Developing Engineering Talent

Pete Reynolds Blog February 27, 2020September 18, 2024Engineering Talent Development, STEM

In our work with schools over the past 4 years we’ve noted some key gaps in experiences and skills that limit what students are able to accomplish on K-12 engineering projects. We’ve also noticed that pulling in the resources that can support students as they take on more complex work is much easier when there’s a chance to see students do great things.

There are systems in place that allow kids coming out of high school to perform at a very high level in music or sports.

What if we did the same for engineering?

At Learn Deep we see the potential for a great K-12 farm system to develop diverse engineering talent in Milwaukee and want to get that moving as a collaborative effort. On Tuesday, we took the first step by convening a working session that included K-12 educators, engineering faculty, industry mentors, and organizations with STEM/engineering programming for K-12 students. As a group we used that session to identify the gaps in skills and experiences that slow their development of talents useful in engineering.

photo of Learn Deep workshop attendees discussing engineering talent development approaches — educators, engineers and academics discuss gaps in developing great engineering talent.

What makes for an effective problem solver?

We put together the diagram here a few years ago as we pondered this question. Effective problem solvers draw on each of these 4 areas:

Experiences
What does this problem remind me of?

How I felt
How people reacted
What worked
What didn’t work
etc…

Knowledge
What knowledge can I bring?

Math
Technology
Design
Psychology
History
Tools are appropriate for a problem like this,
etc…

Relationships
Who do I know that can:

Support me
Provide guidance/advice
Connect me to others
Act as a mentor
etc…?

Skills
What skills can I bring?

Analytical
Creative
Communication
Collaboration
Prototyping
etc…

Dispositions
I bring:

Curiosity
Grit
Growth mindset
Openness
etc…

We have been using this insight in the development of many of our projects to date, including our unique Zoo Train Engineering project.

What would we like to see as students develop talents that are valued in engineers?

Not surprisingly, this structure works pretty well for talking through what we heard from the group.

Experiences

Building things
Working with tools
Working with materials and other resources
Designing solutions for real world problems
Using mathematical reasoning to flesh out and evaluate design options
Working as part of a team
Problem solving in a context that emphasizes process over results
Working alongside a college student or professional to understand how they approach engineering challenges
Presenting their work to an authentic audience

Knowledge

Comfort with introductory statistics
“Calculus ready” math knowledge by high school graduation
Physics
Understanding of how materials go together

Relationships

Knowing an engineer that “looks like me”
Feeling part of a team

Skills

Spatial thinking
Effective time management
Able to listen to and understand a customer’s needs
Able to use empathy and observation to identify or understand a problem someone else has.
Able to build a solid understanding of a problem before jumping to solutions
Able to effectively communicate one’s ideas

Dispositions

Able to self direct learning
Willingness to explore “risky” options
Having a sense of ownership of one’s work
Resourcefulness — willing to seek out help or other resources to gain understanding
Willingness to accept “failure”– e.g. recognize that a solution does not work and learn from that.
Willingness to recognize that the first, last, or their own idea for a possible solution may not be the best approach
Problem seeking — willingness to see out problems that might be interesting to solve

What do effective farm systems in other domains look like?

In preparation for the session we pulled together the following table, which sketches out the formal and informal opportunities students have to develop their talents in sports and music. As one ponders what a farm system for engineering talent might look like, one question that jumps out to us is where are the opportunities for play, and are they available to students who’s families may not have the resources to provide materials which can allow that to happen.

Setting	Sports	Music
Informal play	Pick up games with friends/family, might include a mix of ages; no requirement for full field or team–e.g. play with what and who you have availableNo emphasis on practice, but one might get some informal coaching/feedback from other participants during play (“nice pass”, “next time you are doing that, look for…”)	Play alone or with friends/family. Might include a mix of ages; no requirement for specific combination of instruments–e.g. play with what and who you have available.No emphasis on practice, but one might get some informal coaching/feedback from other participants during play (“nice lick”, “next time you are doing that, look for…”)
Informal practice	Practice skills on one’s own or with friends/family	Practice skills on one’s own or with band mates
School class: play + practice	Major focus is on play, with some practice of skills	Major focus is on play, with some practice of skills
School team/group or development program: focused practice + play	regular practice aimed at skill development regular play as an opportunity to exercise skills strong social component with an opportunity to learn from more skilled peers	regular practice aimed at skill developmentregular play as an opportunity to exercise skillsstrong social component with an opportunity to learn from more skilled peers
Private lessons: focused practice	regular practice and feedback aimed at skill development	regular practice and feedback aimed at skill development
Master Class		Feedback from outside professionals with emphasis on skill development
Performances/games; competitions/tournaments	demonstration play with chance to test skills against peers	demonstration play; chance to test skills against peers
Opportunities to guide younger participants:	youth coach or ref	?
Opportunities to observe others:	Games played by peers, Professional games, You tube videos of games and skills	Music played by peers Professional concerts, You tube videos of concerts and skills

So what might an effective farm system for engineering talent look like?

Key ideas that came out of our discussion include:

Programming/curriculum is aligned across grade levels so that students have a chance to build on skills they’ve begun to develop;
Students and teachers are able to engage with industry expertise in the context of authentic projects. The easiest way for industry to participate is to have a clear ask– what expertise do you need when to do what. Having something concrete to respond to makes it much easier for a firm to see how well that effort aligns with their own goals for community engagement or talent development.
Students are given the opportunity to practice in context. Students need multiple opportunities to run through the engineering design cycle on projects that matter to them.
Students have a chance to prototype and work with materials throughout the design process and use that experience to refine their thinking about both the problem at hand and potential solutions.
Projects are structured with a strong emphasis on process to help students resist the temptation to jump to a solution before understanding the problem, be willing to explore “riskier” ideas, and to aim for knowledge gain over “the right solution”.
Students have informal opportunities to play with engineering in the same ways they might with music or sports.
Students build technical skills in math and physics in concert with engineering design. PLTW is not a substitute for a math or physics class, but a complement to it.
There is a community of practitioners working together to develop engineering talent. That community includes K-12 educators, university faculty, organizations that provide STEM programming, and industry expertise willing to work with students. Through ongoing collaboration, this community can build and strengthen the relationships that allow its members to find new opportunities for students.

What’s next?

Our next two Collab Labs provide opportunities to explore some of the ideas raised in this session. The March 12th session is focused on our Career Interviews project. We’re working with UWM and area high schools to prototype a process where students interview folks engaged in interesting work in Milwaukee. Beyond giving students a broader sense of what’s possible to do, we see this collaborative effort as an easy way for students to make an initial connection with folks in industry.

Our April Collab Lab will focus on tapping industry expertise. This will be an opportunity to take a deeper look at the types of engagements most valuable to educators and students, what makes that engagement worthwhile for both individuals and their employers, and what could help reduce the friction around matching expertise with educators who want to leverage it.

Join us for either or both sessions to share your perspective and ideas.

As we continue to digest what we heard at the session and in conversations that have continued afterwards, we have a couple of other ideas we’re exploring. Stay tuned or let us know if you’d like to get involved!

One more thing…

One of the folks I connected with as we planned Tuesday’s session was Shannon Smyth, the Youth Technical Director for the North Shore United Soccer Club. Shannon trains youth coaches in the methods recently adopted by US Soccer not just as a way to help students more rapidly develop technical skills, but to build broader participation and the creative talent of players coming up through the system. Shannon sees a lot of parallels between efforts to keep girls engaged in sport and those to keep them engaged in STEM. We shared an overview of the Play-Practice-Play model Shannon uses in advance of the session. You can find that here.

Collab Lab 63: Recap & Notes
October 29, 2024

The ability of teachers and students to engage effectively in difficult conversations, across that gap or amongst peers is central to creating the kinds of opportunities we want for students. At a bare minimum, those skills are needed to offer and receive effective feedback on student’s work. They are even more important if we want to engage students (and teachers) on challenging topics or to drive change within their school or in the broader community. The centrality of those skills seemed like a good place to kick off our 9th season of Collab Labs. On October 10th we gathered at UWM’s Lubar Entrepreneurship Center for Collab Lab 63 and a discussion focused on Empowering All Voices. Our work for the evening engaged participants to map factors that allow all voices to participate in brave conversations. The maps shown here were captured and included here unedited. The primary two goals of creating this experience for the attendees were to: Discuss and reflect on what group members with different backgrounds but shared purpose consider relevant factors and how they relate and impact each other. Reflect on how you would apply the insights generated to your own ‘self-management’ in a group setting with familiar and unfamiliar participants. We did not explicitly ask attendees to consider a K12 setting with teacher-student(s) and teacher-teacher interactions. We are in the process of integrating these maps into our larger model, and will share that work in a subsequent post. What do you see in the maps when you look a bit more closely? Are there commonalities that stand out to you? What would be a question you might ask (one of the teams) to help connect some dots or further complete the map? Thanks again to our Featured Participants: Hannah Fox — Health Education Coordinator, Sixteenth Street Community Health CentersSerina Jamison — Program Director, Future Urban LeadersYesi Pérez — Neighborhood Revitalization Project Manager, Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers Chris Willey — Director of Technology, Islands of Brilliance Thanks also to Ben Trager from UWM’s Center for Student Experience & Talent for hosting us at UWM, and to his Ed Policy students who were a great addition to the conversation. Join us on November 14th for Collab Lab 64: Place Based Engagement

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Collab Lab 59: Recap & Notes
February 9, 2024

After a break in January, our Collab Lab Series resumed last night with a session focused on dealing with setbacks and recognizing wins. Challenges Began the discussion with an inventory of the challenges and setbacks students face when they work together on open ended projects. These challenges primarily revolve around: Expectations Focus on grades Belief that their voice won’t matter Opposing wants — freedom vs control Expectations are unclear An ability to deal with uncertainty Lack of confidence Being open to the idea that there is no one right answer Aversion to risk/failure Communication & collaboration Inability for team members to agree on a common approach Ability to deal with personality conflicts within a team Ability to give and receive constructive criticism Lack of accountability Lack of feedback Project structure Project lacks structure that would allow students to make progress Space/time to iterate Access to resources necessary to effectively take on the challenge Skills Ability to arrive at a good definition/understanding of the problem at hand Time management Need for higher level thinking skills Strategies In our second round, our discussion shifted to look at strategies to help students address each of these challenges. Expectations Set clear expectations with examples Set up an environment with clear expectations for communication, collaboration, willingness to learn from things that did not go as expected. Dealing with uncertainty Students have repeated opportunities to immerse themselves in the challenge and circle back with their teacher for input and guidance Acknowledge big feelings to help understand that “failure” is not personal Communication & collaboration Understand the context of students life beyond school and what they may need to work effectively with peers Small, frequent check-ins Create time/space for purposeful reflection Project Structure Students are given a clear view of the process they will follow to arrive at a solution even if they can’t yet see where it might lead Decompose challenge into smaller pieces Structure challenges students to stretch at each step of the process, but those steps are within reach, and build on each other Connect students with what they need when Repeated opportunities to practice and develop skills within the context of the project Skills Both students and teachers are equipped with the skills they need/supported in their development of those skills Skills required build on those already acquired A Simple Tool With this inventory in hand, we recounted the story of the Number Talks Quick Refence Card that was developed out of a project we did with K-12 teachers and UWM Math faculty. That project supported teams of teachers who wanted to establish Number Talks as a regular practice in their elementary school classrooms. Though teachers could clearly see the value of the practice, it was something new, so they wanted something that could rely on to help keep them on the right path. One of the teachers suggested a small card of reminders that should could hold and glance down at while working with students. The card we developed includes three sections: Talk Moves (strategies), Probes (questions to ask), and Pats on the Back (signs that things are working). As the final exercise of the night, we asked each of our discussion groups to develop their own Quick Reference Cards for open ended projects. Here’s what they came up with: Group 1 Moves Give yourself time Accept “I don’t know” Build personal connections You’ve got this Accept congratulations Probes Tell me more… How might we…? Pats on the Back I was afraid to try this but I did anyway Group 2 Moves Yes, and? Build community Set Goals Normalize failure Probes What did we learn? What is your why? What makes you uncomfortable? What do you bring to the team? How might we…? Pats on the Back Unprompted reflection Group 3 Moves Are students in the right groups? What does this student need? How is my relationship with this student? Probes How will you define success? Pats on the Back Students are engaged Students are gaining essential skills Students give and receive feedback Students get the feedback they need Students move from “I” to “we” Thanks again to our Featured Participants: PJ Dever — Executive Director for Playworks in Wisconsin Lana M. Minshew — Assistant Professor, Director of the Human-Centered Design Lab at the Medical College of Wisconsin Nina Johnston — Program Manager of the Human-Centered Design Lab at the Medical College of Wisconsin A big thanks also goes out to Anthony, Audrey, Connor, Olivia, & Madeline, Architecture students at UWM. They are joining us this semester for Collab Labs and other sessions we run at the STEM Center as part of service learning field experience for Arch 302. In another example of 1 + 1 = 3, The students gain a field experience as they look at the design of learning spaces (in this case the STEM Center), we get help setting things up and cleaning up after each session, and our Collab Lab participants get the perspective of 5 individuals not far removed from K-12 who find themselves navigating open-ended, collaborative, community-engaged projects. Thanks also to MSOE’s STEM Center for hosting the Collab Lab Series, as well as the students from Pathways High School and Bradley Tech who joined in person/on Zoom.

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Collab Lab 57: Recap & Notes
November 16, 2023

Following the Hero’s Journey theme of Collab Labs this season, our November session explored stepping out of the known world and dealing with uncertainty. Our discussion began with an exploration of the uncertainty participating teachers and students already deal with in school. That set some context for the next round of conversations focused on fears/worries about engaging students in open-ended challenges. We wrapped up the discussion with an inventory of strategies and practices teachers, students, and attendees from outside of K-12 have seen or use to manage uncertainty around projects — whether that is where the project will lead or how the team will get there. This week we pulled those factors into a system map, connecting elements based on what we heard in the discussions. What’s striking, though not unexpected, is the importance of trust and open communication in all of this. It is what allows both teachers and students to take some risks, try something new, and be willing to accept and learn from efforts that don’t work out as hoped. You can view the system map here, and we welcome your thoughts and input on what else we might include, or how we might better repent the dynamics at play. Those of you who have explored the map produced from last seasons sessions focused on feelings of safety and affirmation at school, will recognize a number of familiar elements. Going forward, we’ll be looking at how we can merge or otherwise use these maps and what we hear in upcoming Collab Labs to paint a more complete picture of the forces at play when we look to offer students the hands-on community-engaged learning experiences they deserve. … Next up on our Hero’s Journey, we meet the mentors and helpers as we explore what it takes to support authentic work. Join us on December 14th for Collab Lab 58. Thanks again to our Featured Participants: Amber Henzig: Scrum Master & Servant Leader, Johnson Controls Kelsey Otero: Senior Director of Community Engagement, Marquette University Sean Campbell: Teacher at Pathways High School, Milwaukee Thanks also to MSOE’s STEM Center for hosting the Collab Lab Series, as well as the students from Pathways High School and Bradley Tech who joined in person/on Zoom.

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Collab Lab 56: Recap & Notes
October 18, 2023

For our 8th season of Collab Labs, we’re exploring how the lens of the Hero’s Journey can inform how we approach community-engaged project based learning, and what more we can offer students when we do so. Over the course of the 2023-24 season, each of our Collab Labs will focus on a different phase of the Hero’s Journey. We kicked things off last week with Collab Lab 56, a session focused on the call to adventure. How do we motivate our students to take the first couple of steps on their own learning journey? How do we channel the enthusiasm of some students who clearly identify with a topic and want to set off in pursuit of the prize, bypassing what we as educators believe are essential knowledge and skills in the order we believe these ought to be learned? What makes a call compelling for students? We began our discussion with the question, “What makes a call compelling to students?” As attendees explored the conditions for getting students engaged in a big challenge they noted: Authenticity of subject, intrinsic motivation A teacher’s excitement & confidence Proximal development Involvement in ‘the process’ Confidence in the person leading the process >> proper guidance and support, constant work on trust and relationships Align with student’s experience and expertise, attitudes and aptitudes (don’t set the student up for failure) Culturally responsive and relevant The end result will be tangible (Appropriate) level of autonomy & power to choose the path that seems most interesting or rewarding Additionally, much relies on (role modeling) a certain mindset: Overcoming competing forces that may hold someone back Failure is an opportunity to learn. “A bump in the road is not the road itself” What has your experience been with creating compelling ‘call to adventure’ for your students? What do educators and students need to commit to the journey? With that inventory in place, we moved to a discussion of what needs to be in place for students (and their teachers) to commit to the journey.On the student side, that includes: Trusting relationships, respect, sense of belonging Build an iterative experience that gets progressively more challenging Create oral/written feedback opportunities that encourage engagement Defined roles based on prior experience Adjust composition of the learning space to reflect the work Normalizing uncertainty Being able to see your peers as resources Learning how to co-create Know and/or find yourself as a learner (EQ) Develop understanding of what ‘commit’ means Barriers for students fully participating in these challenges include: Housing instability Health issues, Food availability May exist outside the school environment >> teacher less aware Overall stability inside & outside the learning environment For educators, the list includes: Bring (or gain) personal experience with the journey you’re asking students to take on. Professional development on relevant concepts, such as PBL, collaboration, etc., by experts >> those actually doing this work, from a ‘learner first’ perspective >> practical, hands on Best practices that are share across schools and districts A framework for designing and managing, similar to ‘design thinking’ Sustainable partnerships to 1) support student projects and 2) share resources (how do you) develop community support for a different approach to learning (time and energy to) Pursue grants to help support ‘extra’: field experiences, resources, PD, etc. Admin support for taking risks with experiments. If you are a teacher, how are you navigating the hurdles to offering student driven inquiry projects to your students? In the discussion of barriers for students, several participants brought up a recent piece in the New York Times that noted that economic stability and integration of families, as well as higher levels of teacher pay in the US Defense Department’s schools were among key factors that allow those schools to outperform public school systems. You can find the article here. One caveat noted in the discussion– the focus of these schools is on a standardized curriculum with traditional models of instruction. A special thanks for our featured guest, Andi Gomoll from Gomoll Research & Design who brought her extensive experience with understanding what motivates and engages users (customers) to the conversation. And, as always, we’re appreciative of MSOE for letting us make use of the NM Lab in the WE Energies STEM Center every month. Up Next Collab Lab 57: Dealing with Uncertainty Thursday November 9th, 5:30 to 8:30 pm at MSOE’s STEM Center Actively using some form of PBL with your students and looking for ideas or encouragement from others? Consider joining your peers in the inspirED Community.

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Collab Labs Return
September 6, 2023

We’ll be back at MSOE’s STEM Center on Thursday October 12th to kick off our 8th season of Collab Labs. If you’ve been looking for an opportunity build connections with individuals who share your passion to do more for students, exchange ideas with folks inside and outside of K-12, and explore opportunities to collaborate, this is the place to do so. If you are a student that would like to see your school value all that you can bring, take on real challenges, and build connections to the broader community, this is your place to. Building off our experience with students in our April and May Collab Labs, we’re now extending a formal invite to middle and high school students who want to be part of the conversation. Our discussion topic for October is Heeding the Call of the Student — where do we hear that want to go, how can create opportunities for their concerns and passions to drive a richer exploration of what you had hoped to cover anyway? Collab Labs run 5:30 to 8:30 pm on the 2nd Thursday of each month October through May, except for January. There is no cost to attend, and beyond great people and great conversations, we provide food and drinks. We look forward to seeing you there.

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Collab Lab 55: Recap & Notes
May 18, 2023

How does mental health manifest itself in k12education? How is it compromised and what are the levers we may use to positively impact the learning culture for our students (and teachers etc.) May is Mental Health Month. It felt appropriate to continue the work our #CollabLab54 attendees had begun with a follow up conversation. So last Thursday, we hosted Collab Lab 55 to create a safe space for conversations about the factors that influences mental health negatively/positively for students, teachers and others, such as trust, empathy in education, difficult conversations etc.. Building on our first conversation in April, we gave our attendees a first draft of a model map of factors we collected together. Attendees at each table reviewed this map for accuracy and completeness using their particular perspective. They could focus on a specific area, review it as a particular stakeholder, etc. This was truly a ‘kitchen table conversation’ where people from different backgrounds, ages and experiences engaged in open dialog about what they experience every day. Together we identified how many of these factors are connected (but differently for teachers and students) and what we might do to break through the negative cycle many are experiencing. You can find our updated mapping here: Where might this lead?- Over the coming months, we’d like to see additional conversations taking place with people representing all stakeholders at the table- We’re going to make our STEM Studio time available over the summer for teachers (and students) to participate in a student project design lab.- we’d like see a project develop to add stories from students, teachers, parents to the map as illustrations of when culture ‘works’ to affirm students and build a positive culture of respect and collaboration in learning. There are many more opportunities that present themselves from having a comprehensive mapping like this. We’ll be exploring those over the coming months. Curious about the map that’s is under development? Have an idea you’d like to explore to address youth mental health in education? Since this was our final official Collab Lab of the 2022-23 school year, We want to thank Milwaukee School of Engineering for offering the use of the STEM Center this year (and again in the coming school year!), as well as Northwestern Mutual for sponsoring ‘our lab room’ in the STEM Center. The Collab Lab formula keeps getting better every season. We’re grateful for all of our attendees who came out for one of the Thursday evening sessions. We look forward to seeing many of you again next season and can’t wait to hear what cool learning you are offering your students as a result of the conversations you’ve had. Have a great summer!

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Developing Engineering Talent

What makes for an effective problem solver?

What would we like to see as students develop talents that are valued in engineers?

What do effective farm systems in other domains look like?

So what might an effective farm system for engineering talent look like?

What’s next?

One more thing…

2024-25 Collab Labs

Collab Lab 65: Beyond Skills – Building Capabilities

Collab Lab 66: Engaging Families

Collab Lab 67: Connecting to Community

Collab Lab 68: Making Progress in a Turbulent System

Collab Lab 69: Celebrate & Re/Connect