Lessons learned from failures

In certain communities of engineering education, especially where intersections with entrepreneurship shape the discussion, “Learning from Failure” has become a catch phrase. Usually these refer to pedagogical approaches in which students recognize the benefits of trying, failing, reflecting, and trying again. This iterative process also describes a teacher’s journey over a decade, learning to implement and practice research-based educational techniques with patience and a focus on the students. However, the stakes can be much higher when teachers try and fail! Examples from an elective course designed for a wide engineering audience, Acoustics in the Human Environment, will trace its evolution. It began as an experiment in a studio classroom format and became an asynchronous online class intended to mirror an engineering work environment. Milestones marking the steps of this journey: parallels to iteration involved in the engineering design process; suggested elements that provide a safety net for teaching failure, and other lessons learned along the way.