better tailor the rest of the course to your needs. Professor Chris Emdin does cogenerative dialogues in K-12 science classrooms to shift the balance of power away from being solely in the hands of the teacher, so this is a bit of a riff on that.

We’ll dive into “writing for engineering” next week and start practicing different conventions within your respective fields.

Thanks everyone!!