School Of Engineering
Vision
The children of Sherwood Forest are to be immersed into a 14 year sequenced program of core engineering fields to include: civil, aerospace, chemical, mechanical, biological, and naval architecture.The fundamental strand linking the entire practicum experience is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT), Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate initiative (CDIO™) coupled with innovative early childhood strategies piloted by the School of Education at Sarah Lawrence College.
The CDIO Initiative is an innovative undergraduate educational framework for producing the next generation of engineers. The CDIO syllabus, a universal outcome-based template for engineering education, focuses on personal, interpersonal and system building skills, that leaves a placeholder for the disciplinary fundamentals appropriate for any specific field of engineering. For further CDIO detail see: ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, Boston, MA, USA, 06-09 November 2002. Hyperlinked here as a courtesy of the American Society of Engineering Education
The Sherwood Forest School of Engineering applies the Conceive-Design-Implement-Operate initiative and links it to an age appropriate sequence of field practicums emphasizing ingenuity, enterprise, and a tenacious spirit. The best undergraduate schools of engineering and education school offerings available form the foundation for this initiative to include: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), University of Maryland, Stanford University, University of California–Berkeley, California Institute of Technology, Pennsylvania State University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, along with the United States Naval Academy, United States Military Academy (West Point), and Sarah Lawrence College (Early Childhood Development).
Implementation
The Sherwood strategy is to link MIT’s undergraduate conceive and make-it-so exploratory concept with Sarah Lawrence College’s notions of early childhood development – especially their concepts of intellectual freedom offered via experimentation and pretend play. All offerings, labs, practicums, challenges, and invitationals are hands-on / minds-on paperless experiences. For further detail reference: SFC Engineering Curriculum: Scope & Sequence Framework (2009 Draft), with specific lesson appendices.