KEENzine4

THE ASTONISHING AMPLIFIER Every time a job is added in the innovation sector, five more jobs of various types are created. The innovation sector includes engineers and scientists that create technically- enabled, tradable goods. It is an astonishing and unequaled job-multiplier [1]. At the heart of this 5x-engine are entrepreneurially minded individuals. It is why the mission of the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) is to champion an entrepreneurial mindset within engineering graduates. The Network’s welcome challenge is to retool and transform engineering education. It’s vital work. Faculty members know their graduates will create jobs essential for strong communities and national well- being. Entrepreneurially minded graduates are confident, competent, and successful, regardless of chosen career path. Turn it up! To meet the challenge as educators, we must equip ourselves with the best tools that will foster entrepreneurial mindset. One of those tools is entrepreneurially minded learning (EML), an emerging pedagogy [2–4]. EML requires student action, investment, ownership, and agency. By nature, it is student-centric. EML- trained graduates are prepared to adapt to a changing world, charting their future instead of being subject to it. Using EML, students practice entrepreneurial thinking while learning material that is fundamental to their discipline without compromising in-depth or critical thought. As a pedagogical model, EML has two differentiating elements: opportunity identification and astute judgement regarding the impact of proposed solutions. These two elements are enabled and sustained by the 3C’s of entrepreneurial mindset (curiosity, connections, and creating value). The purpose of this article is to highlight these aspects of EML through examples. The message is loud and clear. There’s a demand for classroom examples that promote entrepreneurially minded learning (EML). Fortunately, many members of KEEN are experimenting in their own classrooms, producing models for a variety of disciplines and topics, both curricular and extracurricular. They’re sharing their EML examples at conferences and through publications. The examples presented in this article are from an electronics course. Admittedly, the topic is narrow. However, I trust that readers will appreciate the underlying ideas. They will translate to other disciplines, courses, and student interests. Adjust the stereo balance (mindset + skillset). Within the variety of institutions and instructors, there is one quasi-standard document that captures a course’s learning objectives and format — the timeless course syllabus. While syllabi vary from instructor to instructor, an ABET-style syllabus is virtually a form of currency that captures the key features of the course. Consequently, the syllabus is not only informational. It is a provisional agreement between the student and instructor, the faculty member and his/her colleagues, and for the institution. Syllabi are woefully deficient in capturing learning objectives apart from a set of performance-based skills. Mindset objectives are almost always absent. Faculty may be uncomfortable with teaching and assessing when it concerns a student mindset. Moreover, some faculty may not even believe it is their responsibility to influence dispositions, attitudes, or motivations. All about that base. When asked what determines a graduate's long-term success in an informal survey, engineering faculty said that 50-70 percent of a graduate's success is associated with mindset, regardless of how respondents define “success.” As a corollary, although respondents say 30-50 percent of a graduate’s success is associated with skillset, a quality skillset cannot be slighted or compromised. Without attempting to sound superficial, facts are fundamental. Since faculty recognize both skillset and mindset as vital, mindset objectives should be part of a syllabus. Teaching toward these objectives should be unflinchingly intentional and not compromise fundamental engineering skills. Hopefully, the example below will convey that this is possible. Remastering the mix. For the purposes of this article, EE210 is a junior-level, introductory course for electrical engineering. It's one of the first courses where students use op-amps and explore non-linear devices (like diodes and transistors) with temperature- dependent, two and three-terminal behavior. A typical syllabus might read as follows . . . Students successfully completing the course will demonstrate: • An ability to analyze the Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT) terminal characteristics, utilize the circuit models to perform the rapid first-order analysis of BJT circuits, and design single-stage BJT amplifiers. • An ability to define and analyze the four basic amplifier models (voltage, current, transconductance, and transresistance). Solve the amplifier’s transfer functions and gain. Increase the dynamic range. If you agree with the majority of the informal “mindset survey” respondents, these skillset outcomes are essential, but not sufficient. They can be balanced by adding select mindset learning outcomes from the KEEN Framework on pg. 24. Based on the 3C's of entrepreneurial mindset, successful students will: • Demonstrate constant curiosity about our changing world. • Explore a contrarian view of accepted solutions. • Integrate information from many sources to gain insight. • Assess and manage risk. • Identify unexpected opportunities to create extraordinary value. • Persist through and learn from failure. By including mindset outcomes in a syllabus, they become part of the course. It is a first step toward EML. It is also a first step toward being intentional about mindset development — and to alert students to its importance. A Sound Case for Entrepreneurially Minded Learning Dr. Douglas E. Melton, The Kern Family Foundation CUEING CURIOSITY: FROM SITUATIONAL TO DISPOSITIONAL Faculty universally agree that curiosity is a key to success. Curiosity is part of entrepreneurial mindset when directed toward trends that reflect the changing world around us. For example, instead of a student’s question, “How does a computer work?” Students will ask, “Where is computing headed in the future?” But instructors ponder how to develop curiosity as a disposition within students. Fundamentally, curiosity is spurred by an information gap. Gaps arise as a result of a contradiction, a utilitarian need, or a pursuit of passion. The gap should not be too low (leading to boredom), or too high (leading to anxiety). Figure 1 shows a well-known characterization of this “sweet spot.” A fundamental principle applies: Situational curiosity, repeated regularly, leads to dispositional curiosity. Accordingly, there are at least three easy ways to stimulate curiosity: Figure 1. Teaching/Learning Efficiency vs. Curiosity Level [19] ACTIVATION (AROUSAL) MAXIMIZINGCURIOSITY EFFICIENCY COMA Zone of Relaxation Unmotivated Disinterested Inefficient Zone of Curiosity Approach Exploration Excitement Interest Zone of Anxiety Avoidance Defensive Disinterested Inefficient ALERTNESS Tonus Level FRENZY View the online version and example assignments at bit.ly/EMLsoundcase 8 9