Rethinking Education to
Prepare Children for Success
in the Knowledge Age
Glenn Ellis
Picker Engineering Program
Smith College
Why hire a U.S. engineer
at 5x the cost?
$$$$$
$
$
Why hire a U.S. engineer
at 5x the cost?
$$$$$
Creativity
Group work
Communication
Information-finding
$
Problem solving
Technological literacy
Continual learning
$
Grand Challenges (NAE)
solar
energy
Make
Provide energy
from fusion
economical
Manage the
nitrogen
cycle
Develop carbon
sequestration
methods
Provide access
to clean
water
urban
infrastructure
Improve
Advance
Engineer better
health
informatics
medicines
Reverse-engineer
the brain
Prevent
Secure
Enhance
nuclear
terror
cyberspace
reality
Advance
Engineer tools
of scientific
personalized
learning
discovery
virtual
Creativity
Group work
Communication
Information-finding
Problem solving
Technological literacy
Continual learning
Futuristic
Business
Creativity
Group work
Communication
Information-finding
Problem solving
Technological literacy
Continual learning
Learning
Sciences
Futuristic
Business
Minimize
content
mastery
Creativity
Group work
Communication
Information-finding
Problem solving
Technological literacy
Continual learning
Learning
Sciences
Emphasize
content
mastery
Futuristic
Business
Learning
Sciences
Creativity
Learning with
Group work
understanding
leads to
Communication
Information-finding
Problem solving
Technological literacy
Continual learning
Direct Learning
Indirect Learning
1. People learn what they process.
2. The skills most likely to
be learned are the minimal
ones necessary to
accomplish the range of
tasks presented.
Futuristic
Business
Learning
Sciences
Creativity
Learning with
Group work
understanding
leads to
Communication
Information-finding
Problem solving
Technological literacy
Continual learning
Futuristic
Business
Learning
Sciences
Creativity
Learning with
Group work
understanding
leads to
Communication
Information-finding
Problem solving
Knowledge
Technological literacy Building
Continual learning
February 14, 2008
Smith College Offers Model for Attracting Women…
…Today’s Christian Science Monitor profiles Glenn Ellis,
a professor who helped develop Smith’s innovative
engineering curriculum, which emphasizes context, ethics,
and communication as much as formulas and equations…
Comments
11. So, there is a push to remove calculus and calculusbased pedagogy because women don’t make as much
as men? …It’s kind of embarrassing actually.
— e buzz miller Feb #15, 01:51 PM #
16. …Strangely enough, my employer expects me to know
math and all that icky stuff.
— Jordan Feb 15, 04:15 PM #
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Breaking: Equations Not All That Important In Engineering
…Well, a Smith College professor found a way around that
for getting women into engineering: Ignore the math…I'm no
expert, but I'm not clear on what you can engineer with
"context, ethics, and communication.”
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Defending Smith College on Engineering
…Engineering isn't the same as science, and you can't be a
good engineer unless you understand the economic, political,
historical, and ethical context of what you're trying to do, as
well as being able to communicate the wisdom of your
design to a broader audience.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Defending Smith College on Engineering
About a week ago I wrote a pretty sarcastic post about the
Smith College engineering program — a Chronicle of
Higher Education piece…said the curriculum "emphasizes
context, ethics, and communication as much as formulas and
equations." …these are in fact important facets to
engineering, so the college might just be exploiting a more
female-friendly niche, not creating bad engineers.
How are plants and animals different?
How are plants and animals different?
Authentic problems
Discourse for sustained idea improvement
Use authoritative sources
Community knowledge, collective responsibility
Students create higher level concepts
Students find own way and monitor progress
What is
consciousness
and can a
machine have it?
Brings in
Descartes
Brings in
Descartes
Brings in
Carl Jung
Brings in
Descartes
Brings in
Carl Jung
Contrasts Descartes with Buddhism
Brings in
Descartes
Brings in
Carl Jung
Contrasts Descartes with Buddhism
Acknowledges new way of thinking
5th Graders
College Students
5th Graders
College Students
Create a statewide
recovery plan to
increase the number
of bald eagles in your
state.
5th Graders
College Students
Generate questions
that you would like to
have answered to
help you learn more
about eagle recovery
plans.
5th Graders
Principals
5th Graders
Principals
Create a statewide
recovery plan to
increase the number
of bald eagles in
your state.
5th Graders
Principals
What would you do
to learn to solve this
problem?
Sequestered Problem Solving
Efficiency…Replicate, Apply
+
Preparation for Future Learning
Innovation…Interpret