Education Beyond Knowledge Acquisition: A Conversation About Olin College

The Resonance Test 26: Jon Stolk

Jon Stolk is in the midst of an experiment. But then, so is everyone at Olin College, in Needham, Massachusetts. This project-based engineering school is trying to find a way to do higher education differently. They are, in many respects, succeeding, as we learned when EPAM Continuum’s Toby Bottorf, VP of Service and Experience Design, recorded an electric conversation with Stolk, who serves as Olin’s professor of materials science and engineering education. Listen and learn what it’s like to provide “just enough scaffold for teams of students or for individuals to dig into questions or problems that are exciting and interesting to them.” Stolk admits he and the school have quite a task in front of them: “It’s scary as hell sometimes.” What causes such fear? Could well be, as Stolk says, that a school that was “created to transform education” can’t “get stuck with one curriculum.”

Host: Pete Chapin
Editor: Kyp Pilalas
Producer: Ken Gordon