If you’ve ever wondered if you could take apart an electronic product and put it back together, Mahtomedi students are doing just that and rewriting the instructions!
In Bryan Farmer’s Engineering 3 class at Mahtomedi High School, students huddled together in pairs, pouring over the insides of CD players, radios, and camcorders. The process looked like an electronic surgery to an onlooker, but what was happening was a learning objective in the Engineering 3 class to explore the design process.
In the class, students choose mechanical, electrical, or digital-based products based on the technical skills they want to learn. Students pick an object, write a professional proposal, take it apart, and then write a manual. Another group receives the new manual and attempts to put the product back together and then writes a critique piece about the manual for the original group.
Colton Robbins (Class of 2025) is a student in Engineering 3 and is currently exploring a mechanical engineering career. Colton shared, “I enjoy seeing how things work and appreciate the hands-on learning experiences to learn from real-world examples in the class.”
This unique process not only equips students with technical writing skills and the ability to communicate effectively now but also prepares them for the future. Students learn teammate collaboration skills, experience deadlines, develop time management skills, and deal with setbacks they might experience in the workplace. The project provides a rare opportunity for students to see the inside of a device and understand its production components, fostering a deeper understanding of technology.
Next year, students in Engineering 2 and 3 will be able to earn articulated credit through Century College and Computer Aided Design certifications. Through the 2024 Mahtomedi Area Educational Foundation Fund-A-Need we hope to offer students the opportunity to earn more manufacturing certifications starting in the 2024-25 school year.