2021 Cohort
22
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The COVID-19 pandemic has widened the gap between older students who were on campus before and new, younger students who have not experienced what full campus life feels like. This has led to issues in communication, knowledge, and isolation, as newer students struggle to fully adapt to campus culture. Therefore, I propose that a virtual (video) game that encompasses campus life would help to bridge the knowledge gap and facilitate participation between students. This would include mini challenges for different areas of campus that teach players about different spaces and where they can go, chat rooms, and also instructional videos that can help teach students how to adjust to campus. This would also include a challenge on design thinking, facilitated by the space in the game that occurs in the Center for Innovation and Leadership, in order to help prepare students for important design skills. By including this in a game format, it will be more engaging to students that are burnt out from the past year and a half of online classes than a zoom or other format.
<span style="font-family:arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 11pt; font-weight: 700; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="background-color:#ffffe0;">Strategic Priority #7.2 (Ipeknaz 2021): Industry Courses</span></span></span>
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Since I have come to Swarthmore, something I have heard students complain about again and again is that courses we take in the college are too theoretical and they do not prepare us for internships/jobs within the industry itself. Implementing a hybrid course that aims to teach students concepts actually in-use within the industry of interest and matching them with shadowing/mentoring opportunities could help students feel more prepared in applying for jobs and long term internship opportunities. One department that this idea could be especially useful for is the computer science department. We could create a course where students could learn about current tools and software used to develop apps currently, they can develop their own ideas for apps using the design thinking process, they can be matched with industry professionals to shadow for a few weeks and then they can start implementing their own ideas with mentors who can help them think about technical skills or more conceptual ideas.
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