Course Meeting Times
Classroom sessions (mix of lectures and labs): 3 sessions / week, 1.5 hours / session
Evening film screenings: once every 2-3 weeks
Project team meetings: as arranged
Course Description
D-Lab: Development is part of the D-Lab series of courses and field trips that prepare students to respond to the basic needs of low-income households and communities in developing nations with technological solutions that are inexpensive, ecologically sustainable and able to be implemented within the local context.
This course introduces various notions of development, and explores several technological innovations that enhance the quality of life in these communities. The course also prepares students to focus on specific issues, such as the need for potable water, low-cost agricultural processing equipment, basic sanitation, and affordable energy, specifically in communities where students will travel during IAP [MIT’s Independent Activity Period, a month-long intersession between fall and spring terms.] Students will develop working relationships with partnering institutions in developing nations to ensure that the field trips provide both a learning opportunity and an international social network to test the viability of technological solutions jointly crafted by the students and the hosting communities.
D-Lab: Development begins with a historical understanding of why conventional developmental efforts have not universally enhanced the quality of life of low-income households and communities. This is followed by a series of hands-on workshops in which students learn practical approaches towards addressing these issues. These workshops are interspersed with discussions and case studies, led by the course staff and guest speakers who have developed and implemented technological solutions in specific topic areas such as: energy, lighting systems, agricultural technologies, low-cost housing, water, sanitation, micro enterprises, and health. The discussion of case studies also provides students the opportunity to select problem areas for deeper engagement during the IAP field trip. The third part of the course is focused on the preparation for the field trip by sensitizing students to the realities of fieldwork in unfamiliar settings, and discussing how to build enduring institutional relationships with communities for future collaboration. Students will work in small groups studying the history, culture, language, economy and politics of the communities they plan to visit during IAP to understand the context within which their particular technological innovations must be embedded.
Graduate students taking the course for graduate credit will select a technology and/or an implementation strategy within a community organization and perform in-depth research and analysis to prepare a case study on the topic.
Student Views on D-Lab, from MIT Admissions Blogs
Paul B. ‘11. “Introduction to D-Lab.” October 2008.
Office of Experiental Learning. “Greetings from Honduras: D-Lab students in the field.” January 18, 2012.
Office of Experiental Learning. “Greetings from Cambodia: D-Lab students in the field.” January 25, 2012.
Course Goals
- Gain awareness of communities in the developing world and the technical challenges they face
- Learn about appropriate technologies for developing communities, their impact, and how they can be conceived, designed and implemented
- Understand the role MIT can play in helping and advancing developing communities throughout the world
- Learn the hands-on skills required to implement selected development projects
- Gain exposure to the culture, history, economic and developmental state of the host countries
- Work with community organizations to prepare projects for the IAP fieldtrips
Required Text and Readings
Smillie, Ian. Mastering the Machine Revisited: Poverty, Aid and Technology. Practical Action, 2000. ISBN: 9781853395147.
Readings in this book will be supplemented by additional papers, book chapters, websites and films.
Grading
This is a twelve-unit class: four hours and a half each week will be spent in class, two hours per week will be spent in project team meetings and the remaining five hours will be spent working on readings, homework, and developing the field projects. Because much of the work for this class will be done during class time, attendance is essential. Students missing a class meeting should contact the TAs to make up the work. No more than two unexcused absences are allowed. This class is graded on an A/B/C/F basis; furthermore, it is a class where your work is impacting the lives of people around the world and we expect an appropriate level of commitment.
| ACTIVITIES | PERCENTAGES |
|---|---|
| Project work and class participation | 20% |
| Homework assignments | 30% |
| Sector paper | 15% |
| Quiz 1 | 10% |
| Quiz 2 | 10% |
| Presentations and final report | 15% |
Schedule
Session Key (SES)
# = Classroom session (Lecture/Lab/Activity)
F# = Evening film screening
| SES # | CLASS TOPICS | LABS AND ACTIVITIES | KEY DATES | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| START | DUE | |||
| 1 | Introduction | |||
| 2 |
D-Lab philosophy of development Stakeholder analysis and participation |
Development role play |
Homework 1 Homework 2 |
|
| 3 | History of development: (1950-1970): The colonial legacy | Homework 3 | Homework 1 | |
| F1 | Evening film screening: Life and Debt | |||
| 4 |
History of development: (1970-1990) Appropriate Technology Intermediate Technology |
Homework 3 | ||
| 5 |
History of development: (1990-present) UN Millennium Development Goals Participatory development Co-creation Guest Speaker: Mitch Resnick (MIT Media Lab) |
Homework 2 | ||
| 6 |
Entrepreneurship, government, and development in Africa Guest Speaker: John Kufuor, (former president of Ghana) |
Homework 4 | ||
| 7 | Agriculture | Agricultural technology showcase: Post-harvest processing | ||
| 8 | Projects and partners | Homework 5 |
Homework 4 Homework 5 (1 day later) |
|
| 9 | More projects and partners | Agricultural technology showcase: Drip irrigation | ||
| F2 | Evening film screening: Peanuts | |||
| 10 | Country team meetings |
Homework 6 Homework 7 |
||
| 11 |
Agricultural focus groups: - Green Revolution |
Project 1 | ||
| 12 | Energy: Biomass, biogas and biodiesel | Energy lab: Charcoal |
Project 2 Project 3 |
Homework 7 |
| 13 |
Energy: Sun Guest Speaker: Jim Bales (MIT Edgerton Center) |
Energy labs: Photovoltaics, LED lighting | Homework 8 | |
| 14 | Energy: Human power | Energy lab: Human power production | Homework 9 |
Homework 6 Homework 8 |
| 15 |
Energy: Wind and water Guest Speakers: Shawn Frayne (Humdinger Wind), Peter Haas (AIDG) |
Homework 10 | ||
| 16 | Modeling energy systems |
Village energy assessment HOMER (Bring laptops to class) |
Quiz 1 Project 4 |
|
| 17 | Water quality | Water lab 1: Bacterial testing |
Project 1 Project 2 Project 3 Homework 9 |
|
| 18 |
Water Issues in the developing world Guest Speaker: Susan Murcott |
|||
| F3 | Evening film screening: For Love of Water | |||
| 19 |
Harnessing the wind Guest Speaker: William Kamkwamba |
Project 5 | Quiz 1 | |
| 20 | Water quality (cont.) | Water lab 2: Chemical testing | Project 6 | Homework 10 |
| 21 |
Institutions of development: World Bank and IMF Guest Speaker: Rachel Glennerster |
Homework 11 | Project 4 | |
| 22 |
Institutions of development Role of NGOs in development |
Homework 12 | Homework 11 | |
| 23 | Microfinance | Homework 13 | Project 5 | |
| 24 |
Micro-enterprise case study: Grameen Phone Guest Speaker: Iqbal Quadiir |
Quiz 2 | ||
| F4 | Evening film screening: Drowned Out | |||
| 25 |
Discussion of Drowned Out Guest Speaker: Balakrishnan Rajagopal |
Homework 12 | ||
| 26 | ICT4D | |||
| 27 |
ICT4C Guest Speaker: Mitch Resnick |
SCRATCH (Bring laptops to class) |
Homework 14 | Quiz 2 |
| 28 |
Creative capacity building Concrete |
Concrete lab |
Homework 15 Project 7 |
|
| 29 | Cooking | Cooking lab |
Homework 13 outline Homework 15 |
|
| F5 | Evening film screening: Living with AIDS | |||
| 30 | The AIDS/HIV Crisis | Homework 14 | ||
| 31 |
Health issues in the developing world Guest Speaker: Jose Gomez-Marquez |
Project 8 | ||
| 32 | Team Presentations | Project 7 | ||
| 33 |
Valuing Indigenous knowledge Cultural taboos Cultural implications of development |
|||
| 34 |
Market approaches to development Supply chains Guest speaker: Paul Polak, IDE |
Water role play | Homework 17 | |
| 35 |
What works: Lessons from JPAL Guest Speakers: Kamilla Gumede (Jameel Poverty Action Lab) |
Homework 13 paper | ||
| 36 |
Climate change Sustainability Guest Speaker: Ben Linder |
|||
| 37 | Panel discussion with Special Program for Urban and Regional Studies (SPURS) fellows | |||
| 38 | Evaluations | |||
| 39 | Final posters and presentations | |||
