Hampshire College

The Hampshire College Lemelson Center intertwines technology and liberal arts education through the use of assistive technology and universal design problem-solving. By spurring students’ innovative imaginations, LATDC envisions ushering in a new era of equitable and compassionate enterprise fostered by the creative application of technology and the entrepreneurial spirit of invention.
 
MISSION

The Lemelson Center provides students with an experiential education in applied design, invention, and entrepreneurship through the lens of assistive technology and universal design. This is achieved through a combination of courses, activities, internships, collaborations with business and nonprofit organizations, and teams of students who design, develop, and make equipment available for people with disabilities worldwide.
 
MODEL

The center's model blends innovative pedagogy, curriculum, and methodology for maximum learning by students. These can be described as follows:

Pedagogy

The Lemelson Center’s pedagogy is its organizational “technology,” the method by which it operates and produces its product, as described below:

The center utilizes mentor-led teaching to provide students with an experiential education focused on acquiring technological knowledge in a liberal arts environment.

The center incorporates guided, project-based learning with "real world" learning opportunities to foster the development of creative technological thinking and an understanding of the invention process as it applies to both technology and art. Assistive technology and universal design problem-solving ground students in the social relevance of technology and serves as a pedagogical platform.

Curriculum

The Lemelson Center strives to teach:
• Socially responsible applied design, appropriate technology, and assistive technology.
• Social entrepreneurship and entrepreneurially-based social action.
• The principles, techniques, processes, and creative elements of invention, both technological and artistic.

Methodology

The Lemelson Center's process for educating students relies on:
• Mentoring, advising, tutoring, and collaborating.
• Utilizing universal design in education (consideration of multiple learning styles).
• Utilizing assistive technology and universal design as teaching mediums.
• Project-based learning that utilizes both design and development.
• Experiential education utilizing real world situations, engaging in both need-finding and problem-solving.
• Utilizing service learning principles.
• Actively fostering learning communities.