There is a special school in Cambridge that proves that teens can be taught the same things that most students don’t learn until they are at a Master’s level. So far the students have worked on some amazing projects that incorporate engineering and design principles without the feeling that they are. The unique aspect to this program is that the focus of their projects is from a creative-learning perspective instead of just math and science.
The results so far have shown that the students are very capable of performing at that level using some very creative applications. Not all the projects the students work on are math and science related; they cover a variety of areas that are normally reserved for higher learning, a field that needs to open up more towards young adults instead of restricting themselves as they currently do.
The Innovation School
The school was created by Saeed Arida, David Wang and Saba Ghole (watch her TED Talk). You can discover and learn more about the program through their website. Everything they are creating is applied towards their dissertation. You will see that all their projects cover a variety of areas, so it is not just one field they focus on, students are able to apply different principles on any subject.
Creating new ways of learning is difficult in an age where all the answers are found online today. It’s very easy for a child to simply look up the answer online and claim it as something they understand without any real effort in learning. Schools like this challenge students to apply higher end principles to projects they are interested in. A student who learns the structure of DNA shouldn’t have to wait until they are in graduate school to work on a project that interests them. This program provides the guidance needed to help a student like that get started on their idea right away, something they can keep building on as they work their way up the higher education chain.
Can middle and high school students be engineers too?
Collection of Innovation Videos
Saba Ghole talks about nurturing a beginner’s mind
The Life of An Entrepreneur 