I would like to interrupt the normal, ongoing discussions concerning the post-mortem of the 2009 season and prognostications about 2010 for a diversionary discourse on an important meta-topic.
Three weeks before the FIRST Championships in Atlanta, Dr. Woodie Flowers gave a great presentation at Olin College on the transformation of engineering education.
The video of the lecture provides some wonderful insights into Woodie's concerns about the future of engineering as an academic pursuit and a profession (note that he refers to "Karan" in the beginning of the video - Karan Watson spoke just before him at the Engineer of the Future Summit, and she is the one to whom he is referring).
Particularly eye-opening is the discussion, about a third of the way through, concerning "what/where did you learn?" vs. "what/where did you use?" If that does not make you seriously ask the question "why do we keep trying to learn this way?" then nothing will. The points that follow, and why they are so important, will be obvious to this audience.
Woodie's comments during this presentation provide a great background for further understanding (and amplifying) many of the comments Woodie made during his introductory speech in Atlanta.
-dave
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