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…
#BigBeacon Twitter chat on Wednesday, June 17, 8pm ET: Join twitter chat (Hashtag: #BigBeacon) regulars as they join CUBE Consulting’s Morgan Bakies (@mmbakies) and Josh Graham (@CUBEuiuc) for a twitter discussion of Junior Enterprise: Transforming Education regarding diversity education for engineers. The usual Socratic questions will be posed and all twitter chat participants will be encouraged to engage in a…
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.
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…
Engineering: It’s not just about skill. It’s about a mindset. Technical understanding is essential to engineering, but in order to truly unleash engineers to fulfill their potential, we must look deeper than just technical aptitude. Engineers find success and personal fulfillment when they couple technical skills with a mindset to create extraordinary value for others. Possessing an entrepreneurial mindset is…
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…
Join host @deg511 (Dave Goldberg) for a #BigBeacon twitter chat on The Benefits and Challenges of Combining Liberal Arts and Technology & Engineering. The following are some of the Qs explored in the chat: What benefits are gained by combining liberal education and technology and engineering education. What challenges are presented by so doing? Where is this currently being done? Are such…