{"id":19040,"date":"2015-09-03T14:31:47","date_gmt":"2015-09-03T18:31:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/?p=19040"},"modified":"2015-09-28T15:34:09","modified_gmt":"2015-09-28T19:34:09","slug":"lego-lessons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/09\/03\/lego-lessons\/","title":{"rendered":"LEGO Lessons"},"content":{"rendered":"

It turns out LEGOs aren’t just for kids.<\/p>

Just ask Andrea Livi Smith, associate professor of historic preservation at the University of Mary Washington. For Smith, LEGOs take learning out of the books and into the bricks.<\/p>

This fall, Smith is introducing first-year students to college studies with a seminar on “Learning with LEGOs.” Starting with the history of the brick, students will dive into the wide diversification of LEGOs.<\/p>

\"Lego <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Lego <\/a> <\/div>
\"Lego <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Lego <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Lego <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Lego <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Lego <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>

The course is one of 46 seminars that make up the living learning component in the first-year student experience at Mary Washington.<\/p>

Created in 1958, the LEGO brick has twice been named “The Toy of the Century.” Today, the brick is widely used across industries and recently became a medical innovation<\/a> when prosthetic arms for children were introduced as customizable through LEGO pieces.<\/p>

“Whatever you’re interested in, you can relate back to LEGOs,” said Smith, who created a scaled replica of the Fredericksburg campus built with the toy bricks.<\/p>

For Smith, LEGOs bring hands-on learning to her seminar.<\/p>

“Academia favors learning with words but not everyone learns best that way,” said Smith, whose students will use LEGOs for four projects throughout the fall semester. “LEGOs bring tactile and visual learning to the table, allowing for a more creative approach to problem solving.”<\/p>

The idea flows perfectly with the vision of the LEGO company, which “aims to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow through creative play and learning.”<\/p>

More than a mere classroom tool, LEGOs also are a hobby for Smith, who has been a fan of the iconic brick since childhood.<\/p>

“I loved LEGOs before I knew what work was,” said Smith, who today has a dozen LEGO sculptures in her office, including one of the Flatiron Building in New York. “Bringing the things you love into your work is a more sustainable way of living.”<\/p>

It’s a lesson she means to impart to her students.<\/p>

“I want students to know that you can play and learn at the same time,” said Smith. “And when you do, it makes the ‘play’ and the ‘learn’ better.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Professor Smith builds bricks into her lessons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":19041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"umw_cb_additional_links":[[]],"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_advisory_expires_time":"","_advisory_meta_include":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4,81],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-19040","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-show","8":"category-umw-home","9":"entry"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLEGO Lessons - Great Minds<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/greatminds\/2015\/09\/03\/lego-lessons\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Erika Bush\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/09\\\/03\\\/lego-lessons\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/09\\\/03\\\/lego-lessons\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Erika Bush\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cf05e77f0eb1cc4d79b5d18070f58332\"},\"headline\":\"LEGO Lessons\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-09-03T18:31:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-09-28T19:34:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/09\\\/03\\\/lego-lessons\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":353,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/09\\\/03\\\/lego-lessons\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/20\\\/2015\\\/09\\\/Andrea-Livi-Smith-LEGO-Lessons_HP-e1443468841797.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Show on Great Minds\",\"UMW Home Page\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/09\\\/03\\\/lego-lessons\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/09\\\/03\\\/lego-lessons\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.umw.edu\\\/greatminds\\\/2015\\\/09\\\/03\\\/lego-lessons\\\/\",\"name\":\"LEGO Lessons - 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