EDUCATION
Hands On Shop
Shanghai students learn design through practice Students learn valuable skills in DT class
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hand tools and machines, and computer-aided Vo-tech. Home ec. DT. Depending manufacturing in wood, metal and plastic. “The on where you're from, these handsbenefit of DT is that it brings in lessons from on classes might be mandatory parts so many other subjects,” McHale explains. Sciof the curriculum or classes for non-collegeence and math are the two obvious influences, bound students. In Shanghai, few international but DT classes also draw on English, art, geogschools offer such programs. But those that do raphy, business and economics. “We allow the tell us how they open students’ minds by getstudents to use all of the skills they gain from ting their hands a little dirty. all of their teachers and introduce them to flexJulia Melvin, head of Design and Techible learning, from research skills to teamwork nology (DT) at Shanghai Rego International to independent action in School (SRIS), explains what they want to design that DT is a British program that began during Once materials come and make.” Gary Serbent teaches the Industrial Revolution out, the energy level an Americanized version of to prepare students for in the class goes up DT at the Livingston Amerwork. She says the coursic a n S c ho ol ( L A S ) . H i s es have changed dramati“Introduction to Engineercally since the days when ing” class is modeled a"er material from Proj“girls made scones and boys made things out ect Lead the Way, a U.S. provider of science, of metal.” DT syllabi have followed the movetechnology, engineering and math curricula. ments of time, from the craft emphasis of “Livingston students are historically strong in William Morris to a 1950s focus on home ecomath and science, and we wanted to give them nomics, woodworking and engineering to the an extra way to use their skills,” Serbent says. technology-influenced design of the 1990s. The The class teaches lessons in analysis, feasibilDT classes at SRIS, which are taught to stuity, material performance and structural reindents from years 7-13, focus on graphic design forcement. Students construct models to test and material studies. Melvin says the class engineering principles. With a catapult design, trains SRIS students to work around a design they study accuracy and trajectory, with a balbrief and gives them “permission to create.” loon rocket, friction and thrust, and with a DT at Yew Chung International School mousetrap car, angular momentum. Serbent (YCIS) is taught by Kevin McHale. His pronotices a dramatic change when lessons move gram, which has roughly 360 students, infrom lectures to building: “Once materials cludes lessons in hand drawing, computer come out, the energy level in the class goes up. drawing, product data collection, operating
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| August 12-October 13
I wouldn’t be able to teach engineering at this level without the hands-on labs.” The class recently finished its inaugural semester at LAS with eight students. LAS plans to extend it to a full-year course next year. Left-side and right-side brain functions come together in these classes. Serbent notes that his engineering course differs from math and science courses in that its questions have no single answer. “Engineering is a process used to solve problems, and it requires thinking creatively.” Melvin says that DT teaches students to analyze data and study the molecular structure of materials, in addition to thinking creatively. The complex set of skills needed to master these lessons is not easy. McHale explains, “Some students cannot design on paper but have excellent hand-eye coordination skills and produce high-quality products in the workshop. Conversely, some students have superb design skills and produce high-quality 3-D rendered work, but they cannot match this with their manufacturing skills.” All three programs use Shanghai as a teaching tool. YCIS students have taken field trips to the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum and the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center. SRIS students incorporated research from a field trip to the former French Concession into a Shanghai Art Deco storage box project, and visited a local printing company where they saw the large Heidelberg presses and smelled the ink firsthand. Livingston uses a video of the Shanghai World Financial Center and a field trip to the Lupu Bridge to discuss engineering. “It’s good to have some of the world’s biggest and longest close by to show students real-world applications,” says Serbent. With all the benefits conferred, why don’t more local schools offer these courses? One explanation is that international schools tend to focus on academia, to the exclusion of vocational studies. Mark Angus, the principal of the British International School, Nanxiang, Shanghai suggests, “In my case, it is primarily because we do not, at present, have the numbers of students interested in studying DT to warrant a full-time teaching post,” he says. “You generally need to find a DT teacher who can double up as perhaps an art or ICT (information and communications technology) teacher as well, but such people are not easy to come by anywhere, let alone here.” q Clare Jacobson