Empowering the Teachers (MIT-ETT)

The MIT-Empowering the Teachers (MIT-ETT) program at MIT strives to foster innovation in science and engineering education in tertiary academic institutions in Africa through an intense engagement with faculty members from African universities. NNPC and TotalEnergies EP Nigeria is the corporate partner and sponsor of this program.

The MIT-Empowering the Teachers (MIT-ETT) program provides an intense, semester long teaching-focused engagement for selected cohorts of faculty members (ETT Fellows)​ from African universities. By introducing the ETT Fellows to cutting edge student-focused teaching methodologies the ETT strives to foster innovation in science and engineering education in tertiary academic institutions in Africa. Our vision for the students of our Fellows is to graduate ready for the demands of today's job market, equipped with hands-on problem solving and critical thinking capabilities. NNPC & TotalEnergies EP Nigeria are the corporate partners and sponsors of the program.

The overarching goal of MIT-ETT is to facilitate the development of young African faculty leadership in science and engineering education who will introduce innovation and creativity into science and engineering curricular. There are two main objectives of the MIT-ETT program: to provide young African professors with exposure to cutting-edge pedagogical methods in the highest-rated engineering and science departments in the U.S. and to provide American faculty who have a deep interest in connecting with those in their disciplines in emerging economies a concrete means of engagement.

APPROACH: In an attempt to address the problems articulated above, MIT established the MIT-Empowering the Teachers (MIT-ETT) Program lead by Professor Akintunde Ibitayo Akinwande (EECS). The program invites young, brilliant and upcoming African academics, who recently completed their doctoral degree, to spend an intensive and inclusive semester at MIT in a bid to understudy the mode (& dynamics) of curricula development and content delivery at MIT. The aim is to facilitate in African institutions improved teaching content development that is geared towards (1) students-centered content delivery (2) problem solving and (3) creativity. This amongst other things will result in the development new courses and the modification of existing curricula to ones that are geared towards critical thinking, open ended problem solving and hands-on design but also promote innovation and creativity. While at MIT, these African academics developed new course content for their home universities which are consistent with the objectives of developing these skills in their students.