David L. Jaffe, MS
Lathrop Library Classroom 282
Tuesdays & Thursdays from 4:30pm to 5:50pm

Comments about the Course
Winter 2019

Contents

• Comments extracted from students' Individual Reflections
• Comments from VPTL Online Evaluation
• Comments from Cardinal Course Student Survey
• Comments accompaning Final Project Reports or Individual Reflections
• Comments in reply to instructor's review of students' Individual Reflections
• Comments from community members at the Final Project Presentations
• Comments from students on the Course Evaluation Form
• Comments from community members on the Course Evaluation Form
• Comments from a community member by email
• Comments from a student by email
• Other comments from VPTL Online Evaluation and Responses

Comments extracted from students' Individual Reflections

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Previous years' comments from Student's Individual Reflections

2018  2014  2013  2012

Comments from VPTL Online Evaluation

In response to these questions:

• What skills or knowledge did you learn or improve?
• What would you like to say about this course to a student who is considering taking it in the future?
• Would you like to provide any other comments about this course?
• For all students - What item did you hear, see, or learn was most surprising, new, interesting, or provided a new perspective?
• For students who worked on a team project - Provide one example of an assistive technology or design / development concept presented in class that you used in pursuit of your team project.
• For students who worked on a team project - What did you find most valuable about your team project experience?

What skills or knowledge did you learn or improve?

I was exposed to the range of people that work in the assistive tech realm and what types of jobs are available.

Understanding assistive technologies and people's perspectives about it

Improved on design and manufacturing skills
Got to practice designing with user feedback
Learned design considerations for making technology accessible

Learned so, so much about assistive technology and about the issues surrounding current assistive tech.

Learned how to consider the needs of those with disabilities

Knowledge of disability field and accessibility, experience rapid prototyping and working with a user

A lot of insight into the industry and research of medical devices and assistive technology

Through taking this class, I have expanded my knowledge and refined my perspective regarding the disability community. I most improved my ability to interact with and accept people of all backgrounds.

I learned how to design, prototype, and fabricate products within the field of assistive technology. I learned how to incorporate user feedback into design.

I learned how to understand the needs of a user with disabilities, how to research existing solutions, how to interview a user, how evaluated assumptions through testing and prototyping, how to evaluate my environment for accessibility.

I learned more about assistive technology and how to interact with the disability community.

The way I think about disabilities.

Inclusive design, perspectives of those with disability, needfinding, assistive technology (existing and developing)

Being aware of Assistive Technology and how it is designed and used. Project skills

I really learned about what assistive technology is, current ongoing work, and the different perspectives within it,

Learned about issues surrounding disabilities, gained PRL skills

I was able to take a complex and challenging real-world problem (intergenerational connection) and apply other skills that I have learned throughout my Masters program (design thinking) to solve it.

I developed a higher awareness about people living with disabilities

I learned how to construct products that could change the way people live their lives

Prototyping

What would you like to say about this course to a student who is considering taking it in the future?

I took it for just 1 unit pass/fail and it was really great to be exposed to all types of people who work/are exposed to the assistive tech realm. It’s a speaker class, so some are more interesting than others, but really happy I took it.

This was a very insightful class. Be sure to manage your time well, especially with other project classes

Lots of interesting guest speakers and the field trips were fun and a great way to see in person what was being shared in lecture.

Definitely, DEFINITELY take it if you're interested in compassionate design. You really get out what you put in. I took this class because it seemed really low key (and it is) but ended up pouring my heart out into making a great project for a community members and having it turn out to be the most gratifying project I've ever been a part of. Super recommend!

ENGR110 is a really unique class in the ME department in that it explores a whole different field of engineering applications compared to the conventional automotive and aerospace industries. You get the opportunity to engage with people with a vast array of disabilities, and as its name suggests, the course presents really eye-opening perspectives on how people manage physical and mental impairments. I highly recommend taking on a project with a community member because they're all so friendly and open to working with students in finding solutions. The speakers vary widely in quality, though they all were quite good for the most part. I think that the feedback on the projects and the reports wasn't very helpful, and I hope that in the future, there are opportunities to have conversations with more industry professionals about the projects.

it's a fun class! Getting to know the users and community members is the highlight. I'm still getting lunch with the person my team worked with!

Take it! It's not stressful (unless you start the project late), the people are awesome, and the guest lectures are super informative. It's a wholesome class about a wholesome topic, and if you choose to do the 3 unit project you get to make something cool.

I encourage everyone, regardless of major, interests, or strengths, to take this course. As one of very few classes offered at Stanford surrounding the topic of disability, I think everyone can take away something unique from the experience.

I would recommend taking this course! There are not many project checkpoints so make sure to stay on top of your work. As long as you manage yourselves, it's a pretty straight forward, interesting class!

TAKE THIS CLASS. Honestly, this was one of the best, and one of the most life-changing classes I have ever taken. It was my first, and probably my only opportunity to make something that actually improves someone life while here at Stanford. Guest lecturers were extremely interesting and you learn not only about what it means to view the world through the lens of assessing accessibility, but also about technical skills such as evaluating experiment data, interviewing users, pricing healthcare technology, creating a successful hardware startup, and much more!

This has been by far one of my favorite courses at Stanford. I loved that students get paired up with a community member to help them with a problem by creating an object in the PRL. I think that this class is very rewarding and can help students realize that they can make an impact in someones life.

Great class

Take it! It inspires you as a designer and really expands your worldview

The project component can take up a lot of time. Be sure you have the time before signing up for 30units, otherwise just take the 1- unit because the seminars and talks are very interesting already.

Definitely a unique experience! It's not often that you get community members who sit in on the class and are an active part of it.

TAKE IT!!! Dave is a great instructor and you end up doing a really cool project for someone in the community!

Take it for 3 credits! I took it for 1 credit and overscoped my project because I was interested in the topic, but I think a student could get the most out of this class if they can build something (ie 3 credit project).

Although you are working to create the best project possible to get a good grade. You have external motivation for doing well other than your grade, and that was for me personally working with the people in the class.

Would you like to provide any other comments about this course?

I've never taken a course like this before where you directly get to try and help someone with your engineering. This was a very rewarding class to take and helped me think about the end user in the design.

I really enjoyed the class! A little heavy on the workload for a one-credit, but well worth it.

Awesome class!

I have loved my time in this course and can't thank Dave for all of his time and efforts to put together such a fantastic community.

I really enjoyed this course. I feel like I was able to make a difference by impacting peoples lives.

For all students - What item did you hear, see, or learn was most surprising, new, interesting, or provided a new perspective?

For students who worked on a team project - Provide one example of an assistive technology or design / development concept presented in class that you used in pursuit of your team project.

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For students who worked on a team project - What did you find most valuable about your team project experience?

Previous years' comments

2018  2017  2016  2015  2014  2013  2012  2011  2010  2009  2008

Comments from Cardinal Course Student Survey

In response to these questions:

• Provide an example of a course concept that you encountered in pursuing your project.
• What did you find valuable about your project experience?
• How could your project experience have been improved?
• Would you recommend that other students take this course?

Provide an example of a course concept that you encountered in pursuing your project.

Low-fi prototyping proved to be immensely valuable! This class definitely helped me realise its importance!

I think engaging with my community partner helped me understand the concept of designing for "all abilities".

Getting feedback from team members and working with them was helpful.

The guest lecture regarding prosthetics really resonated with me. Just as prosthetics need to be tailored to the user, I wanted to tailor our device to Danny. Working with Danny revealed to me that those with disabilities often have unique needs.

One thing I learned early on is that if you can only help one person with your design, it is still extremely valuable.

I think different guest lecturers provided good examples on how to construct our projects.

What did you find valuable about your project experience?

Going through the entire design process was incredibly valuable. We had the freedom to pick our project & design our own solution. Other classes tend to be more restrictive. Valued the freedom in the class to make choices a lot.

I loved being able to work face to face with the person I was designing for. Getting immediate feedback & relevant feedback, and also interpreting Abby's actions & words was so useful.

This is the first time, as an engineer, that I made something for a real user - and that I worked on a design that helps someone. It is an extremely valuable experience that has made me questions what is important to me as an engineer.

It was very valuable to have a one-on-one focus for our project. Made me think about how to individualize the assistive tech we were making for Tony (and how oftentimes one size does not fit all).

I got to learn from my teammates who are mechanical engineers as well as gain confidence in my value in a team, even as a non-engineer. I got to learn a lot about issues of accessibility faced daily by anyone with a physical disability.

Working w/ a dedicated student team, the detailed info we always received from Dave Jaffe (our instructor), and the variety of topics covered in class.

My team project experience gave me the new perspective on course material through directly engaging with a wheelchair user and addressing their issues. It's one thing to discuss the big picture and another to directly impact someone and hear their story.

Tailoring a project to help one specific person is really new and rewarding to me. Made me think about how I can apply my skills to help people.

Actually getting hands-on experience on product making & prototype testing.

That all of us have different backgrounds & majors. We can contribute in different yet cohesive ways.

Getting to use & apply skills from technical course to this project. Learning about concepts & applying them to this project.

It was neat to work from a need to design to a product. It was neat to help someone with the project.

Working with Danny and his brother Stanford was by far the most valuable experience. Getting to learn their story and being able to help them out is / was incredibly rewarding.

I found spending time outside the classroom very valuable because we get to work in the PRL, speak with designers, meet with Dave, etc. Then executing really built on course concepts.

Being able to work with Danny and his brother Stanford like they were part of the group provided for great feedback. They helped to shape our project through different prototype phases. Being able to work to find a product that can better somebody's everyday life was very rewarding.

How could your project experience have been improved?

Nothing really comes to mind … It has been a very pleasant experience.

Would you recommend that other students take this course?

Very rewarding & you learn a lot!

It is incredible in that it makes you question why we are getting this education in the first place, and shows you how you can apply it positively.

This course helped me grow in many ways and opened my eyes to the issues surrounding disability. I would definitely recommend this course to other students!

This was fun. I feel like a better designer as well.

It's a great way to apply context to problems and meet folks living the issues.

I think the course provided great perspectives that are otherwise often not part of our learning at Stanford.

It is an empowering experience to directly impact an individual / community. You get a lot of hands-on experience and gain the ability to impact communities.

It's a different type of learning.

1) Difference between working on class project vs client project. More serious deliverables. 2) Great integration of multiple disciplines.

ENGR110 is a very unique course, unlike any other I've taken. The variety of topics, field trips, lecturers, and to be able to work with community members is really one of a kind.

A really good way to learn about other perspectives & inclusivity in engineering & design.

Projects are a great way to learn and more fun when you help other people.

Working with Danny has truly emphasized the importance of having respect for diversity. In spite of his physical limitations. The exposure to community members and the ability to assist said members is incredibly rewarding.

Teaming up with Danny and his brother Stanford really encouraged reciprocity and learning. I have loved this course and I feel as if it has made a long term impact on my life.

Definitely my favorite Stanford course to date. You'll just find so much more value in a course like this than in a boring lecture-style course.

I felt motivated to work for this class - it was for the greater good.

Previous years' comments

2018  2017  2016  2015  2014  2013  2012  2011  2010  2009  2008

Comments accompanying Final Reports or Individual Reflections

Comments in reply to instructor's review of students' Individual Reflections

Thank you again for offering the class to me in this manner! I'll definitely recommend it among my peer group.

Thanks for your response to my individual reflection. Just another example of how much time and care you put into the course and your students.

Comments from community members at the Final Project Presentations

Comments from students on the Course Evaluation Form

Comments from community members on the Course Evaluation Form

Comments from a community members by email

Here are my comments of the final presentations on Tuesday, March 12th

This course gave the students wonderful opportunities to learn and broaden their perceptions about disabilities, people who work in many different aspects of the disabilities field, and individuals managing different challenges in their lives. Through working on team projects the learning encompassed many skills everyone uses in their lives whether at a job, in relationships with others, or doing the personal business of life. To try and solve a specific problem related to disability issues the team had to work together to divide tasks; work with the individual involved with the problem to understand the scope of the difficulty; brainstorm ideas; research to see what was already available related to the issue; come up with ideas; get feedback; reevaluate the problem and solution; communicate amongst team members and the individual representing the project; come up with the latest idea, prototype, or solution to the problem; and then present it orally with a slide/video presentation.

The nine teams did a wonderful time in the course of the 10 week class. In the final presentations teams presented in different ways. Some teams were more animated and enthusiastic about what they were saying, and some team spoke too quickly so that it was hard to hear or follow what was being said. Engaging the audience, whomever it may be, to be interested in what you have to say, makes or breaks a presentation. The more interested the audience is, the more they will listen and want to hear and see the entire presentation, rather than being distracted by other things. One team finished the presentation with, "This is what we learned," which was very powerful. Some teams used design elements in the visual presentation. Color, design, and blocks of reversed text to draw the audience's attention to what they were seeing, was very effective. The design elements unified the different pictures and text on the slides, and created interest for the viewer. Large, san serif text with a contrast to the background is the most effective for allowing the audience to follow the text on screen as the team member verbalizes the explanation. The videos were very effective as added elements, along with the involvement in the visual presentation of the person who initiated the project. Continuing to try different ideas, or rework ideas until they were more successful was very effective. Building a model, such as the fence, to be accurate in the solution was wonderful! The sketches of ideas were also very effective in showing the different ideas, as well as the teams that showed ideas tried and discarded or changed to come up with the final solution. Engaging the audience with visual elements passed around draws the audience into the problem/project. Showing the final product for the audience to see, reinforces the work done to achieve the result.

Congratulations to all teams for their work, and learning this quarter!

Comments from a student by email

Draft of an article for Stanford Daily Magazine:

As Stanford students, we often think about the impact we want to make on the world. With the legacy of the university and the powerful role models surrounding us, it is easy to stress about what or how we want to make a difference. Who will know our name? What will we invent? Whether it is deciding on a major or deciding what to do after graduation, we are constantly thinking long-term about our ambitions. But among such existential questions, it is easy to lose sight of the everyday opportunities we have to take small steps in the right direction.

For this reason, I was very excited This quarter to learn that Engineering 110, Perspectives in Assistive Technology, is one such opportunity to find a purpose on campus. It is a Cardinal course, funded by the Haas Center for Public Service, designed to give students and community members a space to connect in a unique but powerful way. In the very first meeting, instructor Dave Jaffe captured my attention as he explained the set-up and more importantly the mission of the class. This course would focus on not only discussing the field of assistive technology but also devoting effort toward making a meaningful contribution to it.

Students enrolled in the full three-unit version of the class break into teams to work on creating a tool to improve ease and quality of life for people with disabilities. Jaffe devotes many hours leading up to the course each year, hearing from such individuals about challenges they face and solutions they wish to see implemented. After much research to make sure that there is not a viable option that already exists for the issue, he gives each selected member the opportunity to present their pitch to the students. From there, students sign up to take on one of these projects and work closely with their teammates and the community member throughout the quarter to develop a prototype of their solution. They are given access to the Project Realization Laboratory's resources on campus, where team members can bring their ideas to life by building real life models of their designs.

This year's projects include a rotating dresser, elevator button pusher, and a portable wheelchair lap tray. The goal, Jaffe explains, is to develop students' communication, collaboration, and organization skills by putting their minds to a real-life problem with a practical solution. Additionally however, Jaffe' welcomes more students to enroll in a one unit version of the course to work on a smaller individual project or simply attend the class sessions as a one-unit seminar. He also has created a network of about 1,000 community members to provide updates on the course, and he opens his class up to these contacts as well.

As a blind individual, I admittedly had my concerns about joining this class. When living with a disability, there is often people who pity the challenges we face and try to find ways to “fix” what is viewed as a problem. But instead of framing the target community as a minority that needs help, Jaffe took a new but empowering approach to the topic of disability. "Disability is a normal variation of the human condition," says Jaffe. He argued that we should not isolate the members of this community and brand them as different than us because such a distinction suggests that disability is not a common condition, when in reality it exists all around us. He believes that disability is often not recognized as a form of diversity in the same way race or origin is, and that this exclusion is an important societal issue that needs to be reconciled. Even if a person is in the prime of life now, that doesn't mean that they are immune to injuries or age in the future. We as human beings are susceptible to changes in our bodies that are not always ideal; but we need to educate and prepare ourselves to be inclusive to this aspect of our nature. Given my unexpected vision loss as a young teen, I couldn't help but resonate with this perspective.

I have personally been inspired to see that all of my awe from the first day of class has persisted throughout the many guest lectures and opportunities the course provides. I had the privilege of speaking on a Stanford student panel, to learn how people with disabilities are living their lives all around us. But perhaps more exciting was moving beyond the scope of school to see how advancements in technology are transforming our perceptions of what is normal. We heard lectures about collier implants and custom prosthetic design while also being immersed in other's creations through field trips to the VA and Magical Playground. Jaffe reached out to many important names in the assistive technology world to create a captivating fair that showcased everything from emergency lifts for wheelchair users to a headband to increase activity in the prefrontal cortex.

I have had the privilege of getting to know some of the community members and fellow students in Engineering 110, and it has been equally powerful to see the impact Engineering 110 has had on their lives. One incredible family that I have spent time with this quarter is brothers Daniel and Stanford Stickney. Daniel, a devoted and involved member of the community, has cerebral palsy and a visual impairment, but it has far from stopped him from reaching his goals. Stanford explains that "they are always searching for ways to improve Daniel's independence and quality of life." For the past two years, the brothers have attended Perspectives in Assistive Technology and have loved their experience in the class. They have collaborated with multiple teams on projects and have found much success with the tools that have arisen from the work, such as a rotating easel. This year they are focusing on building a lap tray for Daniel's wheelchair, a device to help pick up dropped items, and a cup holder to assist with transporting belongings. When asking about how these creations have changed his life, Daniel pointed out to me that his time has been so much more than a project, "it has been their small part in building Stanford's community."

Looking back on my short time in Perspectives in Assistive Technology, I can't help but feel privileged to be impacted by the incredible efforts of Dave Jaffe and the community he has built. There are very few courses currently being taught at Stanford surrounding the topic of disability, but Jaffe's course shows us why we should have more. It exemplifies the importance and value of normalizing what it means to live with a physical, mental, or invisible condition. Through attending his class, I have realized that although a healthy amount of stress fuels our progress forward, there are too many opportunities to be lost when being consumed about worries of the future. This course has been like no other that I have taken, and it has shown me the power of focusing effort on changing one person's life for the better. Instead of diving into trying to find the cure to cancer or the next ground-breaking technological advancement, I am excited to start making my own difference at Stanford one person at a time, and I hope that you will join me.

Other comments from VPTL Online Evaluation and Responses

Updated 07/24/2019