TEDxEmeraldGlenPark Spotlight: Dublin High School’s Eugene Chou Explores the Future of Education

DUBLIN, CA–As I recently shared, our theme for this year’s TEDxEmeraldGlenPark event is “Future.” This is an exciting topic with so many different interpretations. One major question is how parts of society that we take for granted evolve in the future. For example, how will education change in our future? What is the role of the teacher? What is the role of the student? What does it take to prepare students for the future, full of new technology and a transformed society? How do we educate them in a way that inspires them to participate and co-create, instead of struggling to fit in?

Eugene Chou, Dublin High School STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) educator, has been eagerly pondering these questions – and she is excited to share her thoughts at TEDxEmeraldGlenPark! Eugene is an engineering and math teacher passionate about STEM education. Since 2011, she has been the program coordinator for the Dublin Engineering and Design Academy (DEDA), expanding and improving the quality of education for her students through community partnerships, an engaging curriculum, and student enrichment opportunities. She currently teaches Project Lead the Way, Principles of Engineering, and Digital Electronics, and runs the DEDA Mentor Program.

Eugene will share what motivates her as a teacher. She will also discuss her journey to becoming a better teacher, one who is inspired to get up every morning to solve hard problems and build challenging devices that have not been built before. Eugene squarely questions the traditional teacher/student role divide. She will also share ideas of how to inspire all students to get excited about STEM, counter the lack of risk taking in a traditional educational curriculum, and what it takes to inspire both a student and teacher.

“I hope that in the future we will be able to educate all students using projects-based learning that will engage students in topics they are passionate about while preparing them to be the next generation of leaders and innovators,” says Eugene. “With our current focus on high-stakes letter grades and tests, we sometimes miss opportunities to really enrich the lives of our students with relevant content.”

Eugene adds, “By shifting away from traditional learning methods and assessments, we may actually be able to better prepare our students for the real-world and find ways to combine their interests with career skills.” She continues, “I also believe that by engaging teachers in the same ways, we can promote teacher retention and improve teacher performance.”

Eugene was selected as the 2017 Project Lead the Way California Engineering Teacher of the Year. She earned her B.S. in Mathematical Sciences from UC Santa Barbara and her M.S. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from UC Berkeley. In her spare time, Eugene makes things with her hands and explores the natural world through hiking and traveling.

Come explore education, motivation, and the future with Eugene Chou during her unique talk at TEDxEmeraldGlenPark! Attending TEDxEmeraldGlenPark is a great way to get connected, get inspired, and get excited about our unique community and the importance of education in our future. Your presence would help create an enriching, intellectually stimulating experience for yourself and other attendees. And, of course, Eugene’s talk promises to be an inspiring experience for students and lifelong learners of all ages. A limited number of tickets are available online for you to purchase. There will be no tickets available at the door, so make sure you don’t miss out! I am so excited to meet and share ideas with this community. Let’s make this TEDx event one to remember.