Resources for teachers and coaches

Mini-MOOCs and other resources to facilitate the coaching in hands-on training courses and practical projects

Resources for teachers and coaches

Support for an innovative pedagogy that promotes practical work, project-based learning and interdisciplinarity.

Beyond the interdisciplinary MAKE projects, the Discovery Learning Laboratories aim to promote the integration of learning by doing through the student curriculum. By allowing for gradual and well orchestrated learning throughout their courses and curriculum, they reinforce pedagogical achievements and contribute to the quality of teaching. This page brings together examples of outstanding courses illustrating the possibilities that are offered to facilitate the development of hand’s on competences as well as transversal skills. In close collaboration with CAPE and LEARN, these approaches will contribute to a better understanding of the pedagogical methodologies that can be deployed to foster quality learning.

This project aims to inspire the EPFL professoral community. However, the ultimate goal is also to inspire all those involved in designing curriculum by proposing innovative examples of orchestration (how to spread out in time different teaching formats to maximize the learnings).

Documenting innovative teaching formats is important, but orchestrating them appropriately over a 5-year curriculum is just as important to promote practical learning and the acquisition of professional and transversal skills.

Prof. John Kolinski

Active learning based on inquiry and a socratic approach, realizing an experiment as a real scientist/researcher

Prof. Yves Bellouard

Practical project associated to the course “manufacturing technologies”, avoiding the risk of learning by heart a list of methodologies.

Prof. Yves Pedrazzini

Design together – a program of the ENAC faculty including, among others, a dedicated week for a first interdisciplinary project – for second year bachelor students

Prof. Dominique Pioletti

Concrete project associated to the courses “Experimental methods in biomechanics” and “engineering of musculoskeletal system and rehabilitation”, bachelor students designing their own expriement and master student being confronted to real world problems proposed by real surgeons

Prof. Jürg Schiffmann and Robin Amacher

Hydrocontest – Pioneer interdisciplinary project, sharing the good practices to supervise students in a technically challenging project and to coordinate such a project in an academic context

Prof. Marilyne Andersen and Eric Domon

Solar Decathlon – Pioneer interdisciplinary project, sharing the good practices to supervise students in an ill-defined and challenging project and to coordinate such a project in an academic context

Prof. Véronique Michaud et Pierre-Etienne Bourban

Concrete project associated to the course “composite technologies”, reflect on real world commercial applications using the latest composite technologies

Siroune Marie Noëlle Der Sarkissian

CSAW is a format that provides students with an in-depth understanding of an issue related to sustainability. During this week, student teams address complex, systemic issues. The goal is to generate new student projects that address the climate crisis.

Boosting learning by putting theory into practice