Kathleen Browne

"Engineering is for Everyone," the winning program developed by Browne, is designed to incorporate inquiry-based, hands-on activities that allow students to model the engineering design process. The students will have to identify a problem, create a design challenge, test the model and then redesign and retest the model. The students will utilize a variety of technologies, including the iPod Touch, sensors and probes and will use Web-based modeling tools to design and test their models. Through these new technologies, students will be able to test their models prior to constructing a prototype. Browne, who lives in Medfield, hopes student learning will improve as they have the opportunity to work cooperatively to solve numerous engineering or science-related problems. This program is geared to help students think creatively and rely on the strengths of the group to research, create, test and retest a specific design model. Findings will be communicated via a lab notebook, blog, wiki and discussion forums.