#BigBeacon Twitter Chat – February 10 – Entrepreneurial Mindset as a “plus and”

Design thinking. Makerspaces. Sustainability. Lean Thinking. T-Shaped Professionals. Grand Challenge Scholars.

Engineering education is transforming, utilizing all the movements listed above to engage students, improve outcomes, and move away from calcified lecture formats. All these movements seem separate – a choice that faculty have to make from a menu of options. But what if these movements had something in common; a vital element that equips graduates for success and prepares them for an ever changing world? They do: it’s the entrepreneurial mindset.

In our next Big Beacon Twitter chat, we’ll explore how all these movements in engineering education are really an addition, or “plus and,” to the entrepreneurial mindset. This “plus and” allows every faculty member to have tandem goals for students – to develop both the technical skillsets and entrepreneurial mindsets – equipping them for success.

Why should faculty and students care about this mindset? Think about it; behind every revolutionary market-changing idea or product, whether in a new venture or existing organization, is at least one individual who thinks differently; someone with an entrepreneurial mindset. Now this mindset is not a genetic trait, or something that only a select few possess. It can be taught and integrated into curriculum, developing the “know-why” in addition to the technical “know-how.”

To that end, we’ll explore the importance of student attitudes, intrinsic motivations, and why it is important for students to question assumptions while working on problems with members of these movements in engineering education. We’ll also ask members of these movements about best practices and resources to equip students with the entrepreneurial mindset.

Join the discussion this Wednesday, February 10 at 8pm ET using the #BigBeacon hastag.

About KEEN

The Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) is a collaboration of U.S. universities that strive to instill an entrepreneurial mindset in undergraduate engineering students. KEEN’s mission is to graduate engineers with an entrepreneurial mindset so they can create personal, economic, and societal value through a lifetime of meaningful work. In a dynamic and interconnected world, it is critical for undergraduate engineering schools to teach technical skills while fostering curiosity, connections, and the creation of value. KEEN promotes collaboration among institutions and individuals who share this compelling vision.

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 log in. At 8 PM 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 you are posting. Alternatively, automate the hashtag search and append feature by using the free service Tchat at http://www.tchat.io.