Learning in action

Perucchio second from left, Jarvis far right

Renato Perucchio
Professor of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering
Program director of the archeology, technology and structures program
Arts, Sciences & Engineering

Michael Jarvis
Associate professor of history
Director of the digital media studies program
Arts, Sciences & Engineering

This past summer, Renato Perucchio directed an undergraduate field school in Ghana to investigate Elmina Castle, the oldest surviving European building in the region, alongside Michael Jarvis and Chris Muir, associate professor of mechanical engineering, as well as faculty members from the University of Ghana. According to Ghana field school participant and chemical engineering major Gilda DeDona ’18, “We applied our knowledge to real-life situations. I’m not only becoming a better researcher, but a better engineer.” Jarvis also brings students to Smith’s Island, Bermuda each summer, where they study, excavate, and create 3D renderings of the island’s historic sites.

Oliver Schneller
Director, Eastman Audio Research Studio
Eastman School of Music

As an expert on sound perception, or psychoacoustics, Oliver Schneller has remodeled the former Eastman Computer Music Center into a studio for sound research, experimentation, and interdisciplinary exchange, the new Eastman Audio Research Studio (EARS). At EARS, students are exposed to and encouraged to experiment with music and technology in new ways: building speakers and circuits, designing performance interfaces and sound installations, building “virtual acoustic architectures,” and composing and playing music in concert with live electronics. Schneller believes this diverse technological experience gives students the edge that will broaden their creative and professional prospects in an ever-evolving music industry.

Sarah Peyré
Associate dean for innovative education
Associate professor of surgery, nursing, and medical humanities and bioethics
University of Rochester Medical Center

Medical students practicing surgery on lifelike, 3D-printed organ replicas. Primary care providers counseling “patient actors” who present as at-risk for suicide. Sarah Peyré leads the URMC’s Institute for Innovative Education (IIE), where she partners with other faculty members to develop novel approaches like these to educating students, physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals as teams, leading to more effective collaboration and better patient outcomes. Through simulation, adaptive technology, team science, and other methods, Peyré and the IIE are creating new models for healthcare education at the URMC, and beyond.

Lynn Gatto
Assistant professor of teaching and curriculum
Executive director at Horizons
Warner School of Education

Lynn Gatto directs Warner’s elementary education program and Horizons at Warner, a summer enrichment program for K–8 students that is part of a national effort to improve outcomes among low-income students. Warner graduate students staff the six-week, full-day program. They engage 150 students in swim lessons; cultural field trips; sewing, robotics, tennis, and gardening hobby groups; and innovative reading, math, writing, and STEM exploration. “It’s a transformational learning experience for both parties,” says Gatto. “The skills and confidence of our young participants grow tremendously.”