Three years ago, Milwaukee School of Engineering embarked on an ambitious effort to further integrate the MSOE Mindset throughout its curriculum. Faculty will gather to showcase the results of that work on Tuesday, Oct. 20 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Atrium at Dwight and Dian Diercks Computational Science Hall. The impact of their work is visible across disciplines, courses and student experiences. 

Supported by a three-year, $1.5 million grant from the Kern Family Foundation, the initiative empowered faculty to reimagine courses while intentionally embedding the principles that define the MSOE Mindset: entrepreneurial thinking, servant leadership and character formation, or to choose one of the three MSOE Common Learning Outcomes (CLOs) that align with the entrepreneurial mindset: exhibit curiosity, think critically and integrate learning. 

The result is a curriculum that more deliberately develops graduates who are leaders of character, passionate learners, responsible professionals and value creators. Additionally, the entrepreneurial mindset amplifies the skills students learn by demonstrating curiosity, building connections and developing innovative solutions that create value. 

More than 75 faculty members participated, redesigning courses and developing new learning experiences that foster the entrepreneurial mindset's three pillars: curiosity, connections and creating value. Through support from visiting faculty, academic support specialists and professional development opportunities, instructors were able to devote time and energy to creating innovative classroom experiences that help students see beyond textbook solutions and apply their knowledge in meaningful ways. 

At the showcase, faculty will present projects that demonstrate how mindset-focused learning can transform both highly technical courses and broader educational experiences. Click for a complete list of faculty participants and projects. 

Finding Engineering Lessons in a Piece of Candy 

One standout example began with a simple question: What is the difference between a Lifesaver and a Jolly Rancher? 

That question sparked a collaboration between Dr. Anne-Marie Nickel, chair of the Physics and Chemistry Department, and Dr. Cynthia Barnicki, mechanical engineering professor, that eventually became an interdisciplinary learning activity helping students explore complex concepts through an unlikely medium: candy. 

The activity centers on four candies that represent different crystal structures: Jolly Ranchers, fondant, peppermint pillow mints and rock candy. Each candy illustrates a different stage of crystallization, from amorphous structures with no visible crystals to large, highly organized crystal formations. 

Students can literally see, touch and taste differences that mirror phenomena found in engineering materials. 

For mechanical engineering students, the exercise illustrates concepts such as cooling rates, phase transformations and metastable states. Chemistry students examine molecular interactions, sugar chemistry and the ingredients that influence crystal formation. While each discipline approaches the activity from a different perspective, both focus on understanding how processing affects material properties. The exercise helps students recognize connections between classroom theory and everyday experiences, bringing the entrepreneurial mindset into action. 

The project also reflects one of the initiative’s primary goals: encouraging collaboration among faculty. Although Barnicki and Nickel had discussed developing a candy-focused project for years, the grant provided the time and resources needed to bring the idea to life. Multiple course sections now use the activity, and the instructors are formally assessing its impact on student learning. 

Designing Courses Around Curiosity 

For Dr. Katie Panciera, associate professor in the Humanities, Social Science and Communication Department, the grant provided an opportunity to design a course around one of MSOE’s Common Learning Outcomes from the very beginning. 

Panciera used the grant to develop HST 1021: Computing History, focusing on the learning outcome “Exhibit Curiosity.” Because she knew this outcome before building the course, she intentionally wove curiosity throughout every assignment and activity. 

Students were given significant autonomy to pursue topics that interested them. They selected books representing different areas of computing, researched historical developments and predicted future technological trends, and interviewed people over age 40 about how technology changed throughout their lives. Each activity encouraged students to ask questions, explore unfamiliar ideas and connect historical developments to modern technology. 

Although the course was initially created in part to support first-year students exploring potential majors, many upperclassmen enrolled as well and embraced the course’s exploratory nature. 

Panciera said the grant’s structure was just as valuable as the funding itself. Regular check-ins with colleagues Michelle Rieland, project coordinator, and Dr. Maria Pares-Toral, former associate director of faculty development, challenged her to think beyond initial ideas and refine the course throughout the development process. 

“Having other people to bounce ideas off of was something I should take more advantage of,” Panciera said. “The grant requirements forced me to do this, and it was a huge benefit to receive feedback intermittently.” 

Today, she continues using that collaborative approach as she works on curriculum updates for the user experience program. 

Teaching Students to Ask Better Questions 

For Sean Jones, assistant professor, and Dr. Chris Taylor, professor, vice chair and software engineering program director, the initiative provided a framework for making learning outcomes more visible while helping students become more reflective, independent learners. Both are members of the faculty in the Diercks School of Advanced Computing.  

Jones focused on redesigning SWE 3411: Software Requirements and Architecture around inquiry-based learning and the CLO of Thinking Critically. Rather than telling students exactly what information to gather, the course now teaches them how to determine what they need to know, seek out relevant resources and make informed decisions throughout a project. 

Students use AI tools to help identify questions, explore possible approaches and discover information relevant to their projects, while still retaining responsibility for critical thinking and decision-making. 

“The goal is not simply teaching students how to build something,” Jones said. “It’s helping them understand why they’re building it, who it affects and what impact it will have.” 

The redesigned course encourages students to consider customers, stakeholders and the broader consequences of technological decisions, an increasingly important skill as AI becomes more common in engineering and computing practice. 

Taylor’s projects focused on first-year engineering and senior design courses. His work made connections between course activities, Common Learning Outcomes and the MSOE Mindset more explicit so students can better understand the broader skills they are developing alongside technical knowledge. 

In senior design, Taylor also incorporated AI-assisted reflection activities that encourage students to evaluate their work from different perspectives and think more critically about design decisions and project outcomes. 

Both faculty members said the work likely would have happened eventually, but the grant accelerated progress by providing focus, accountability and dedicated time for course redesign. In many cases, the materials they developed are now being adopted by other instructors, extending the impact well beyond the original projects. 

A Lasting Transformation 

The projects highlighted at the Faculty Showcase represent only a fraction of the curricular innovations inspired by the MSOE Mindset. 

Across campus, faculty have created experiences that encourage students to ask deeper questions, integrate knowledge from multiple sources and develop solutions that create value for others. Whether students are studying candy chemistry, computing history, software requirements or senior design, they are learning to connect technical expertise with curiosity, reflection and real-world impact. 

As the grant concludes, the work is far from over. 

The curriculum, assessment strategies and teaching practices developed through the initiative have become embedded throughout MSOE’s academic programs, ensuring future students will continue to benefit from these innovations. 

The Faculty Showcase celebrates not only the completion of a successful grant, but also the culture of continuous improvement, collaboration and student-centered learning it helped create. 

Three years ago, MSOE set out to institutionalize the MSOE Mindset across its curriculum. Today, the results can be seen in classrooms, laboratories and collaborative projects across campus, preparing graduates to lead with character, embrace lifelong learning and create value in an increasingly complex world.