launching your career lifelong learning

Launching Your Career: Lifelong Learning —Your Key to

an Enjoyable and Rewarding Career

The GOLD Series: BOOK 4TO COME: Look for upcoming books in this series about mentoring, networking, and more

IEEE-USA E-Books

By John Meredith

Published by IEEE-USA.

Copyright © 2009 by the IEEE. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A.

Edited by Georgia C. Stelluto, IEEE-USA Publishing Manager.

Cover design and layout by Josie Thompson, Thompson Design.

This IEEE-USA publication is made possible through funding provided by a special dues assessment of IEEE members residing in the United States.

Copying this material in any form is not permitted without prior written approval from the IEEE.

Acknowledgments

This e-book is the fourth in the IEEE-USA GOLD e-book series, Launching Your Career. This series fills an important role in helping young engineers launch their careers in the exciting world of technology that we live in today. This series was an idea that I proposed to my IEEE-USA colleagues in early 2008. I owe a deep debt of gratitude to 2001 IEEE-USA President, Paul Kostek, for embracing this idea and making practical suggestions on launching the series. I am also grateful to Abby Vogel, editor of the GOLD series, for her enthusiastic support and many practical suggestions relating to the series and this work. Abby also assisted me in developing and evaluating a survey related to this book. I thank IEEE members who responded to this survey. Their responses have validated the importance of my efforts to communicate the importance of lifelong learning to tomorrow’s engineers. A number of IEEE-USA staff personnel have given me strong encouragement for my writing endeavors; I thank Chris Brantley, Pender McCarter, Georgia Stelluto, Chris McManes, and Greg Hill for their suggestions and encouragement on this and other writing projects. Finally, I wish to thank my wife, Lorraine, for her generous support and encouragement in writing this e-book, as well as all my other IEEE volunteer activities that I’ve pursued over the years. — JOHn MErEDITH

3Table Of Contents

Chapter 1. The Importance of Lifelong Learning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Chapter 2. Charting Your Course . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Chapter 3. The Launch Phase . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3.1 Organizing for Learning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 3.2 Your First Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Chapter 4. The Long Haul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Chapter 5. Tips for the Busy Engineer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 5.1 Graduate Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 5.2 On-the-Job Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 5.3 read to Learn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 5.4 Professional Societies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Chapter 6. Improving Your Learning Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 6.1 Improving Your reading Effectiveness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 6.2 Effectively Learning from Others. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 6.3 The Discovery Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Chapter 7. Final Thoughts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Chapter 8. references . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

ThE GOLD SERIES: BOOK 4 LAUnChInG YOUR CAREER: LIfELOnG LEARnInG

4 Chapter 1

The Importance of Lifelong Learning

One of the greatest challenges that engineers face today is keeping current. Technology is growing at an unprecedented rate. new tools that engineers use to perform their

daily work are being introduced constantly. Many engineers are required to collaborate with colleagues in fields outside their primary expertise. Soft skills and company-specific knowledge require newly graduated engineers to rapidly come up to speed on one’s first job. It has been estimated that an engineer’s technical skills will be obsolete in seven years unless one continues to upgrade his or her knowledge and skills [1]. Some say this cycle is getting even shorter.

At the same time, global competition is driving companies to become more and more competitive. This puts pressure on the engineer to become even more productive and innovative. Engineers need new knowledge, skills and tools that will enable them to compete. After all, engineers are the innovators who design the products and services that companies provide for their customers.

The challenge to continually expand one’s knowledge, skills and tools may seem like a daunting challenge; however, newly-minted engineers should look at keeping current as an exciting part of their jobs. After all, engineers who are just entering professional practice have been exposed to the seemingly impossible in their undergraduate training — creating new processes, devices, products, or systems based on one’s own creative talents. The excitement relating to the creative processes drive the engineer to seek new ideas and new methods for their next project. Engineers must practice this learning process throughout their careers.

While you should look at lifelong learning as a fun and rewarding process, it is important to stress how vital it is to your career. The engineer who keeps current will be rewarded with a more enjoyable and successful career. At the same time, you have to realize that lifelong learning is not automatic — the process of keeping up-to-date in knowledge, skills and tools requires time and effort. The process can be likened to keeping shape physically, as University of Wyoming Professor of Electrical Engineering Cameron Wright points out. As Cameron suggests, you have to exercise regularly if you want to keep in shape. The process for keeping current can be thought of in a similar way.

This e-book is a guide for engineering students who are about to begin their career, or the engineer who is just launching his or her career. A number of practical ideas and thoughts are suggested that can help you make lifelong learning a priority in pursuing an exciting and rewarding career.


5


Chapter 2

Charting Your Course

A program of lifelong learning does not just happen. It is incumbent upon you as a new technical professional to develop a plan for continuing professional development. Your plan

must be periodically updated. Most importantly, you should use the plan as a guide to ensure your continued career development.

An essential part of planning is to carefully perform an assessment of your knowledge, skills and capabilities. This important first step should be done at the end of your undergraduate education, even if you plan to immediately commence graduate studies. The purpose of this assessment is to identify gaps in knowledge, skills and tools that you will need in the initial phase of your professional career. If your plan is to enter graduate school this initial assessment will provide guidance for focus in your graduate studies.

Following your initial assessment, you should document a plan to strengthen your portfolio of knowledge, skills and tools needed for the initial phase of your professional endeavors. It is recommended that this plan be simple as possible. A simple checklist of learning and development tasks with time goals is adequate. It is important that you review this plan on a regular basis, updating the list with new items as you identify needed actions to keep current. This process is standard in many industrial companies who employ engineers. The plan, typically called the employee development plan, is used by supervisors to encourage an employee’s development.

The next serious assessment should be carried out shortly after entering professional practice. The aim is to identify additional knowledge, skills and tools needed to launch your career. These new areas of focus are aimed at your specific job and company. This assessment should focus on two categories: (1) general training, orientation, or certification required by your employer; and (2) specialized training needed to perform your job.

The former category is usually not technical in nature and includes such things as information on your company, travel policies, safety training, code of business conduct, and similar topics. This type of training is usually required within the first few days of initial employment, and may be undertaken either as self-study or in a classroom setting, depending on your company.

The latter category is more technical in nature, typically including topics such as computer- aided-engineering software (CAE) tools, project management software, production tracking software, and other similar tools that will be used in carrying out your daily work. Here again, the method of training can be less formal self-learning to more formal on- or off-site classroom training classes depending on your company. Obviously, this type of training is critical to becoming a productive technical contributor and should be completed as soon as possible.

A plan for these short-term training activities should be documented to keep you on track during the initial few weeks of employment. It is a good idea to go over your plan with your supervisor to ensure you are covering all company and department requirements. Your plan will help get you up to speed as you commence your new job.

6

ChApTER 2: ChARTInG YOUR COURSE

Once you are on board with your new job and have received your first job assignment, it is time to shift your focus to strategic or longer term aspects of your job. You need to identify knowledge, skills and capabilities that you need to make contributions that will be expected of you. You should also consider your long-term career goals. It is good to consult with colleagues and teammates for help in defining specific opportunities for learning. You should also identify possible resources for these learning endeavors — courses offered by your company, local university courses, textbooks, technical papers, consulting with company experts, conferences in your field of interest, etc. Obviously these learning activities will require a longer period of time. The goal is to ensure you are continuously building a stronger and stronger base of knowledge and skills that will keep you on the leading edge in your professional endeavors.

At this time, you should update your development plan to delineate activities, timelines and possible resources that will be used to carry out your plan. You should share this plan with your supervisor, inviting his or her comments. In most cases, you will need support from your company in the form of resources or time to complete some of the tasks on your list, so you should be prepared to negotiate company resources that support your plan.

Finally, you must use your plan, step by step, to ensure continuous growth and development. If your company requires a development plan, you should incorporate key elements, perhaps your entire plan, into your company required development plan. It is recommended that you review your plan periodically — perhaps quarterly or biannually — to ensure you are on track. Since circumstances can change, you will need to update your plan from time to time to keep in step with ever changing situations that exist in the real world.

7


Chapter 3

The Launch phase

The first several days on your first engineering job are a very exciting time. You will be briefed by your supervisor on your duties and responsibilities, and you will be introduced

to your first project assignment. no doubt you will be given a tour of your new surroundings, where you will be introduced to teammates and colleagues. You will be briefed on company procedures and practices, and you will be given an office with the required office furniture and equipment needed to do your work. It is important that you use this short indoctrination period to set up your new working environment, and to organize your office to maximize your efficiency in carrying out your daily activities.

Being organized and efficient in the use of your time is an important aspect of lifelong learning. You will encounter many demands on your time — managing the many tasks and activities associated with your job, as well as your responsibilities and activities outside the work place, can leave you with very little time for professional development. You must organize your work environment and manage your time to ensure that time is available for learning activities.

Allen Taylor, who teaches electrical and computer engineering courses at Portland State University, stresses the importance of making time to keep current. Allen strongly emphasizes, “Make the time.”

3.1 Organizing for Learning

As a minimum, the typical engineering office includes a desk, shelves for books and reference documents, a filing cabinet, a telephone, and a computer. One of your first tasks will be organization of your office in a way that facilitates your daily work activities.

A good starting point is to set up your computer. Once you have established a network connection, you should set up e-mail service on your computer, assuring that your address is communicated to those who need to know. You will want to ensure that your new address is added to distribution lists that may exist in your working group. Including access to relevant distribution lists and contact lists and ensuring that you can link your e-mail service to your PDA (personal digital assistant) will maximize your communications efficiency. Finally, you should organize your e-mail files for easy retrieval.

It is also a good idea to make use of your computer’s electronic calendar. Electronic calendars link employee scheduled activities, enabling you to coordinate your schedule with your work group and fellow employees. A calendar is essential to being organized and is a must for keeping track of meetings and activities.

Another part of your office organization should include a contact list. This list should be electronic and built around files that are transferable to portable devices that you may use to communicate with colleagues, business contacts, family and friends.

8 A good computer filing system is essential. The filing system should include your working files, project notes, reference documents, technical papers, and other documentation associated with your work. Your filing system should be logical and should be set-up for easy access. A priority is to provide a filing category for material that you will be using for learning activities — papers, tutorials, notes and similar reference material. You should become familiar with tools that facilitate organization of information.

One technique is to create your own web site, where you can organize the many pieces of information you will need to access quickly. An added benefit is the ability to share information with colleagues.

Another possibility is to consider a free online notebook service offered by Google [2] or Zoho [3]. These services provide an easy way to write notes and clip text, links and images from web pages. notebooks can be organized by subject with individual pages under each subject. note-books not only provide a very flexible way of organizing and cataloging information, but also enable you to share and collaborate with others. Your employer may offer a proprietary online notebook system for organizing, sharing and collaborating related to project work.

Time spent in setting up your computer is a good investment, because a well-organized filing system will save a considerable amount of time in your day-to-day work — a well-designed fil-ing system can help you quickly find information. You should set up categories that make sense to you. Each category should be organized into groups and subgroups, as necessary. You should adopt file a file naming convention that makes sense. Short file names are always a good idea.

While electronic tools are becoming more and more prevalent in the office environment, you will still see paper in the form of notes, papers, books, manuals, and other documentation that comes across your desk. You will need to set up a filing system for your paper documentation. Keeping in mind that your paper filing system should enhance your efficiency, your approach in setting up this system should be similar to your electronic filing system. It is a good idea to try to minimize paper documentation, since files tend to grow with time. Scanning documents into electronic form (pdf files) can help minimize paper, enabling you to control the never-ending flow of papers and documents that you will encounter.

ChApTER 3: ThE LAUnCh phASE

93.2 Your First Assignment

An important part of your indoctrination is learning about your first project or job assignment. Your supervisor or your assigned project leader will provide a detailed briefing. You will be given such information as:

4 Background on the project

4 Big picture view of the project

4 Technical details

4 Status of the project

4 Project plans and timeline

4 Engineering specifications

4 Customer expectations and information

4 Your role and expectations

4 reference documents and computer files

You should take careful notes, ensuring that you understand as much as possible about your new project assignment. It is important to identify resources that you will need to carry out your work, and people who can assist you when questions arise.

no doubt you will go back to your office with a number of notes, documents and references to computer files. You must carefully file this information in your computer or paper filing system, so that you will have easy access to information that you will need to carry out your new job. It is now time to commence work on your first assignment!


10 Chapter 4

The Long haul

As you commence work on your project you will discover the many pleasures of engineering work:

4 Defining and setting goals for your project

4 Exploring a possible design or problem solution

4 Collaboration with colleagues

4 Creating the best design or solution

4 Building a prototype

4 Testing your prototype

4 Improving your design or problem solution

4 Seeing successful completion of your project

Along the way, you will be tracking progress against your schedule and budget, while keeping your supervisor and management appraised of progress. You will find that you are using much of the knowledge and many of the technical skills you learned while in school. You will quickly learn that much of your job centers on non-technical skills such as

4 One-on-one communications

4 Oral presentations

4 Writing reports and memos

4 Organizing meetings

4 Interpersonal relations

4 Project management

4 Planning and budgeting

All these are important skills for the technical professional who wishes to enjoy a successful career; nevertheless, you will quickly discover the need to grow in your technical competence. You will frequently find yourself searching for new technical information or reviewing material that you may have forgotten. You will be expected to learn new tools and procedures that are needed in developing products, processes, or systems.


11

ChApTER 4: ThE LOnG hAUL

Along the way, you will experience pressures associated with project schedules, deadlines for reports, important meetings, and an endless list of unexpected events. While you see the need for attending a conference, taking a course, or some other activity needed to keep up with new advancements in technology and techniques, you will be tempted to put off the items you have on your development plan. You may skip over learning goals with the idea of “slipping your plan until next year.” This approach often results in a pattern of ignoring important self-development activities to the point where you find yourself hopelessly outdated.

This problem, called technical obsolescence, occurs at mid-career for many technical profes-sionals. Some of the symptoms of technical obsolescence are:

4 Inability to understand technical articles

4 Lower performance rankings

4 Passed over for promotion

4 Career stagnation

You must avoid technical obsolescence at all cost. If you find yourself falling into this trap, you should take time to do some serious reflection on your situation. Pull out your long-term development plan and make some major adjustments. Some possible outcomes might be:

4 Identify need to improve your time management or organizational skills. Perhaps you can get tips from a mentor or a colleague who has demonstrated organizational or time management skills.

4 Identify a need for specialized knowledge or skills. You might consider taking a course, consulting with a colleague who is an expert in the subject you have identified as a weakness, or you might take a tutorial.

4 Inadequate resources that hamper your efficiency and perhaps you colleagues as well. You might brainstorm a possible solution in the form of a proposal to management, outlining a realistic plan that provides benefits to you, your colleagues and your company.

Hopefully, your actions will result in a step improvement in your skills and knowledge that translate to greater contributions to your employer. And, just as important, is that your actions will enable you to continue to grow professionally.

12


Chapter 5

Tips for the Busy Engineer

The most important factor in lifelong learning is to have a solid background in the fundamentals in your field of intended practice. You will need this foundation for further

learning to pursue a successful career. If you are a graduate of an engineering program accredited by Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), you are assured that your undergraduate education has met minimum educational requirements for enter-ing professional practice, or for pursuing graduate school. ABET criterion require programs to include: (1) mathematics and basic sciences, (2) engineering topics consisting of engineering sciences and design, and (3) general education that complements the technical content of the curriculum. ABET further requires incorporation of realistic constraints and standards be included in a student’s course work.

As previously indicated, a good education is not sufficient to enable you to contribute and succeed in professional practice. You will need to add new knowledge, new skills, and new tools as your career progresses. This can be a real challenge because of the many pressures that you will encounter as you pursue your career. This chapter provides a number of thoughts on how you can keep current as you pursue your career.

5.1 Graduate Education

A question that you should answer early in your career, hopefully during your undergraduate studies, is whether to pursue graduate studies. If your goal is to work in an area where you are involved with leading-edge technology, or if you wish to work in research, you should consider graduate studies. A master’s degree will prepare you for work in a specialized area of your chosen discipline. Many employers seek candidates who have completed a master’s program because of the specialized nature and depth of knowledge required of their technical work force. If this is the case, you should complete requirements for your master’s degree prior to entering professional practice.

If you are not certain about your field of specialization, you may consider deferring completion of a master’s degree until you have some work experience. This will enable you to determine where your interests lie and will guide you in choosing courses appropriate for your field of interest. Many companies provide financial assistance for pursuing a master’s program. In most cases, you will be required to undertake studies on a part-time or evening basis, since most companies do not allow employees to study full-time. nevertheless, a master’s degree is a good investment and will make you more competitive as a technical professional.

If your goals are to perform advanced research and development, or to go into the teaching profession, you should complete a Ph.D. program in your area of interest. It is important to realize that the Ph.D. degree prepares the engineer to make original contributions in just about any engineering field. The Ph.D. requires a significant amount of time — two to five years — and is broad-based degree where candidates are required to understand several fundamental areas very well. In addition, the candidate must complete a research project and complete a dissertation.

13Alexander [4] provides some insight on the important question of whether to pursue graduate studies. This classic paper also addresses the question of whether the technical professional should complete a Master’s in Business Administration degree (MBA).

It is important to realize that a graduate degree, in itself, is not a substitute for lifelong learning. An advanced degree can jump start your career, and it can give you a considerable advantage in finding the job that really fits your goals. nevertheless, you still need to keep up with new developments.

University of Alabama at Birmingham Electrical Engineering Professor and Department Head, Greg Vaughn, pursued the advanced education track. Greg completed his Ph.D. in 1974, and has enjoyed a successful career in teaching and research. He keeps current by doing research and by teaching. Greg recommends developing and new teaching courses as a way of forcing himself to keep up on new developments.

5.2 On-the-Job Learning

Once you have completed your formal education and are working, you will find many on-the-job opportunities to gain new knowledge, develop new skills, or to become proficient in tools that help you make contributions in your work. This is an important method of keeping current, and you should maximize every opportunity to develop yourself during your day-to-day work. There are a number of things you can do to enhance your level of competence:

4 Find a mentor who is willing to help you grow your expertise as an engineer. Choose a person who you respect as an expert in the area you want to pursue. Mentors can help you build your knowledge and skills, and can provide valuable guidance and advice on non-technical as well as technical matters. Learning from mentors is an important piece of advice given by economist, n. Gregory Mankiw [5].

4 Seek out and work on leading-edge projects. Working on challenging projects will force you to learn. This may appear daunting at first, but realize that you can collaborate with colleagues, seek help and advice from your mentor, or you can find solutions to problems by conducting research. not only will you learn new things, but also you will be more satisfied with your contributions.

4 Collaboration with teammates and colleagues is a good way to pick up new ideas. This can be done in a one-on-one setting where you exchange ideas with a person. A project review setting is another method of exchanging ideas. This method is powerful for improving on an idea and is a great learning technique.

4 Identify resources where you can find data and information that you will need for carrying out your work. Some possible resources include your private files, books, or documents; the company library; or the Internet.

4 Organize in-house technical presentations for technical professionals at your work location. You may wish to collaborate with one or two other colleagues in designing a program that you can sell to management. A number of companies support monthly lunch-hour technical interest groups, and may even be willing to provide pizza and soft drinks as an added attraction. You can tap on company experts as well as outside speakers, perhaps from your local university, to provide stimulating technical talks of interest to you and your colleagues.

ChApTER 5: TIpS fOR ThE BUSY EnGInEER

14 4 Study groups are a great way to jump start yourself and a small group of your colleagues interested in a focused subject. This is an informal approach to learning and can be organized with little effort. You only have to identify two or three co-workers who are interested in learning more about a technical subject. Study material could be a textbook, technical papers, or self-study tutorial courses offered by IEEE or other organizations. Once you have organized a study group, you should hold discussion sessions in a small conference room one or two times each week, during lunch breaks or after work, to discuss the material each group member has studied outside of the scheduled discussion time. This method of learning provides deeper insight into the subject and enables individual group members to understand perspectives of others.

Emily Sopenski, who is Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the rFID Educational Foundation, is a string proponent of learning on the job and learning from peers. Emily suggests, “Learn by doing. Stay Involved. Information will flow. Tap peer expertise.”

5.3 Read to Learn

Almost all technical professionals agree that reading technical literature is one of the most effective ways to keep current. One of your most important priorities as you commence professional practice is to seek out appropriate reading material, and develop a habit of reading. Like every engineer and scientist, you will be inundated with a never-ending flow of reports, data, technical papers, and other documentation in the course of doing your work. Much of this material will be related to your present assignment, and you may become so focused on the current problem at hand that you neglect reading up on new technology and breakthroughs.

You must guard against getting into a routine where you are not keeping up on the latest developments — breakthroughs that may be outside your current technological thrust or new technologies that will be important in the future. As time marches on, you will encounter new opportunities that will require new knowledge. If you have been diligent in keeping current through an active program of reading, you will be ready to take on these future challenges and you will be rewarded with a more exciting career.

Some key points you should keep in mind as you embark on your reading program are:

4 Your reading should include study of material related to your profession, as well as material related or perhaps peripheral to your profession. You should always include material on new technology and breakthroughs.

4 reading material on non-technical subjects, such as newspapers or books, should be part of your reading plan. This will keep you informed and will provide some diversion — an important consideration in the busy work environment that is typical in today’s competitive world.

4 Identify quality reading material that you want to read. Place the material in a convenient location where you can easily access it. You will want to find one or more comfortable locations where you can regularly sit down to read. This might be at the breakfast table, in your office, in your company library, or perhaps in a study room in your home.


15 4 There are a number of sources for quality reading material. The library, a book store, technical journals and magazines, and Internet sites are just a few examples. As suggested in Chapter 3, you should have some good reading material readily accessible in your computer and hard copy files.

4 Keep a reading list, constantly updating it as you read books and papers. Since you will frequently discover books, papers, or Web sites that you want to check out, it is a good idea to have this list on your PDA.

4 Visit your library and book store frequently. Scan the cover pages and table of contents of books to identify reading that fits into your reading plan.

4 Finally, you should read on a regular basis. Identify a quiet time when you can slip away to a quiet area for reading, perhaps early in the morning while you are eating breakfast or for an hour or so after dinner. If you have “down time,” such as during airline or train travel, or while commuting, or while you are waiting for an appointment, you should use that opportunity for reading.

Dr. Susan Federici, who does market analysis and business case analysis as a Principal of the Fererici Business Group, is a voracious reader. Her advice is: “read! Talk to a lot of other professionals.”

5.4 Professional Societies

Every technical professional should belong to a professional organization that represents their profession. If your field of interest is in the electro-technology area, you should belong to the IEEE. Professional organizations offer many opportunities for professional development. For example:

4 Local meetings offered by your professional organization provide opportunities to attend educational technical and professional development meetings that will help you grow in your career as an engineer. These meetings also enable you to network with other technical professionals.

4 Professional organizations provide a broad array of technical publications that will help you keep current. These publications cover the gambit from broad coverage of the discipline to specialization areas within the discipline. If your discipline is in the fields of interest covered by IEEE, you should join one of the 45 Societies representing your area of specialization.

4 Professional societies also sponsor technical conferences. IEEE conferences are sponsored by all of the Societies and provide opportunities to share technical information. Many of the conferences provide tutorial sessions, where attendees can learn about emerging technologies and focus topics of interest to the leading-edge technologist. You should become a regular attendee at a technical conference in your area of specialization. A higher level goal would be to present a paper at the conference.


16 4 Professional organizations are also involved with developing standards. This is another educational opportunity that some engineers are involved in. If your work is in an area where a new standard is being developed, you should explore the possibility of joining a standards working group. This process provides a great educational opportunity and also ensures that your company has a ‘voice’ in setting the standard.

Milind nagada, a senior design engineer with Advanced Micro Devices, emphasizes the importance of belonging to a professional society. Miland, an IEEE member, keeps current by reading IEEE papers and journals. He suggests reading IEEE Spectrum as a way to keep up-to-date in the broader technical field.


17Chapter 6

Improving Your Learning process

Learning is the process where you gain skill or knowledge through study, practice, or by being taught. There are several methods of learning — reading, instruction from others, or

by a process of discovery. Since learning is a key success factor for the technical professional, you should seek ways to improving your learning effectiveness. This subject has been of interest to a number of professional educators and trainers. ronald Gross’ book, Peak Learning [6], addresses this topic and is recommended to you as a practical guide to help you improve your learning effectiveness.

This chapter provides some practical advice on how to improve your learning effectiveness.

6.1 Improving Your Reading Effectiveness

reading is a basic learning skill. To be an effective reader you must comprehend what you are reading while reading, as rapidly as possible. The first step in improving your reading effective-ness is to learn to read with a purpose. Every reading task has an objective. This could be a simple task, such as finding a piece of data hidden in a document, or it could be a complex objective, such as evaluating how or why a system reacts to multiple inputs. You should always identify your reading objective and adjust your reading technique accordingly.

In setting your objective for a reading task, it is helpful to ask what information you are seeking. Asking the question who, what, when, where, how, or why keep you focused on your objective. Let us consider three reading techniques that are used to achieve a reading objective:

1. When you are seeking information to answer the question who, what, when, or where, you should use the skimming technique. Skimming requires you to rapidly move your eyes through the document until you find a key word that answers your question. This technique is akin to looking up a phone number in a telephone directory.

2. If you are attempting to answer the question how or why, you should use the scanning technique. Scanning requires you to scan the document rapidly from left to right rapidly to find key words that answer the how or why question. It may be helpful to use your index finger as a pointer to force your eyes to move faster. How and why answers require several words, requiring you to capture more than a key word or two.

3. When you are seeking deeper meaning associated with the how or why question, such as implied suggestions, explanations, or descriptions, you should use the study technique. This technique requires slower reading of the material. nevertheless, you may scan most of the reading material to identify text that requires you to fall back to the slower study technique to achieve your purpose.


18 When you have mastered skim, scan and study techniques, you should explore rapid reading techniques. If you are like the average person who reads at 250 to 300 words per minute, you can significantly increase your reading speed. Speed reading techniques have improved reading rates to over 10,000 words-per-minute for many people. This is an enormous improvement but can only be achieved through study and practice. You may wish to explore some books on this topic [7, 8].

Even if you do not pursue speed reading, you should always survey papers, documents, or books that you plan to read or that you are exploring as a possibility of reading. Some things that you should keep in mind when you are surveying are:

4 Check out the title, jacket summary, and table of contents.

4 read the introduction or abstract.

4 Look over graphs, illustrations, examples, or supporting information that will facilitate understanding of the material.

Surveying will help you quickly determine if a book, paper, or document fits your reading objective. It is also a good way to identify material that you may want to add to your reading list for future reading or reference. You will often find through the surveying process that you only need to read specific segments of the reading material you are surveying, thereby saving time.

6.2 Effectively Learning from Others

As suggested in Chapter 5, you will find opportunities to learn on-the-job. In many cases, this learning will be through contact with your supervisor, co-workers, or your mentor. Some learning experiences will be deliberate or planned events. For example, a colleague might train you on how to use a complex computer simulation program. Several things that will maximize the benefit of this type of learning are:

4 Familiarize yourself with the procedure or process that you are being trained on beforehand.

4 If the training is complex, consider breaking it into a number of sessions where you have the opportunity to practice what you have learned between sessions.

4 Formulate questions prior to each session.

4 Take notes for future reference.

4 respect the commitment of your trainer by being on time and by pre-study of any available documentation prior to each session.

ChApTER 6: ImpROvInG YOUR LEARnInG pROCESS

19You will also encounter opportunities where learning is accomplished on an informal basis. For example, you might be having a conversation with your mentor when a question pops into your mind. Such occasions often result in a short tutorial on a technical subject that can provide you with deeper understanding of the subject. You should maximize these opportunities for learning by:

4 If possible, provide a sketch pad or white board for use by your colleague.

4 Ask questions to help you understand the subject under discussion.

4 Identify references, such as web pages, technical papers, or documentation that would provide additional insight.

4 After your informal learning encounter, make notes and study.

4 record what you have learned in your notebook for future reference.

6.3 The Discovery Process

On many occasions, you will gain new knowledge or understanding through a process of discovery or experimentation. The process requires you to:

4 Explore the effects of manipulation of inputs to a problem or design that you are involved with.

4 Wrestle with questions or controversies surrounding the problem that you are trying to solve.

4 Perform experiments to determine how a system responds to changes in key variables.

You can improve the chances of learning through the discovery process by using an organized approach to your work. This approach should be based on the scientific method, as opposed to a guess or “shooting from the hip” approach. Opportunities for discovery are enhanced by using the approach:

4 Know what you are trying to accomplish.

4 Ask questions.

4 Do background research.

4 Construct a hypothesis.

4 Test the hypothesis using experimentation.

4 Analyze data and draw conclusions.

4 Document your findings.

realize that you may have to go through this process several times to arrive at satisfactory solutions to a problem that you are trying to solve. Don’t get stuck on “pet” ideas that aren’t yielding results. You should get in the habit of quickly moving on to new ideas. remember Edison’s approach in developing the incandescent lamp was to reject one possibility after another. His persistence ultimately rewarded him with success.


20 Chapter 7

final Thoughts

In today’s highly competitive global economy, the technical professional must keep current. Your success in your career endeavors will require you to constantly upgrade your skills and

knowledge. Emerging technologies will replace the technologies that you are comfortable with today. The pace of change is increasing more rapidly as time marches on.

You must take responsibility for your own development. The first step is to develop a plan for your own professional growth and development. You should continually pursue your development goals, monitoring your progress against your plan with updates as required. Your plan should consider short-term development goals, as well as your long-term career aspirations.

You should organize your work environment for efficient learning. This will ensure that you have reference materials that can be accessed easily. Being organized also avoids wasted time — time that can be used for self-learning activities.

The foundation for lifelong learning is a solid understanding of fundamentals that you acquire during your undergraduate education years. You should include graduate education as part of your plans. But remember that formal education is not sufficient for the technical professional who has to constantly innovate. You need to seek learning opportunities associated with your job — most will be informal opportunities that are self-directed. Most important, you should always seek out job assignments that are leading-edge. This insures that you are constantly keeping up-to-date on new breakthroughs and techniques.

Finally, you should develop habits that improve your learning effectiveness. Improvement in basic skills, such as reading and problem-solving, can multiply your learning effectiveness. This translates to having more time for other activities and will make you even more successful.

In the end, a career that embraces a program of continuous learning will ensure that you have a successful career. A career that is filled with many proud accomplishments — a career that earns you respect from your colleagues — and a career that is fun and exciting.


Chapter 8

References

1. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., Proc. Industry 2000: Technical Vitality Through Continuing Education, Piscataway, nJ, 1995.

2. Electronic notebook, http://notebook/google.com/notebook/

3. Electronic notebook, http://notebook/zoho.com/nb/

4. C. K. Alexander, Jr., “A Solution to the Crisis in Engineering Education,” in IEEE Transcript On Education, 1984, pp 20-22.

5. n. G. Mankiw, “My Rules of Thumb,” in The American Economist, March 1996.

6. r. Gross, Peak Learning, new York, nY: Penguin Putnam, 1999.

7. P. Kump, Breakthrough Rapid Reading, Paramus, nJ: Prentice Hall, 1998.

8. L. rozakis, Power Reading, new York, nY: Macmillan, 1995.


2001 L Street, NW, Suite 700 • Washington, D.C. 20036+1 202 785 0017 • www.ieeeusa.org www.ieeeusa.org/communications/ebooks

launching your career lifelong learning

Documents