Ep. 4 -The Lassonde School and the Education of Renaissance Professionals After years of relative stability in higher education, a small number of engineering schools are emerging around the world to forge a new vision of what it means to be a professional. In this episode host Dave Goldberg interviews Janusz Kozinski, founding dean of one of the newest engineering…
Ep. 3 - John Kotter: Leading Change in Higher Education Organizations are facing unprecedented calls for change, higher education included, yet leading change in established organizations is a daunting task. One of the keenest architects and practitioners of effective change leadership processes and practices is John Kotter, Harvard Business School professor emertitus and Chairman of Kotter International. In this episode,…
Working to make any kind of important change in the world can be difficult, stressful, and at times, unfulfilling. Our University Innovation Fellows are trying to change the way colleges and universities educate students. Many of them have encountered resistance from their peers and faculty, and many of them have failed at one point or another in their efforts. In…
A new higher education radio program has hit the Voice America airwaves: Big Beacon Radio, Transforming Higher Education. Each month the show interviews a mover and shaker from the world of higher education transformation & reform or discusses topics of interest to change in higher education. Learn more about the program, here.
Is engineering for everyone? How exclusive is our profession, and what can we do about it? 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 will consist of a live chat on twitter starting at 8 pm. On May 13th 2015, at 8 pm, we…
Big Beacon's latest endeavor to spread the word about transforming higher education is Big Beacon Radio, a monthly broadcast on Voice America. Listen here, or subscribe on iTunes. The first episode featuring Olin College's Rick Miller is available here.
If engineering education is going to change, then that change needs to be advocated by the students who will make up the future of engineering. Meet Athena Lin, an undergraduate engineering student at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who is doing just that. How did you first get involved with Big Beacon? Last June, I came across Dave’s writings about engineering…
Preparing college graduates for careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) is a national education priority in the United States. According to a report published by the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, fewer than 40 percent of students who enter college intending to major in a STEM field actually complete a STEM degree. Many organizations have…
Today, Kate MacArthur of the Blue Sky blog of the Chicago Tribune posted an interview with Big Beacon president Dave Goldberg. In it Goldberg was quoted as saying: What do we want today? We want the next Steve Jobs. We want young people that are courageous. We need to move from a university system that demands obedience of its young…
Dr. Meagan Pollock will be speaking at the Engineers Without Borders Conference! The technological forces changing our world have illuminated a new path, a path leading to a whole new engineer, an engineer appropriate to our time and the foreseeable future, appropriate to the eager young people of our world, appropriate to those who wish to join the excitement of…