The Entrepreneurship Technician Business Skills in STEM Education

Transcription

1 Session Title: Session Speakers: The Entrepreneurship Technician Business Skills in STEM Education NSF/ATE DUE Project Team Stuart Schulman, EdD: PI; Edgar E. Troudt, MPhil, MA, co PI; Christoph Winkler, MPhil, Mag., Project Director Contact Information: Edgar Troudt: Topic Areas: Grant Development, Educational, Technical: IT, BioTech Session Outline: A BioTech firm forms when a few great minds have a novel idea and find a business savvy individual to put it all together. This statement was recently uttered during an industry advisory meeting and forms the notion of the Entrepreneurship Technician. In a recent article in Wired magazine, the authors interviewed climate change scientists and public relations firms; the conclusion scientists need to engage in a better PR campaign to dispel publically held myths about Global Warming (Wired, May 2010). Community and Technical Colleges need to nurture this symbiotic connection of skills between the business discipline and the various disciplines that form STEM this notion forms our concept of the Entrepreneurship Technician. As further evidence of soft & entrepreneurial skills being necessary to STEM education: Lee, et al, did a review of 555 job postings for high tech leadership positions from Fortune 500 companies. Of these, 92.4% cited the need for social skills, specifically: interpersonal skills, communication skills, and self motivation. A general knowledge of business and management was cited by slightly more than 87%. Organization and leadership skills, and knowledge of technological trends were cited by more than 60%. A recent study by BATEC, the NSF Regional Center in IT, noted that the same skills were in demand by the majority of IT employers as criteria of hiring. As one anecdote goes: any employee can be sent out be rapidly certified for the specific technical skills lacking, but there aren t any certifications in being able to communicate. Our NSF supported work, the STEM based Virtual Enterprise (VE) is active learning pedagogy that can exist as a free standing course or be embedded within any STEM discipline course. The premise is that students simulate in their classroom an entrepreneurial venture that draws upon their degree area, supported by a technology platform and an international network of student businesses and events. The course infuses entrepreneurial competencies, interpersonal skills (e.g., teamwork, effective communication in working with those in different roles and positions), critical and analytic thinking and problem solving. It puts acquired interdisciplinary knowledge and skills into practical use, building the mental connection between what they ve learned and how the real world makes use of it. Students are obliged to actively participate in their own learning through projects, group work, and discussion. This session will discuss the results of the adaptation of the Virtual Enterprise (VE) simulation to the IT and BioTech disciplines. We will then talk about opportunities for collaborative grants to support expanding the program to all STEM disciplinary areas. The team is very interested in finding partners to adopt this grant funded pedagogy and support system. The session will culminate with a model for sustainable workforce development throughout the NSF ATE network. Executive Summary: Community and technical colleges need to begin developing the Entrepreneurship Technician, one with a broad business skill sets that support their ability to put their well developed technical skills to innovative use in managing projects and innovating products. The STEM Virtual Enterprise (VE) simulation program has been successfully tested with IT and BioTechnology programs, adding soft and entrepreneurial skills to the students' skill sets. This talk will discuss the Virtual Enterprise pedagogy and opportunities for collaborative grant development in expanding this program across all STEM disciplines. The session will culminate with a model for sustainable workforce development throughout the NSF ATE network.

2 The Entrepreneurship Technician Edgar E. Troudt Christoph Winkler HI-TEC 2010 Orlando, FL

3 CUNY Third-Largest Public University System Nation s Largest Urban University 480,000 Students (46% of New York s College population) 23 Institutions 11 Senior Colleges 6 Community Colleges

4 Business/Entrepreneurship Skills in the Workforce INTRODUCTION

5 Business & Entrepreneurship Interviewed 13 IT executives from a variety of industries of businesses of a variety of sizes: Most of the organizations placed more emphasis on nontechnical or soft skills. In almost equal numbers, leadership skills, communication skills, and knowledge of the business were most desired. Communications skills were ranked in the top two required skills in six of ten companies. Non-technical skills project management, business knowledge, and understanding methodologies were the most agreed upon areas for improving the preparation of MIS graduates. Source: Benamati, J. (2007), ACM.org

6 Top Careers Source: wsj.com, careercast.com

7 Introduction Soft & Business/Entrepreneurship Skills 555 job ads from 201 Fortune 500 companies in 42 states: Source: Lee, S. M. (2006), ACM.org

8 Entrepreneurship & Creativity Engineering is a key component of innovation and our technological society. [11]. While engineering education has traditionally favored STEM competencies, the constraints on engineering problemsolving today are increasingly not technical, but rather lie on the societal and human side of engineering practices [6].

9 Entrepreneurship & Creativity BATEC Study: Most engineers and IT techs are becoming outward facing and directly involved in business decisions. Journal of Engineering Education: "[i]t would be naive to treat technical and non-technical challenges and opportunities as separable. The boundaries are "increasingly blurred"

10 Introduction The T-Shaped Engineer breadth of business operations Science + Business T-Shaped Eng. depth of technical literacy Source: D. Busch (CIO, Intel);SYNERGY 04

11 Section I: What is Virtual Enterprise? PEDAGOGY

12 Three Components of VE

13 Three Components of VE Virtual Enterprise (VE): in-class student-led businesses Pedagogy: What is Virtual Enterprise? Active-learning, in-class simulation pedagogy. Human: The Network Nation- and World-wide network of firms for events. Technology: The Online/Electronic Tools Online software tools, eg. bank and virtual economy.

14 What is Virtual Enterprise (VE)? Why Active Learning? Many professors still require students to memorize their course materials and then complete closed-book examinations. We could find no record of a business meeting in which the CEO said, Please put all your books and notes under the table and take out a clean piece of paper; we are going to make a business decision. D.H. Hammond et al. Journal of Education for Business, 71 (May/June 1996), page 264

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16 What is Virtual Enterprise (VE)? USASBE Curriculum Award

17 What is Virtual Enterprise (VE)? Why do this? Entrepreneurship: Academic and governmental Incubators SBIR and other grant sources Intrapreneurship Soft-skills Breadth of Perspective Careers Business operation and interplay

18 Placement within Curriculum Implementation Grant NSF/DUE Enhancing Soft and Entrepreneurial Skills Training for Two-Year College Technicians Using a Contextualized Business Simulation Program (09/ /2011; $749,217) ve xy -- a STEM-based Virtual Enterprise (VE) ve xy -Careers: breadth of careers in industry. ve xy -Capstone: Entrepreneurial venture with novel product or service.

19 STEM VE-Careers Simulation 1. Career and Department Exploration (4 hours) students research what positions staff an IT department and select technical teams 2. Problem Identification (4 hours + 1 hr presentation) teams research possible IT-related problems within their simulated firm 3. Problem Solving (4 hours + 1 hour presentation) teams develop a plan for and implement the solution to the identified problem 4. Reflection and Revision (1 hour) students review their accomplishments and identify strengths and weaknesses

20 STEM VE Capstone Simulation Industry Exploration Product Research & Development Funding and Implementation Reflection and Revision 1. Industry Exploration (3 weeks) teams review the breadth of companies, select a niche and staff the firm. 2. Product Research & Development (5 weeks +1 pres.) teams conceptualize a product, market rsrch, prototype. 3. Funding and Implementation (5 weeks) develop business plan and marketing materials in 4. Reflection (1 week) students review their accomplishments and identify strengths and weaknesses

21 Forms of Adoption Standalone Course: its own course. Embedded: simulation is added as a component of an existing course by adding additional contact hours. Infused: similar to Embedded course, without adding additional contact hours. Summer/Winter Institute: the simulation is used without lecture content in a condensed 4 week experience, between regular semesters.

22 Section II: The Network HUMAN

23 Human: The Network Partner Institutions & Networks Full Network: 5000 firms in 40 countries

24 Human: The Network IPO and Sales Conferences

25 Human: The Network Trading Day

26 Section III: The Online Tools TECHNOLOGY

27 Technology: The Electronic Tools The MarketMaker

28 Technology: The Electronic Tools The MarketMaker [ ]

29 Section IV: Adoption Options IMPLEMENTATION

30 Mentoring Styles "Ramp-Up": Instructor begins integrating elements of the STEM-VE package into course, commensurate with their level of comfort. Over subsequent semesters, the "dosage" of simulation is increased. On-Going Discussion: A member of the Project Team meets with the instructor individually on a regular basis to assist with the adoption of a curriculum. Co-teaching: An instructor undergoes some training, and then teaches a class alongside a seasoned VE instructor. Often the instructor being trained is performing the lectures and acting as a content specialist for questions that arise during the simulation.

31 VE Roadshow

32 The Entrepreneurship Technician Edgar E. Troudt Christoph Winkler HI-TEC 2010 Orlando, FL

33 VE Light : A Quick Introduction to Virtual Enterprise The CUNY Institute for Virtual Enterprise (IVE) Edgar E. Troudt, co-principal Investigator DUE Edgar.Troudt@kbcc.cuny.edu linkedin.com/in/troudt Christoph Winkler, Associate Director, CUNY IVE Christoph.Winkler@kbcc.cuny.edu linkedin.com/in/christophwinkler Figure 1: The Capstone Virtual Enterprise course flow. Note: This is a rapid introduction to Virtual Enterprise. It compresses a semester's worth of work into about an hour. During a regular semester these activities are approached by students with much more time for detail and rigor in research methodologies. Phase 1: Brainstorm your STEM 2 firm niche. Determine your focus. Does your firm manufacture a product or provide a service? What STEM area will your company focus on (eg. BioTech/drug development)? Which companies and products interest your team within that industry? Elect the leadership of the organization. Who is the Chief Executive? Who is responsible for Marketing? Who is responsible for Research and Development? Who manages Governmental and Regulatory Affairs? Determine your identity. What s your corporate name? 1 This work is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF/ATE DUE ; S. Schulman, E. Troudt; CUNY Kingsborough CC). The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of NSF. 2 STEM areas comprise Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. The CUNY Institute for Virtual Enterprise VE-Light Exercise 1

34 Phase 2: Build your target product profile. Determine your premier product. Will your product/service be a disruptive innovation or an improvement to the existing? What is your product/service? What is it named? What is its tagline? How often does it need to be purchased? What price range will it be offered within? How soon could a prototype be developed? Identify the corresponding market. Are you targeting the home consumer, businesses or both? Which companies are you competing against, if any? What are the characteristics of the typical person/organization purchasing your product? Age? Gender? Income Level? Special Traits? The CUNY Institute for Virtual Enterprise VE-Light Exercise 2

35 Phase 3: Solicit the granting agencies or venture capitalists. Find a funder. Who might be interested in funding this? A branch of state/national government (eg. Department of Health, National Science Foundation)? A private foundation? An existing firm that could buy the product? A venture capitalist looking to make future profit? Determine the development and roll-out schedule for your product(s). What will be complete in: 3 months? 6 months? 1 year? 5 years? Determine your financial needs & workforce. How long until revenue begins flowing into the business? Where will your business operate? For what other positions will you need to hire? Until revenue starts being produced, how much needs to be spent on: Salaries? Operating expenses (electricity, rent, etc.)? Capital expenses (computers, machinery, etc.)? Phase 4: Develop your presence in the VE Network Using the IVE MarketMaker [ design a website and electronic store for your business. My Login: My Password: The CUNY Institute for Virtual Enterprise VE-Light Exercise 3

36 Virtual Enterprise Resources Resources related to Virtual Enterprise are available online. The CUNY Institute for Virtual Enterprise homepage: The IVE MarketMaker System: Media Articles, Sample VE Syllabi, Evaluation Reports: Conference Materials: The CUNY Institute for Virtual Enterprise The CUNY Institute for Virtual Enterprise VE-Light Exercise 4