Engineering Serendipity

ENGINEERING SERENDIPITY
LEVERAGING SOCIAL MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES
TO DEVELOP INTERESTS AND CREATE OPPORTUNITIES

Serendipitynoun:
the occurrence and
development of
events by chance in a
happy or beneﬁcial way

Horace Walpole, 1754
“The Three Princes of Serendip
were always making discoveries,
by ACCIDENT and SAGACITY,
of things which they were not in quest of…
now do you understand Serendipity.”

Summer 2013
T
he admonition that we should be preparing our
students for the 21st century is everywhere. There
are numerous books, blogs, and content resources
promoting and espousing the virtues of 21st cen-
tury learning. If one examines the titles and descriptions of
presentations at any gifted or general education conference,
reference to 21st century learning is prevalent. Most of us
in gifted education have regularly advocated for teaching
21st century skills. However, we have been living in the 21st
century for 13 years now, and if we are only now preparing
our students to be 21st century learners, we’re showing up
to the party very late. In fact, as the class of 2013 graduated
from high school, consider that this group of students was
always 21st century learners regardless of what they were
learning or how they were learning it; they entered Kinder-
garten in the fall of 2000. So, maybe it is time to stop talking
about the 21st century and start talking about the future.
The idea of preparing students for their future is certainly
not a novel idea. Indeed the opening quote from John Dewey
in the 20th century emphasizes this. In many circles, there is
an impassioned call for STEM education and an increasing
vocalization for the integration of the arts into a movement
called STEAM. Yet, even these ideas are not new and can
trace their origins back at least 30 years. In 1983, the Na-
tional Science Board Commission on Precollege Education
in Mathematics, Science and Technology published a report
entitled, Educating Americans for the 21st Century: A Plan
of Action for Improving Mathematics, Science, and Technol-
ogy Education for All American Elementary and Secondary
Students So that their Achievement is the Best in the World
by 1995. This publication outlined many of the same initia-
tives and programs that we are arguing for three decades
later. The executive summary chided, “America must not
become an industrial dinosaur. We must not provide our
children a 1960s education for a 21st century world.” Yet,
some might argue that is exactly what we have done. It is
time that the ﬁeld of gifted education begins to re-envision
itself not for the 21st century, but for the future that our stu-
dents will live in.
You may remember, or have seen reruns of The Jetsons
cartoon. It originally aired in primetime from 1962 to 1963,
and was set in a futuristic utopia of the year 2062. While
we may not have ﬂying cars, or robot maids, we do have
access to many technologies that are even more advanced
continued on page 18
Quality Classroom Practice
for High-Abillity Students
Teaching for High Potential
THPThe 21st
Century
is SO Yesterday
Brian C. Housand, Ph.D.
East Carolina University
www.brianhousand.com
Brian Housand is an Assistant Professor at
East Carolina University in the department of
Elementary Education.
“The world is moving at a tremendous rate. No one knows where.
We must prepare our children, not for the world of the past,
not for our world, but for their world, the world of the future.”
— John Dewey

Chance
favours
only
the
prepared
mind.
- Louis Pasteur

I am interested in _______________.

I am interested in _______________.dinosaurs

I am interested in _______________.pokemon

I am interested in _______________.comic books

I am interested in _______________.NOTHING

I am interested in _______________.EVERYTHING!

TYPE III
INDEPENDENT OR SMALL GROUP INVESTIGATIONS
PRODUCTS AND/OR PERFORMANCES
TYPE I
GENERAL
EXPLORATORY
ACTIVITIES
TYPE II
METHODOLOGICAL
TRAINING /
HOW-TO ACTIVITIES
(Renzulli, 1977)

Suggested meeting time: 30-60 minutes (Some of you may choose to combine
this meeting with meeting #2.)

!
Before the meeting:
● Create a TED-Ed (ed.ted.com) account if you haven’t already. All members
over 13 should aim to have their own account.

● Watch the first TED-Ed Club Lesson (http://ed.ted.com/on/vaY6FipN). Your
group can choose to do this before or during the meeting.
!
Guiding questions
● What is your name? How would you describe yourself? What are three
things you are passionate about?

● What do you and your club members hope to get out of your TED-Ed Club
experience?

!
Materials
● A device to take pictures

● Index cards

● Pens

● Copies of this guidebook (one for each member)

!
Meeting activities
● Take a few minutes to create a name badge on an index card. Write your
name and at least 3 things that you are passionate about.

● Gather in small groups and introduce yourself to your fellow club members.
Learn each other’s names and get to know each other.

● Share your reasons for joining a TED-ED Club with the group. Let people
know what you’re interested in and what you’re passionate about. This will
help your club members give meaningful feedback when you begin
developing your presentation idea.

!
What will you have created by the end of your meeting?
A name badge that lists 3 things you are passionate about. You will bring this to
future meetings so that everyone in the club knows your name and interests.

!
After meeting #1:
● Browse through the TED Talks (www.ted.com) /TED-Ed Lessons (ed.ted.com)
to find ideas that speak to your passions.

● Facilitator: Please send a photo of the name badges from different club
members to TED-Ed at TEDEdClubs@ted.com.

6
#1 Introduction week: What’s your passion?
It’s tough to give a good presentation on a topic that you’re not passionate about! This meeting is
all about getting to know your fellow club members and spending some time identifying and
articulating the ideas that motivate each member of your group. Later on, each club member will
present and record their own idea worth spreading in the form of a short TED-style Talk.

Don't be afraid to
fall in love with
something and
pursue it with
intensity

1. (of a person or animal) be or remain hidden so
as to wait in ambush for someone or something:
a ruthless killer still lurked in the darkness.
2. (of an unpleasant quality) be present in a latent
or barely discernible state, although still
presenting a threat: fear lurks beneath the
surface | (as adj. lurking) : he lives with a
lurking fear of exposure as a fraud.
3. read the postings on an Internet message board
or in a chat room without making any
contribution oneself.

As the volume of media has grown exponentially,
our propensity to explore it is diminishing.
Danny Cohen / BBC1

flâneur
one who
saunters
around
observing
society.

What are the DETAILS of the
discipline?
What are the MULTIPLE
PERSPECTIVES in the discipline?
What are the BIG IDEAS of the
discipline?
What are some of the
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS?

Arranging serendipitous encounters
isn’t always a function of
WHO YOU KNOW,
it should also be a function of
WHO YOU WANT TO KNOW. Or
WHO YOU SHOULD WANT TO KNOW,
even if you don’t realize you should
want to know them.

http://calvinandhobbes.wikia.com/wiki/Calvin's_snowballs

Who are the EXPERTS?
How do I follow them?
Who do they follow?
What are they reading?
What are they producing?
? ?? ??

Always improving
Attending to detail
A lot of hard work
“Able to make some serious money”
MKBHD

Nobody
Likes to Hear
“You’re Wrong”

Don’t
you
think
if I were
wrong,
I’d
KNOW it?

S
TO
W
Helpful
to achieving the
objective
Harmful
to achieving the
objective
Internal Origin
Attributes of the
Individual
Strengths Weaknesses
External Origin
Attributes of the
Environment
Opportunities Threats
SWOT
Analysis

Network Structure
The Pattern of Connection
• The number of contacts
• The diversity of the contacts
• The configuration and stability of the network
• Position within the network

You can never plan
for what’s going to
happen next,
but you can
be prepared.

Cognitive Ability
Intelligence
Reasoning Ability

Intellectual Engagement
Seeking the Truth
Engaging in Ideas and Thought

Affective Engagement
Using Emotion, Gut Feelings, and Empathy
for Decision Making

All members must be capable of absorbing, applying,
and recognizing the value of new information.
Aesthetic Engagement

INTELLIGENCECURIOSITY EFFORT
+ =
(von Stumm, Hell, & Camorro-Premuzic, 2011)

1. Don't be afraid to fall in love with something and
pursue it with intensity.

2. Know, understand, take pride in, practice, develop,
exploit and enjoy your greatest strengths.

3. Learn to free yourself from the expectations of
others and to walk away from the games they impose
on you.
Free yourself to play your own game.

4. Find a great teacher or mentor who will help you.

5. Don't waste energy trying to be well rounded.

6. Do what you love and can do well.

7. Learn the skills of interdependence.
MANIFESTO:
A Guide for Developing a Creative Career

Engineering Serendipity

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