Co-Creating a More Sustainable World
AppLab is a multi-disciplinary design thinking course focused on developing sustainable solutions to complex, real-world problems. The class is led by multiple faculty and enrolls students from across campus. Projects are defined by outside companies and non-profit entities, and students work directly with those professional partners to help solve issues they have identified. Working with teams on an in-depth, semester long project, students engage across disciplines to creatively contribute to the larger community.
Our Approach
AppLab focuses on developing values, knowledge and skills around three overlapping content areas: design and systems thinking, interdisciplinarity and character and collaboration. As our individual learning goals indicate, at the center of this approach is the desire to “generate real solutions to real problems” through collaboration with people from diverse backgrounds. Thus, our approach is a distinct departure from a sole focus on a traditional lectured-based method and emphasizes hands-on and active learning. Additionally, we organize projects and teams around three main verticals: healthcare, education and recreation.