Introduction to the Special Section on Designing for Learning in a Pandemic

Abstract

Amid the pandemic, a project team continued educating electrical line workers across four U.S. locations. The Center for Engineering Education and Outreach redesigned an in-person internship program by finding ways to simulate tinkering, design reviews, and troubleshooting activities. A collaborative four-day international seminar networking 10 European universities from eight different countries went virtual. An all-expenses-paid six-day residential summer experience at NASA’s Johnson Space Center was replaced by an online experience. Designers embraced—cancellation is not an option—and found a way to engage fifth grade students to apply science and mathematics concepts related to building a Mars colony. The show did go on in Zoom with a play that integrated students’ emotional struggles due to pandemic isolation. Indeed, the past year, and then some, has been strange.