ScienceMakers Toolkit Manual - The History Makers

6. Dr. Terry has unusual stories about his high school experiences. What were they? How do your
experiences in school compare to those of Dr. Terry? He mentions that he felt the need to challenge \
himself. What challenges you? How do you challenge yourself? (See Clip #2)
7. When did Dr. Terry decide to be an electrical engineer? How does he structure his goals? What was his
reward for meeting his goals? What are some of your goals? Imagine next month, next year, fi ve years
and ten years from now. What are your goals for each of those periods? How can you meet them? What
are your potential challenges? How can you overcome them? (See Clip #3)
8. Dr. Terry downplayed much of his success until he got to NASA. How did this help him? What kind of
an environment forced him to excel? How does this relate to you? How do you measure yourself? Do
you take your peers into account, or are you only competing against yourself? (See Clip #4)
9. How did Dr. Terry come to be working at NASA? Have you heard of programs like this? What is one
name for them? [Teacher’s note: This provides an opening to discuss affi rmative action] How successful
was that group, according to Dr. Terry? What are the pros and cons of programs like this? Do you
think they are helpful or harmful? Why? (See Clip #4)
Science:
10. What do you think an electrical engineer does? Would you like to be an electrical engineer? Why?
11. If you were an electrical engineer, what kinds of problems would you solve?
12. What was the emphasis of Dr. Terry’s undergraduate work? What is this fi eld about? How do you think
it works? Can you think of places where this type of work would be useful? (See Clip #5)
13. What was the emphasis of Dr. Terry’s graduate work in Cleveland and at NASA? What is this fi eld
about? How do you think it works? Can you think of places where this type of work would be
useful? (See Clip #5)
14. How did Dr. Terry combine his Ph.D. work with his work at NASA? What is array signal processing?
How does it work? (See Clip #5)
15. Dr. Terry talks about how his choice led him to be well-placed into an industry that has experienced
tremendous technological growth over the last fi fteen years. What are some of these technological
advances? How do they impact your life? What kinds of technological innovations could you
make? Where do you think the next wave of technology will happen? (See Clip #6)
16. Dr. Terry talks about how he was trained to think differently at Georgia Tech. What was his old way of
thinking? Have you ever encountered this in school? What was he taught at Georgia Tech? Which
method do you think is better? Why? Give some examples. (See Clip #6)
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Engineering