Episode Summary

Who says engineers can’t have pizazz?! Ether through sheer silliness or deeply rooted pedagogy (or both – or neither!), Blake Johnson made low effort decisions to infuse some style into the pressure cooker situation of converting engineering lab courses into an online modality within a week to accommodate pandemic response in March 2020. Here’s a link to a sample of these lab videos sent to students in lieu of them being in the facility: Stylized Remote Lab Procedures Example - ME 320 Lab 5.

Listen to his reflections on the process of converting labs under impossible circumstances all while maintaining his fun - yet rigorous - teaching affect.

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This podcast was produced by the Center for Innovation in Teaching & Learning at the University of Illinois. Episodes can be found on our website, citl.illinois.edu, and major podcast platforms. We hope you’ll find us there and join the conversation!

About the guests

Blake Everett Johnson is a Teaching Assistant Professor in the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He is also the Director of Undergraduate Instructional Laboratories

Lucas Anderson is a Specialist in Education at CITL. Check out his blog where he writes about developing a teaching philosophy statement and other teaching topics.