3D Shakespeare: A Transdisciplinary Activity to Enhance Real-World Learning Experience in Engineering and Humanities Education

Xiaoyi Zhang; Ana Aviles Vargas; Gongchen Sun

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Conference: 2024 ASEE-GSW
Location: Canyon, Texas
Publication Date: March 10, 2024
Start Date: March 10, 2024
End Date: March 12, 2024
Page Count: 11
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--45362
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/45362
Download Count: 28

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The Department of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering at UTSA's Margie and Bill Klesse College of Engineering and Integrated Design offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees with a focus on experiential, hands-on learning that prepares our graduates to excel in our rapidly growing fields of expertise. Our department is rapidly expanding and contributing to the greater academic community, which is a great testament to the quality and dedication of the students, staff and faculty and the interdisciplinary environment at CEID.

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Gongchen Sun The University of Texas at San Antonio

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I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). I obtained my BS in Microelectronics from Peking University in 2012, PhD in Chemical Engineering from University of Notre Dame in 2017, and completed a postdoc training in Biomedical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology. My research field is in microfluidics, electrokinetics, systems bioengineering, and innovative engineering education.

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Abstract

3D Shakespeare: A Transdisciplinary Activity to Enhance Real-World Learning Experience in Engineering and Humanities Education

Xiaoyi Zhang, Ana S. Aviles Vargas, Gongchen Sun Department of English, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA

A critical goal in higher education is to teach students how to effectively employ knowledge and skills acquired in the classroom within practical, real-world context. It is also imperative for students to transcend conventional disciplinary boundaries and collaborate with those with different educational backgrounds. In this paper, we present the conceptualization and development of a highly innovative cross-disciplinary experiential learning activity. This activity encourages collaboration between Engineering and Humanities students and challenges them to put their training and knowledge to the test in real-world scenarios. This unique learning activity serves the dual purpose of preparing engineering students for real-world challenges within their field and inspiring humanities students to apply their literary and artistic expertise to the design and creation of finished products. The outcomes of this endeavor have proven to be remarkably successful and promising.

As educational pedagogy suggests that experimental and interdisciplinary learning should result in greater student-learning, we created a collaborative class project integrated into two different courses at UTSA, “Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering” for Chemical and Biomedical Engineering students and “Shakespeare: The Later Plays” for English majors. Engineering and English students were paired in groups in this project. English students were asked to provide an illustrative design of a scene or an object based on the text of a key scene in a Shakespearean play; Engineering students were asked to generate a 3D model from the illustrative design, identify an appropriate 3D printing manufacturing technique and, fabricate the 3D model in the UTSA Makerspace; English students then used the 3D model as a stage prop to perform a creative skit (stage play, film, or podcast) by adapting the original Shakespeare play. This project is aimed to simulate a real-world “‘designer/client’ – technical provider interaction” to enhance the student-learning in both classes. We also intended to broaden students’ experience and emphasize the significance and relevance of their class materials to topics outside their immediate fields.

We conducted a survey study after the completion of this project to identify key advantages of this interdisciplinary learning activity. Our results show that when students from entirely different academic backgrounds (Engineering vs. Literature) were tasked with collaborating, they gained a deeper understanding of their respective course materials because they had to teach their subjects to an audience with no prior knowledge. This interaction also significantly improved the professional communication skills of both Engineering and Humanities students. Furthermore, students learned how to apply their class materials (Materials processes for Engineering students and Shakespeare in the modern world for English students) in industry and society by delving into topics beyond their classes and making compromises and adjustments in this real-world "designer/client – technical provider interaction" experience. Notably, our students exhibited surprising creativity in their final project products by seamlessly merging manufacturing technology with artistic interpretations of canonical literature. The challenges and potential future improvements of this experimental transdisciplinary learning activity will also be discussed in this paper.

Citation
Format

Zhang, X., & Aviles Vargas, A., & Sun, G. (2024, March), 3D Shakespeare: A Transdisciplinary Activity to Enhance Real-World Learning Experience in Engineering and Humanities Education Paper presented at 2024 ASEE-GSW, Canyon, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--45362

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - 3D Shakespeare: A Transdisciplinary Activity to Enhance Real-World Learning Experience in Engineering and Humanities Education

Xiaoyi Zhang, Ana S. Aviles Vargas, Gongchen Sun
Department of English, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, USA  

A critical goal in higher education is to teach students how to effectively employ knowledge and skills acquired in the classroom within practical, real-world context. It is also imperative for students to transcend conventional disciplinary boundaries and collaborate with those with different educational backgrounds. In this paper, we present the conceptualization and development of a highly innovative cross-disciplinary experiential learning activity. This activity encourages collaboration between Engineering and Humanities students and challenges them to put their training and knowledge to the test in real-world scenarios. This unique learning activity serves the dual purpose of preparing engineering students for real-world challenges within their field and inspiring humanities students to apply their literary and artistic expertise to the design and creation of finished products. The outcomes of this endeavor have proven to be remarkably successful and promising.

As educational pedagogy suggests that experimental and interdisciplinary learning should result in greater student-learning, we created a collaborative class project integrated into two different courses at UTSA, “Introduction to Materials Science and Engineering” for Chemical and Biomedical Engineering students and “Shakespeare: The Later Plays” for English majors. Engineering and English students were paired in groups in this project. English students were asked to provide an illustrative design of a scene or an object based on the text of a key scene in a Shakespearean play; Engineering students were asked to generate a 3D model from the illustrative design, identify an appropriate 3D printing manufacturing technique and, fabricate the 3D model in the UTSA Makerspace; English students then used the 3D model as a stage prop to perform a creative skit (stage play, film, or podcast) by adapting the original Shakespeare play. This project is aimed to simulate a real-world “‘designer/client’ – technical provider interaction” to enhance the student-learning in both classes. We also intended to broaden students’ experience and emphasize the significance and relevance of their class materials to topics outside their immediate fields. 

We conducted a survey study after the completion of this project to identify key advantages of this interdisciplinary learning activity. Our results show that when students from entirely different academic backgrounds (Engineering vs. Literature) were tasked with collaborating, they gained a deeper understanding of their respective course materials because they had to teach their subjects to an audience with no prior knowledge. This interaction also significantly improved the professional communication skills of both Engineering and Humanities students. Furthermore, students learned how to apply their class materials (Materials processes for Engineering students and Shakespeare in the modern world for English students) in industry and society by delving into topics beyond their classes and making compromises and adjustments in this real-world &quot;designer/client – technical provider interaction&quot; experience. Notably, our students exhibited surprising creativity in their final project products by seamlessly merging manufacturing technology with artistic interpretations of canonical literature. The challenges and potential future improvements of this experimental transdisciplinary learning activity will also be discussed in this paper.  

AU  - Xiaoyi Zhang
AU  - Ana Aviles Vargas
AU  - Gongchen Sun
CY  - Canyon, Texas
DA  - 2024/03/10
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - 3D Shakespeare: A Transdisciplinary Activity to Enhance Real-World Learning Experience in Engineering and Humanities Education
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/45362
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--45362
ER  -