MCS in, or rather, out of the classroom

Smell kits

For the new Faculty bachelor in Global Studies, we were asked to contribute something related to smell for their Sensing the World week. Drawing from our observations of how smell is used in clinical and educational contexts in hospitals and medical schools, we introduced the idea that smell could also be a portal into new research directions for the students in their own, non-medically related projects. Between the two classes we gave last week, the students were asked to make a smell kit which related to their projects, which we discussed in the second tutorial by walking in the Faculty garden, then back in the classroom. We had an observer in the class who noted that: “it was very interesting how smell also relates to the materiality of objects. The smell kit was such a fantastic tool to make students reflect about the material things that they challenges are made of and I think there is a lot of potential to further explore”.

The lesson plan has been prepared for sharing and will be uploaded onto another related project I am part of, the Sense Based Learning website soon. Look out for our Smell Kit PDF on the Fringe Editions page too.

Learning in Gardens

For the second time we are involved in the Honours program at our faculty with our project Learning in Gardens, which draws from the observation that doctors have long learned in gardens. In this 2022/2023 Honours project the students have been invited to revisit the garden as a space to learn in and with, in university settings. It will be a practically-orientated project that builds on previous work by last year’s Honours students, who conducted ethnographic research about the FASoS garden and have prepared policy recommendations for the Faculty. So far the students have great ideas, including a Garden (lecture) series. Stay tuned!

Making eyeballs (and other learning tools)

For the first time, we are also currently running a course called: DIY in Medicine: Digitally curating the creativity and crafts of medical educators. This MaRbLe project is a digital “archaeological” exercise in digging up crafted objects and their stories which have already been previous published, with the goal to collect and curate, and ultimately to facilitate better sharing in medical education around the world. So far we have been reading shared texts, the students have been writing responses, and last week, we headed into the ‘Seeing “Normal”‘ exhibition (see previous post), to engage in some making of eye examination training tools, led by our expert clinician and educator Marijke Kruithof.