R. David Kent
Milwaukee School of Engineering
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We all want to graduate engineering students who are innovative thinkers and creative problem solvers. However, the standard engineering curriculum leaves little room for cultivating the creative ability of students. Required courses in engineering, math and science crowd out courses and experiences that could develop students’ creativity. At the Milwaukee School of Engineering, we are revising our general education core courses in a way that intentionally focuses on cultivating students’ creative abilities. The centerpiece is a series of three thematically linked courses that students are required to take during their freshman year. These courses focus on one or more of the engineering “grand challenges” or on what are sometimes regarded as “wicked problems.” These courses will be taught not just by our humanities and social science professors but by faculty in our engineering, science and business departments as well. In fact, some sections of the course will be team taught, giving students the opportunity to benefit from seeing how faculty from different disciplines approach creative problem solving. All three courses are communication intensive classes by design and will be run as seminars. In addition, we are incorporating a service learning component into this first year curriculum, so students are engaged in creative problem solving in a real-life context. Finally, we are embedding the freshman courses within the larger context of a comprehensive “first year experience” designed to introduce students to these social issues and to their roles as innovative thinkers even before they take their first class and throughout their entire freshman year. Altogether, we are confident that we are creating a holistic experience that will make students innovative thinkers and creative problem solvers.