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Applications of Teams and Stories: Augmenting the Development of Entrepreneurial Mindset in Engineers

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Conference

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Baltimore , Maryland

Publication Date

June 25, 2023

Start Date

June 25, 2023

End Date

June 28, 2023

Conference Session

Committee on Educational Policy Presents: Pillars of Professional Development

Tagged Division

Civil Engineering Division (CIVIL)

Page Count

16

DOI

10.18260/1-2--42274

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/42274

Download Count

133

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Paper Authors

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Ellen Zerbe Georgia Institute of Technology

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Adjo A. Amekudzi-Kennedy Georgia Institute of Technology

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Professor Adjo Amekudzi-Kennedy’s research, teaching and professional activities focus on civil infrastructure decision making to promote sustainable development. She studies complex real-world systems and develops infrastructure decision support system

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Kevin Haas Georgia Institute of Technology

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Associate Chair of Undergraduate Programs, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

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Robert Benjamin Simon Georgia Institute of Technology

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Robert Simon serves as an Academic Professional for the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at Georgia Tech. He contributes to our undergraduate Global Engineering Leadership Minor, as well as our new Innovation & Entrepreneurship track, by infusing leadership, innovation, and team effectiveness into our engineering curriculum. He co-instructs our Innovation & Entrepreneurship in CEE Systems course, and is a member of the instructional team for several CEE undergraduate courses.

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Janece Shaffer

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Janece Shaffer, award-winning playwright and founder of StoryReady, has teamed up with Georgia Tech’s Dr. Joseph Le Doux to create a signature storytelling curriculum that is now required for all biomedical engineering students. Shaffer is also currentl

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Abstract

Calls from the American Society of Civil Engineers and the National Academy of Engineering, and a similar but more recent statement from the National Association of Colleges and Employers all assert the need for engineers that are not only competent with a certain set of knowledge and skills, but also have a mindset for creating value. In order to accomplish this, engineering content needs to not only engage the students cognitively but also in the affective domain, fostering students’ identity as engineers who have an entrepreneurial mindset. We present two accounts of how story-driven learning and focused team development were integrated into different courses and highlight how they can amplify the impacts of activities fostering curiosity, connections, and value creation (the 3Cs). In one, this results in students who have more clarity regarding their own engineering identity and the unique perspectives their peers can contribute. In the other, students learned and applied principles of effective teaming and used stories to reflect on their experiences. Student reflections, individually and in teams, show augmented self-awareness, appreciation of trust and stronger connections as keys to stronger teams, and an association of stronger teams with better teamwork, affecting project outcomes. Their reflections highlight how teams and stories may be used together to augment student connections and project outcomes, adding value both to the learning experience and outcomes, and, in so doing, to future academic and professional project experiences. Ultimately this creates students who are more self-aware and proficient in collaboration, identify more deeply with the profession, and can integrate the 3Cs into their work.

Zerbe, E., & Amekudzi-Kennedy, A. A., & Haas, K., & Simon, R. B., & Shaffer, J. (2023, June), Applications of Teams and Stories: Augmenting the Development of Entrepreneurial Mindset in Engineers Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--42274

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