KEENzine4

1 Deliberate dissonance. Ask probing questions and expect good questions from students. Design your daily questions as a conclusion to each lecture. They should be balanced between two types of curiosity: epistemic (asking why?) and diversive (asking what if?). Design a process for students to ask questions, too. All questions are not created equal. Some deserve more attention than others. Students can crowdsource the quality control of questions by upvoting them using tools like Piazza, StackExchange, or your institution's learning management system. For example, before each class, ask students to contribute at least two questions: “Why doesn’t current flow from the emitter toward the collector of a bipolar junction transistor?” “Is there an alternative to transistors that could be disruptive?” Another method of reinforcing curiosity as a habit is maintaining a curiosity journal, a personal record of questions and reflections, as demonstrated by many classic historical figures. 2 Two turntables and a microphone. Put tools into students’ hands that prompt curiosity. They should be stretch-tools, i.e. those that are likely to create an information gap. Whether hardware or software, tools that are new to students particularly prompt diversive curiosity. Examples germane to a first electronics course include a microphone amp or its siblings, bioamplifiers and strain gauge amplifiers, or oddities like a magnetic amplifier. Software examples might include tools like CircuitLab, Fritzing, ExpressPCB, or other quality tools that fill in gaps of understanding. Direct efforts to promote student ownership and focus students on generating and recording questions, as in a curiosity journal. 3 Find the resonant frequency. Connect to personal passions. Have you noticed how some passions can create lifelong pursuits? I’ve talked with students who’ve fueled engineering careers based on a love for cars, flying, art, computing, and golf. EML can help with that. We also share a responsibility to help students be productive and successful, whatever their enterprise. EML can help with that, too. CREATING VALUE: FROM OPPORTUNITY TO PLATINUM RECORDS Two emphases differentiate EML from other valuable pedagogical approaches: opportunity and impact. These themes are intrinsically connected to the third “C” — creating value. Entrepreneurially minded individuals are perpetually sensitive to opportunities. In any situation, they are alert to the possibility of meeting the needs or perceived desires of others. Metaphorically, their “ON AIR” light is always on. For many, pattern recognition forms the basis for opportunity identification [14]. To be proficient, students must have a mental database of patterns and learn from historical examples. For example, consider the trends associated with creating, purchasing, and conveying information. In keeping with our theme, consider vinyl records → cassette tapes → CDs → streaming from a central database → whatever is next that makes technical and business sense. Every entrepreneurially minded individual aims to create an impact, whether locally or globally. But what is impact in this context? Is there a simple definition? Consider the following idea, borrowed from engineering power calculations: Impact = Significance x Scale For example, a platinum record is awarded for every million certified copies sold. The best-selling album of all-time in the U.S. is Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” that went 32 x Platinum [15]. Regardless of your personal feelings about the music, artist, or moonwalking — the album impacted the market and is credited for reviving a languishing industry. Due to scale, it’s high impact. In another example, Johnny Matheny lost his lower arm due to cancer. He is the recipient of a skeleton-attached, robotic, prosthetic arm developed using a $40 million DARPA-funded DEKA prototype [16]. While he hopes it will pave the way for 1.6 million people in the U.S. that live with limb loss [17], it is currently one-of-a-kind and is unlikely to ever “go platinum.” Even though the scale is small, due to high significance, it's high impact. Many instructor methods put a spotlight on opportunity and impact. Here are three: 1 Name that tune. Assemble a sequence of two or three graphs designed to illuminate trends. Ask students to comment on the trends and suggest a related additional trend. The assignment culminates by simultaneously connecting technical trends to ways of creating value. Consider an EML assignment in a software programming course. The assignment begins by distributing a graph (Figure 2) that shows trends regarding single processors [18]. In groups, students identify the performance of a current processor and add it to the graph’s data. The groups then discuss the implications of the trends. Many will speculate on why some curves have flattened in recent years. Finally, ask students how they might create value through multi-core, parallel processing within an arena where it is unexpected. This same pattern can be leveraged for other disciplines and technical topics. 2 Practicing your scales. Impact is the product of significance x scale. This particular exercise is designed to alert students to the design implications associated with realizing, replicating, and scaling a design. Scaling is generally untaught or relegated to a senior design course. In reality, it should be woven throughout an engineering curriculum. 3 Adding vocals. Let the students in on it. Research shows that when students are aware of their thinking, i.e. metacognition, they have a higher likelihood of shaping it. You can assist. In class, talk about mindset — not a lot, but a little. Recognize that all that’s needed is awareness. Mindset is altered experientially. So a good ratio of talk to intervention is 1:10, i.e. 10 exercises or activities like those listed. TRANSISTORS (THOUSANDS) FREQUENCY (MHZ) TYPICAL POWER (WATTS) 1975 1985 1995 2005 2015 Figure 2. Microprocessor Development 10 10 10 10 0 2 4 6 MAKING CONNECTIONS: FROM INPUTS TO INSIGHT As educators, we generally agree that students should gather and connect information from multiple sources — the second C of the entrepreneurial mindset. Today, students can choose from more than a billion websites (a 2016 global milestone). About three million blogs are posted daily. The U.S. produces approximately 413,000 technical journal articles per year and has around 7,400 magazines in print. If that is not enough, the average Facebook user has 338 friends to consult [5–6]. That is a lot of information and perspectives. Some call it Data Smog [7]. Authors contend that the combination of increased specialization and persistent data smog is changing how we think and educate [8]. Students experience a dis-integrated education [9], making the challenge of integrating select information into a coherent mental model more difficult than ever. There is no quick fix; but there are remedies found in EML. Here are three: 1 High fidelity. Information literacy is the ability to recognize the need for information, and locate, evaluate, use, and communicate that information. It is acquired through practice. As much as a skill, it is a habit of mind that can be developed through a regimen of tailored educational interventions that improve information literacy. It is a topic studied in engineering undergraduate education [10]. 2 A complete, sound system. Systems thinking — the ability to comprehensively identify a system’s components to understand its interactions — is developed through explanation and experimentation. Beginning with a definition [11] and lucid goals, it is a teachable, learnable element of mindset. Teaching students to “stretch” the boundaries of a defined system is key to EML. 3 The crescendo. The increased ability to have an “Aha!” moment is affected by some simple interventions and tools that are not discipline-specific [12–13]. That’s good news for educators who are willing to try new activities. JOINING THE BAND: WHAT TO DO NEXT T he purpose of this article was to introduce curricular examples that develop the 3C’s. Online example assignments are available. They address a specific area. Other faculty members need your help in covering a range of disciplines. Here’s a four-step process to become a rock star within KEEN: 1 Review the KEEN Framework on pg. 24. 2 Find the mindset outcomes you wish to include in your syllabus (esp. 3C’s). 3 Match the material in the course to the outcome, creating specific assignments, projects, and lectures. 4 Share! Become part of the movement in engineering education that promotes entrepreneurial mindset by sharing your ideas about integrating the 3C’s in the classroom. Visit engineeringunleashed.com/keen to get connected to Network members. CITATIONS / FOOTNOTES / A SELECTION OF BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES: [1] Enrico Moretti, “The new geography of jobs,” Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. [2] Karim Moustaghfir and N. T. Sirca, "Entrepreneurial learning in higher education: introduction to the thematic issue," International Journal of Euro-Mediterranean Studies 3.1 (2010): 3-26. [3] Martin Lackéus, "Entrepreneurship in education – What, why, when, how, Entrepreneurship360 Background paper" (2015). A full bibliography is available in the online version. Figure 2. Microprocessor Development View the online version and example assignments at bit.ly/EMLsoundcase 10 11