1a) The curriculum defines learning as the process of becoming better
at doing something useful through engagement.
I feel pretty strongly that learning is more basic than doing something
useful, because all behavior is learned.
Some action being useful is completely a matter of perspective and is
generally situational. I might add to
the definition that learning is a cumulative effort to alleviate pain either
for oneself or and outside entity.
1b) Competency in one’s field requires sound knowledge of the
basics of that field. Learning to learn
is a continued process of growth the likes of which are necessary for
professionals to stay current in their fields and maintain flexibility.
2) The ABET Engineering Competencies Goal asserts that the goal
of higher education (for engineering students) is to develop students who excel
at the 12 competencies of an educated Engineer.
I’ve included all of the competencies of an educated
Engineer, but have mashed a few of them together because they seemed to work
together.
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Having an education according to ABET means that
you know the information necessary to do your job, and can use it to make
models capable of describing real world situations.
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You should be able to design valid experiments
to get data and be able to interpret it.
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You should design great products that can
succeed in the real world.
- ·
Play a positive role in your teams, and maintain
ethics and professionalism (I added this here because peer pressure and
stressful team environments can be some of the most difficult times to maintain
these traits).
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Break up problems into small pieces to divide
and conquer, state real goals.
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Communicate effectively and connect solutions to
the real world.
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Learn and grow as an individual, and remain
flexible and aware of current societal issues.
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Use modern engineering tools and techniques.
The goals of becoming a competent engineer add up to look
like being good at learning to learn.
3) Getting an education is, in my opinion, the ability to
recall and successfully apply relevant knowledge to basic problems about real
world problems in real world situations.
For engineering this involves making math models, designing experiments
to collect relevant data, communicating well, and working effectively in team
environments. All of these key traits,
to name just a few, must be met in order to consider what you have gained an
education. I could measure if I am
getting an education by asking myself simple leading questions relevant to my
education.
I.E. Could I explain
to a sixth grader the basics of Statics, Mechanics, Thermodynamics, Physics? Can I draw a free body diagram to break down
complex problems? Am I a good group
worker? Do I employ critical thinking
and reflective thinking frequently?
Personally, I want the skills to lead a wholesome life and
support a healthy beneficial career. I
want to be helpful, seem competent, to the people around me and the world. This means that I require the basic skills to
solve problems and flexibility to learn new skills and know how to educate and
motivate myself daily.
4) Neuroplasticity has replaced the belief that the brain is a
physiologically static organ and explores the way the brain changes throughout
life. It occurs on a variety of levels
ranging from minute cellular changes due to learning to complete remapping due
to heavy trauma.
An excellent example of neuroplasticity would be habitual
behavior, which can be hard to overcome.
I am a big time procrastinator, and this behavior continues to plague me
even though I wish it weren’t so. My
mother has always procrastinated, so this could easily be learned behavior
which has been reinforced as I continue to procrastinate.
5) I might start explaining Dweck’s MindSet theory by saying
that our actions are driven by our beliefs or factors which we believe are most
important. We know that Steve Jobs didn’t
really have much care for personal appearance, and even didn’t bathe, but he
did care about success, problem solving, and was always at the top of his game
because he knew critical information in his field. Successful professionals obviously follow
some variation of the growth mindset.
They do this because it gives them the tools and critical information
necessary.
6) The belief to results chain is a series interpretation of
how we process information and turn that information into results. It begins with topic specific beliefs, our
thoughts and emotional response to the topic, our actions to those thoughts and
emotion responses, and then our analysis or reflection on the topic.
We know that we can control specifically two factors. We can change our beliefs at any time we feel
they are no longer appropriate or need adjustment. We can control whether or not we choose to
act, and how we choose to act. The
emotional response and thoughts are based upon our beliefs and the results will
differ based on both our beliefs and actions.
Professionals need only keep the BRC in mind when thinking
and reflecting to make important changes or receive positive personal
reinforcement.
7) I would describe deliberate practice as taking time to
practice fundamentals really well.
Practice literally refers to going through the motions of doing a
particular task over and over until you are extremely competent at it. Competent professionals would simply do this
process over and over again without fear to their personal advantage. They would give group members the knowledge
through explanation in the hopes that their group would pick up and utilize the
skill as well.
