Listening to Stakeholders – 5/15/2013 TwitterChat

This week’s #BigBeacon Twitter Chat will focus on the ways in which engineering education listens to and collaborates with its stakeholders. Participants will be challenged to identify scenarios that can motivate, inspire, and initiate change, challenging the status quo and transforming engineering education. We will chat about who the stakeholders are for engineering education, how each listens to the other, and the benefits of collaboration.

Big Beacon Manifesto #23 states: A whole new engineering education listens to and collaborates with all stakeholders. BB Founder Dave Goldberg says, “If there were one habit we can implement to influence engineering education, it would be listening.” Read his blog post on how we must listen first to effectively collaborate.

Special Guests

Three special guests tweeters will join us, Dr. Richard Gale (@richardgaletx), Dave Dimmett (@ddimmett), and Morgan Bakies (@mmbakies).

Dr. Richard Gale is an engineer turned educator. After a long and successful career in MEMS technology at Texas Instruments, he began a second career as a professor of engineering at Texas Tech University. He has been instrumental in developing and leading  an industry-university collaboration between TI and TTU, that equips engineering students to meet specific needs at TI. The perspective Dr. Gale will offer our chat is one from both industry and higher ed.

Dave Dimmett is Senior Vice President and Chief Engagement Officer for Project Lead the Way. Before joining PLTW, Dimmett was Chief Academic Officer at the Evansville Vanderburgh School Corporation (EVSC), where he was instrumental in leading innovation and unprecedented improvements in student achievement throughout the district. Dimmett facilitated all curricular and instructional work, developed strategic partnerships, and implemented several innovative school models.The perspective Dave will offer our chat is one from both K-12 and as an engineering curriculum developer.

Morgan Bakies is a sophomore in chemical engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign currently completing a study abroad semester in Wales. As an engineering student, she is a stakeholder in her own education, and she will represent this perspective in our chat. Read her latest blog on this topic.

Questions for reflection:

1) Who do you think are the stakeholders in engineering education, and to what extent are they collaborating?

2) How does engineering education benefit from collaboration with stakeholders? Why is this important?

3) What are some examples of engineering education LISTENING to stakeholders? Where are there successes/breakdowns?

4) BBM #5 states: The whole new engineer is mindful, observant, and an effective listener. How could this skillset influence engineering education?

What other questions would you like to see on this chat? Please leave your comments on this post. 

How to Twitter Chat

If you’ve never twitter chatted before, don’t worry; it’s very easy.  First, get a twitter account if you don’t already have one and sign into it.  At 8pm ET on Wednesday go to twitter.com and type #BigBeacon into the search box on twitter.  Thereafter all the tweets with the hashtag #BigBeacon will show up on your twitter page.  To participate, simply express your opinion by sending a tweet and be sure to append the hashtag #BigBeacon so other members of the twitter chat see your posting.  Alternatively, sign into the free service tweetchat.com, type in the hashtag #BigBeacon, and tweetchat will automate the search and hashtag append functions for you.

Join us!

Join us on Wednesday, 15 May at 8pm ET for the #BigBeacon twitter chat on engineering education listening to and collaborating with stakeholders.