Electives such as ‘Neuroscience’ have secured a permanent spot on the Fieldston course catalogue, while others such as Engineering have slipped through the cracks over the years. Upper School Biology teacher and Science Department Chair Paul Church has remedied this reality through his revival of the engineering course at Fieldston Upper this semester. For the first time since the 1970s, engineering was offered as the “STE(A)M” elective this year. I had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Church and gain insight into the course.
Gutierrez: What brought the re-emergence of the engineering course at Fieldston? Why wasn’t it taught for such a long time?
Church: In the area where I’m currently sitting there used to be a shop. When I was a kid, people took shop or automotive repair in school. They used to have a real car engine down here that people would work on during shop class. Then, as the makeup of the school started to change and the way we interact with things like cars in society changed as well, there wasn’t a need for shop class anymore. This allowed for the demise of shop and engineering at Fieldston. This past summer I received a summer curriculum grant to develop a brand new course entitled STE(A)M Engineering. This is a very hands-on course where students learn to use a number of tools and design projects to complete a number of tasks. This was a particular challenge this year given the restrictions imposed by this pandemic. So I designed a course that could be performed safely at home while still accomplishing the goals of the course. The course is modeled in part after the very successful Engineering Club that I have run for the past 6 years. That club included students from a wide range of backgrounds, with an equal wide range of skills. I was very curious to see what kind of students would be interested in this as a course. I have been overjoyed by the mix of students I have this year. The diversity of backgrounds and skills is amazing.
Gutierrez: What is your background with engineering?
Church: My doctorate is in Neurobiology and I have a background in Biophysics. Before coming to Fieldston I was an assistant professor at a medical school. So my background is not in formal engineering. That being said, as a kid I was a tinkerer. I was always taking things apart and putting them back together, trying to figure out how they work. So I have always enjoyed taking apart things, putting them back together and building things from scratch.
Gutierrez: Can you give some information about the class and curriculum?
Church: Briefly, students would acquire a number of skills such as problem solving, collaboration, proper tool use, project design, etc. All while building a number of fun and useful projects. The course truly embodies all of the elements of STE(A)M. Students have already completed a few projects and their enthusiasm has been terrific. Some of the students came in without any knowledge or experience of simple machines and tools. Yet, each student has embraced and successfully completed each task. These tasks require a great deal of trial and error and the joy expressed when they get a project to work is overwhelming. In a recent unit, students learned about magnetism and electricity. Then, they learned the physics behind v=ir and how an electrical current generates a magnetic field. Using these principles, they were able to build an electromagnet from scratch using only a battery, some wire and a metal nail or similar object. We then tested to see how many paperclips could be picked up by each of their electromagnets. This was followed by building a simple motor based on the same principles. They started with a kit, but it still took some engineering and understanding of the principles to get it to work. Again, each student was able to complete the task successfully. Here is a slow motion video of two of the motors. In another unit, they learned about Archimedes screw which was originally designed to move water uphill against gravity. They built one from scratch which was used to move marbles uphill since they were restricted to materials that were safe to use at home. They could also design other methods to move marbles uphill and some of the results were extremely creative. If we were on campus this semester they would be using more substantial material, but the truth is, in the real world engineers first build models out of materials such as cardboard.
Gutierrez: Would you consider this first semester of engineering to be a success under the circumstances? Will you be teaching it again in the future?
Church: I would say under the circumstances, it went very well. I think the kids had fun, learned new skills and were able to use their creativity in ways that they normally are not able to in school. My priorities for the class were met and I will definitely be teaching it again in the future.
Here are the links to more projects from Dr. Church’s students:
