Mariappan “Jawa” Jawaharlal, mechanical engineering professor, is pushing students to reinvent common concepts in their mind. Jawa visited India in December to lead a seminar with U.S. Consul General Andrew T. Simkin, which was titled “STEM up through guided discovery.” Guided discovery is a method that encourages students to recreate major ideas. Jawa says students should disregard the popular adage, “don’t reinvent the wheel.”
“In my opinion this is wrong and usage of this term is counterproductive,” Jawa says. “There is no learning if there is no discovery that is personally meaningful.”