Instructor Interview
The NEET (MIT New Engineering Education Transformation) program introduces students to cognitive approaches for tackling complex challenges valued by industry and for thriving in an uncertain and rapidly changing world.
Below, Dr. Rea Lavi describes various aspects of how he and his colleagues taught SP.248 NEET Ways of Thinking in fall 2025.
OCW: As the name implies, NEET (New Engineering Education Transformation) is intended to reflect a new approach to teaching engineering. How does the NEET approach differ from conventional modes of engineering education?
Rea Lavi: It’s project-based, interdisciplinary, and scaffolded so that the projects students work on increase in complexity and fidelity with the real world when they start in the sophomore year vs. the senior year.
OCW: How is this course structured to introduce students to NEET ways of thinking?
Rea Lavi: The full course runs from well-structured problems/challenges (e.g., the minibot challenge) to Ill-structured problems/challenges (e.g., designing a method or tool for choosing one’s major at MIT). The course is modular in that every challenge can be taught separately and isn’t dependent on other challenges, unless the instructor is interested in enacting the sequence from well- to ill-structured problems. However, the assignments are not modular; without the Preparation —> Application —> Reflection sequence, the closing of the learning loop for the students, i.e., meaningful learning, is a lot less likely to happen. The “Making” assignment is indeed an outlier in the course—it’s not related to this progression but was included in the course as a final, fun, and hands-on activity to give first-semester students at MIT a normally rare opportunity to really use their “mind and hand” and of course teach them a bit of how to think about and apply simple casting and molding techniques.
OCW: Students who pass this subject have access to the early application for the NEET program in the spring. How do you assess student work?
Rea Lavi: As a first-year discovery class, SP.248 is a pass/no pass class, so there are no grades. Students were scored based on attendance and completion of assignments, and they had to get 70% or more to pass the class. However, students were also given feedback on the quality of their work, though this didn’t affect their score. This assessment was based on specialized rubrics I developed for each assignment and way of thinking, which is in fact part of my published education research work.
OCW: What would you like to share about teaching SP.248 The NEET Experience that we haven’t yet addressed?
Rea Lavi: It’s important for me to emphasize that the course is case-based/challenge-based, and instructors are free to pick the specific challenge/s with the domains and ways of thinking they’re interested in teaching their students about. Despite the overall sequence from well- to ill-structured challenges, it’s very much a modular course, and in fact we designed it that way knowing that different students will probably connect better with different domains (or NEET threads) and different ways of thinking.
Bonus Interview
The page linked below provides further insights from Dr. Lavi, reflecting on the version of the course taught in the fall semester of 2023:
Curriculum Information
Prerequisites
None.
Requirements Satisfied
This subject is not required for joining the NEET program, but completion of the course allows students access to early application for the program.
Offered
Most semesters.
Assessment
The course is graded pass/no pass, based on the student’s completion of the course challenges and other assignments.
Student Information
Enrollment
10 to 20 students.
Breakdown by Year
All first-year students.
Breakdown by Major
Many of the students were considering applying to join the NEET program in their sophomore year.
How Student Time Was Spent
During an average week, students were expected to spend 3 hours on the course, roughly divided as follows:
In Class (1 hour)
In class, Dr. Lavi and his co-instructors gave lectures, presented overviews of the course’s subtopics, introduced challenges, and oversaw individual and team-based activities.
Out of Class (2 hours)
Outside of class, students worked on individual and group assignments, as well as the six team-based challenges.
