Designing Curiosity Portals

Catalog description

By exploring and dissecting the field of STEM education, we will research how STEM education currently exists with clear biases and gatekeeping. Through that we intend to create a framework to challenge the biases and design more inclusive and accessible pathways. As a class we will engage in discussions around spaces (community/public spaces and private spaces), STEM as an inclusive element, and definitions of accessibility. The hope is to yield an experience where students can observe, inspire (or get inspired) by mundane things around their day to day lives and connect them to STEM experiences that might seem rather oblivious. Students will create assignments in dialogue with “making with everyday objects”, STEM pedagogy practice, social/emotional learning in spaces, and human-centered design. Students will be exposed to STEM literacy pedagogy, will curate a pop-up space, practice comprehensive user-testing, and reconstruct the framework around accessible and universal design. Students will engage in critical thinking, critiques, visiting artist lectures, field trips and class discussions. About Sharon De La Cruz: https://www.sharonleedelacruz.com/about-me, https://khushbukshirsagar.weebly.com/about.html