Studio classes modeled on complex system theory in order to increase creativity and critical thinking

The mind of scientists is conditioned to perform controlled experiments. The structure of a class is set in the same way, leading to a situation where the teacher teaches and the student learns. As a consequence, they are far apart from each other and at different sides of the table. It becomes a passive process where everything is being prepared by someone else, instead of the student doing it for himself. Learning is done in a separate environment, under different conditions and the rules do not apply for daily living decisions. At the Biomedical Engineering Department (BME) at New Jersey Institute of Technology, we have created a continuous process in which the classes are dictated in order to allow the students to express themselves, explore the problem, work in teams, shape their own answers and highlight the process over the result. Their critical thinking and creativity are continually challenged and the amount of new and different ways of approaching a problem increases as the course progresses.