News:BE:English Building Blocks

First Set of English Building Blocks are Online

Max Frisch, a swiss playwright and novelist, continuously wrote in his diary sets of 25 questions on various topics such as: property, love, death, friendship…

On June 29th 1987, he was awarded the honorary doctorate at the Technical University of Berlin. Instead of holding a long and boring “Thank You Speech”, Max Frisch posed 25 questions that highlight the relationship among technology, society and nature.

“Can you imagine a society where scientists are responsible for crimes made possible because of their invention, i.e. a theocracy?” - extract from the “25 questions” by Max Frisch.

This set of question is the basis of the first building block that was created through the Blue Engineering Group in 2011 - it is called “25 Questions”. It’s purpose is to encourage students to ask and discuss questions about technology, nature and society. It also helps them realize the importance in asking questions instead of looking for direct answers. A building block is a short teaching learning unit, that transfers responsibility onto the participant and leaves the teacher as a facilitator. It, actually, is the main learning method in the Blue Engineering course. The building blocks are originally developed in german, but they are currently in the process of being translated to english.

The “25 questions” building block and questionnaire are now officially available in english! Use the following links to take a look at them:

• 25 Questions - Building Block
• 25 Questions - Questionnaire

More translated building blocks (listed below) will be available in the coming weeks, so keep checking the Blue Engineering website for updates:

• A short story about time
• Gender, diversity and technology
• Technology as a problem solver
• Cat video: Material and social requirements of technology
• 100 points: Technology design factors