Human Centered Design of Biotechnology

“Every child is an artist.  The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”

-Pablo Picasso¹

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Figure 1 Picasso’s collage of the Three Musicians.

Introduction

The driving question for this curriculum is: How can we increase the overall adoption of biotechnology that is affordable, accessible, and appropriate to improve the human condition? Students will discuss the importance of human centered design of biotechnology and will learn about the various arguments that people make in favor of affordability, accessibility and appropriateness for ethnically, religiously and socioeconomically diverse communities in the U.S. and abroad. A great entry event is to view and discuss MIT Professor Hugh Herr’s Ted Talks on bionics. The project workflow will have students view photos of biotechnology on the web and discuss the reasons why this technology exists and why it is important. As a Geometry class students will use colorful gumdrop candies (or marshmallows) and toothpicks [text omitted]. They will also discuss the fundamentals of bioengineering to design inexpensive prosthetic devices to improve the lives of people in rural countries. By integrating the arts into the teaching of STEM subjects, it is clear that STEM subjects become increasingly accessible and appealing to more people. Studying art contributes to the development of essential skills like collaboration, communication, problem-solving, and critical thinking.²  Additionally, this unit will focus of problem solving.  The students, like doctors and engineers, will practice thinking creatively and critically to solve problems that relate to the world around them and other fields of mathematics and science.  This unit will provide the students with a deeper understanding of careers in science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics and spark their interest in pursuing STEAM based careers.  Suggested student assessment would be to have each group choose one of its ideas and write a plan for how the class could carry the idea out. It must consist of an explanation as to, why the plan is a good one and what it will accomplish, a list of the ailments that will benefit from the plan, and a description of the difficulties that might be associated with this plan.