Special session - creation of the “Milwaukee School of Magic”

The objective of this special session is to create the "Milwaukee School of Magic" so that participants can discover the value of incorporating drama and magical illusions into a creative science learning environment. Villanova University's Science & Theatre Magic Program, now in its third year, has successfully created a dramatic and creative learning environment with a unique approach. The strengths and accomplishments of this program are reviewed and discussed in the session entitled Engineering the Magic School: Creativity and Innovation in Context. See also PIVOTS: Service Learning at the Science, Theatre & Magic Boundary by Papalaskari et al in FIE 2006. This session will be valuable for engineering educators interested in integrating multi-disciplinary STEM teaching with creative and performing arts. Participants will experience first hand how a well chosen theme and the right combination of constraints and open- ended problems can trigger the imagination and provide a powerful motivating force for exploration, group work, innovation, and design that can transcend any barriers associated with diverse cultural, social, or discipline/specialization backgrounds. Participants will easily be able to apply concepts presented to make their own learning environments equipped to improve technical skills as well as build teams among culturally, economically, and ethnically diverse populations of students.