STRATEGY 2
Toy FUN-damentals
Toy FUN-damentals is a one-credit first year seminar currently offered by the College of Engineering at University Park. The course, which uses toy dissection and robotics to introduce engineering design and prototyping to first-year students, has proven to augment the retention of women in engineering. Through the NSF-sponsored Toys’n MORE project, a modified version of the course will be implemented at participating coalition campuses.
Campuses will be encouraged to advertise their Toy FUN-damentals course to incoming first-year students during the FTCAP academic counseling process. The course, aside from offering an engaging, hands-on engineering experience for first-year students, will provide a change of pace from the emphasis on mathematics found in most Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) curricula offered during the first year.
Given the broad definition of “toys,” instructors at each participating campus will implement a toy design course reflective of the many different aspects of the STEM fields. Aside from focusing on the engineering design process and prototyping, the course will encourage teamwork and creativity. At the conclusion of the course, a design showcase is encouraged and may be featured as a course highlight for presentation to local K-12 students as well as Penn State students, faculty, and staff.
NSF Toy Design Course Meeting, August 17, 2010
- Meeting Minutes
- Toys ’n’ More Power Wheels – presentation by Robert Avanzato and Howard Medoff, Penn State Abington
- Toys ’n’ More – presentation by Jon Carson, Penn State Wilkes-Barre
