Ep. 27 -Student Power and Light: Hidden Keys to Transforming Higher Ed When conversations turn to reforming or transforming higher education, weighty tomes are written, groups of faculty & administrators assemble, and new plans are made and executed, often without consulting or involving a single student. In recent times, business has gotten better at listening to the "voice of the…
Ep. 26 - Podcasting and Social Media as Continuing Higher Education: A Conversation with Jeff Shelton Technology has opened many doors to new kinds of educational media. Podcasts and live internet radio, such as Big Beacon Radio, are among these relatively new kinds of media, and in this episode, host Dave Goldberg interviews Jeff Shelton, producer and co-host of The Engineering…
Post contributed by Chuck Pezeshki Introduction Folks in the academic community may be following the Halloween costume conflict at Yale, involving the issue of cultural appropriation. You’re probably wondering how this could be relevant to engineering education? It matters for one big reason – Big Beacon, through advancing models of education like Olin College’s, counts on the idea of students…
Ep. 14 - Organizations, Culture and Higher Education: An Interview with Edgar Schein Bringing change to higher education is often framed as a problem of creating new content, curriculum, and pedagogy, but higher education has a history that goes back to the 11th century and a culture that has evolved over centuries to its current state. And “culture” is a word…
Job Opportunity in Lima, Peru! UTEC (Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología) is looking for a Director of their Learning Center. Requirements Ph.D degree in Engineering, Higher Education or in related fields. Five or more years of combined experience in the industry or learning centers is required. Engineering background would be preferable, but exceptional candidates from other fields will also be…
Ep. 8 - The Leadership Coaching Revolution in Higher Education The use of leadership coaches has exploded in corporations and other organizations. Eric Schmidt and Bill Gates say “everyone needs a coach,” and increasingly in the C-suite, almost everyone has one. And the reasons for this growth are becoming clearer. When individuals are coached, they become more effective with improvements…
With National Engineering Month now behind us, it’s time to reflect on the benefits of diversity within engineering and technology professions, and in general. We'll be convening on #EngCulture and encourage you to join us! All are welcome to the conversation: engineering students, engineering technology students, educators and professionals, and anyone who is affected by engineering (which is everyone!) the #EngCulture online event…
Did you know that March is National Engineering Month? It’s Canada’s biggest celebration of engineering and technology, its people and its effects on society. For the first time ever, National Engineering Month 2015 will include a completely virtual event. Intended to facilitate a conversation amongst engineering students, engineering technology students, educators and professionals, the #EngCulture online event will consist of…
I've spent the last several years of my engineering career thinking very carefully about what engineers can and can't do. So far my conclusions are that engineers can have tremendous impact in areas that you might not expect - ending poverty, fighting injustice, creating jobs, saving lives. The engineering profession's scope is well beyond the boundaries of the purely technical.…
Welcome to the Big Beacon twitter chat, where we explore ideas and community relevant to the transformation of engineering education every week. Look for hashtag #BigBeacon every Wednesday at 8 pm EST. This week Wednesday September 25th will be a discussion around Engineering Orientation, sometimes called Frosh Week, Freshers Week, or Welcome Week. For many engineering students, it's a…