robot and competed in head-to-headcompetitions to achieve a given goal. Figure 1: Teachers building bridges using Jenga™ Blocks Figure 2: Teachers building Lego™ RobotsThe “Hands on the Human Body” clinic module focused on comparison of the human body withengineered systems. When most people think of engineering, the human body usually is not thefirst thing that comes to mind, but the systems of the body can be used to demonstrateengineering principles from all of the major disciplines. Simple experiments using the humanmuscles were used to demonstrate the concepts of levers and force balances which are verycommon in Physics. Blood pressure monitors and the human heart were used to demonstrateconcepts of
taught for about a decade tofreshmen at the Temple University college of Engineering. The objectives of this project range fromeliminating existing boundaries of engineering education to increasing the anticipation of successamongst the physically impaired. A prior breakthrough in the extension of engineering educationbeyond assumed “limits” was achieved when a young man who was both sight and hearing impairedearned a bachelors degree with honors from the Electrical Engineering department at TempleUniversity. Since then, several outreach programs have been run to increase engineering awarenessin the community, and this project was carried out with the same perspective in mind. In this paper,an overview of the idea of engineering education for
soeffectively. Teachers often have difficulty introducing new technology and new curriculum andfind they struggle managing their time and student questions efficiently[13]. Research also showsthat without proper training and development, teachers may perceive such curriculum andchanges negatively which, in turn, affects how they teach[14]. The implementation of thisengineering unit faces similar challenges. The teachers recruited to teach this curriculum in theBoston Public schools are mostly math, science, and technology teachers. These teachers dohave strong math and science backgrounds; however, most of them, including the technologyteachers, do not have any formal training in engineering. With this in mind, the research teamcreated a professional
learnimportant fundamental subjects in a well structured yet open minded and supportiveenvironment.Many high schools offer courses in engineering. Due to a lack of pre-requisite classes, thesecourses are usually introductory in nature and do not offer opportunities for students to studyvector and calculus based engineering mechanics1. The course coverage in GESN is the same asthat offered in a freshman or sophomore university level statics class, making it unique for a highschool curriculum. Exposing high school students to engineering before they apply to a collegeor university is beneficial since the rigorous course load of a university program makes itdifficult to complete an intended major without adding an extra year (or more) to the requiredtime.2
” solving everyday problems in a systematic method. Certainlythese can be valuable experiences for children. However, they don’t allow the child to explore indepth or make connections between math and science concepts which are an integral part of anengineer’s view of the world.A third approach, the “Drive into Engineering” model, puts the teachers and the students in themiddle of the engineering activity. The teachers have created the moment and then both groupsare immersed in it. For Douglas L. Jamerson Elementary School this represents a “hands-on,minds-on” approach that fosters the development of methods and activities aimed at theintegration of mathematics and science concepts we are expected to teach imbedded inengineering concepts and
AC 2007-2278: SECONDARY STUDENTS' BELIEFS ABOUT THEIR INTERESTSIN NANOSCALE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERINGKelly Hutchinson, Purdue UniversityShawn Stevens, University of MichiganNamsoo Shin Hong, University of MichiganMolly Yunker, University of MichiganCesar Delgado, University of MichiganWilliam Fornes, Purdue UniversityGeorge Bodner, Purdue UniversityNick Giordano, Purdue UniversityJoseph Krajcik, University of Michigan Page 12.1258.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2007 Secondary Students’ Beliefs about their Interests in Nanoscale Science and EngineeringAbstractResearch has shown that increasing students’ interests in science
: Involve engineering in K-12 lessons that map to state standards for math and science. Further, states should follow the lead of Massachusetts and enact state standards for engineering 4. Use/Improve K-12 Teachers: Engage more K-12 teachers in outreach efforts and curriculum writing, and increase teacher salaries to attract the best technological minds to teaching 5. Make Engineers “Cool”: Outreach to urban schools and females more aggressively, and create more mentors and role models to attract these constituencies 6. Partnerships: Create better incentives for all groups to engage in K-12 outreach (especially higher education and industry)2According to Dougless, Iverson and Kaylendurg there is no magical list
briefintroduction to the objectives of the activity, 2) conducting the activity and 3) discussing how toimplement the activity in their individual classrooms. Four activates were chosen for the Institutediscussed in the paper, with math and science teachers in mind: Forces and Math, Pendulums andGraphing, Water Rocket Design and Analysis, and Yogurt Cup Speakers. The workshopactivities were taught as ‘engineering’ activities and were not aimed specifically at math orscience teachers. The activities are briefly described below; full lesson plans are included asAppendices A-D, respectively.Forces and Math. The ‘Forces and Math’9 activity explores loads and reaction forces. Inaddition, the activity can be used to practice graphing experimental data, and/or to
consecutive-days residential institutes. The main goal of all these activities is toplant the seed about technology and engineering in the minds of the young participants.Therefore, a variety of sessions take place in order to show them new technical concepts and tochallenge them to make use of those concepts. For the high-school students, the activities duringthe residential institutes are in the context of emulating a typical design process in industry, fromconcept to prototype. This product development process is valuable because it corresponds withthe type of interpersonal communication, problem-solving, and conflict resolution skills thatleading firms and industry seek from new employees. For the participants from middle schools,the several-days
, only 3% of the public associate thefield of engineering with creativity. Indeed, many see engineers to be rather dull Aone-dimensional@ individuals. This perceived image (whether accurate or otherwise) may be causingsome students with appropriate backgrounds to select fields other than engineering. In his recentbook A Whole New Mind 11, the author argues that while engineers of the recent past have soughtto be more Acompetitive@ by pursuing MBA degrees, the Adegree of the future@ in terms ofproducing creative people who will help this country maintain an edge in creative productdevelopment is the MFA degree. Consistent with this thinking, programs that blend engineeringand the VPA should develop creative problem solvers to a higher degree
AC 2007-730: INNOVATIVE EXPOSURE TO ENGINEERING BASICS THROUGHMECHATRONICS SUMMER HONORS PROGRAM FOR HIGH SCHOOLSTUDENTSJohn Mativo, Ohio Northern University JOHN MATIVO teaches Materials and Product Manufacturing courses at Ohio Northern University. He has conducted several summer projects for middle an high school students. His university teaching experience totals eleven years six of which he served as Department of Technology Chair at the University of Eastern Africa, Baraton. He holds degrees in Technology, Education and Engineering. His Doctorate is from the University of Georgia. He is a member of Sigma Xi, Epsilon Pi Tau, Phi Kappa Phi, and Phi Beta Delta.Adam Stienecker, Ohio Northern
AC 2007-2032: OUTREACH WITH GAME DESIGN EDUCATIONDavid Schwartz, Cornell University After finishing his dissertation in Civil Engineering and writing two textbooks as a graduate student in 1999, Cornell's Computer Science department made an offer David I. Schwartz couldn't refuse. Schwartz has made a career in researching and developing new curricula and educational technology. Over the past five years, he has collaborated with faculty and staff to build the Cornell Library Collaborative Learning Computer Laboratory (CL3) and the Game Design Initiative at Cornell (GDIAC; http://gdiac.cis.cornell.edu). CL3 currently hosts Cornell's new game courses, which now belong to a new
Technical Assistance Centers, at the College of William and Mary, providing professional development programs for teachers. She has worked in public education for twenty-two years and is an adjunct Assistant Professor at William and Mary, teaching courses in collaborative consultation and assessment, as well serving as the college's VDP Project Coordinator.Eugene Brown, Virginia Tech Eugene Brown is Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech. He has worked with ONR since 2001 on university-centered Navy work force development issues. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in thermodynamics and fluid mechanics and is the author of many papers and reports describing his
understanding of the basicconcept of electronics and an appreciation of evolutionary milestones of sophisticatedelectronics systems. In support of these objectives, the museum’s priority is to provide amotivational environment for students of all ages to gain an understanding of basicengineering and the career opportunities available through higher education. With thispriority in mind, the Historical Electronics Museum began the Young Engineers andScientist Seminars (YESS) program in the fall of 2002, intended for highly gifted highschool students in the Baltimore/Washington area with a strong aptitude in mathematicsand/or science. The first two years of the program consisted of a series of solelyseminars and covered topics as diverse and dynamic as
when focused on the learner: • Engaging children as active participants, giving them greater control over the learning process. • Assisting students to integrate learning from language, the arts, mathematics, and science. • Encouraging pluralistic thinking, avoiding a right/wrong dichotomy and suggesting that multiple solutions are possible. • Providing children an opportunity to reflect upon, revise, and extend their internal models of the world. • Encouraging children to put themselves in the minds of others as they think about how their designs will be understood and used5,36.The components of this project that make engineering design and inquiry-related investigationspossible in typical
AC 2007-1650: COMMUNITY AND FAMILY MATH NIGHTS AS A VEHICLE FORMATHEMATICS SUCCESSLaura Bottomley, North Carolina State University LAURA J. BOTTOMLEY is the Director of the Women in Engineering and Outreach Programs at North Carolina State University and a partner of Science Surround, a science education business for children. She is the immediate past chair of the K-12 Division of ASEE. Dr. Bottomley received her Ph.D. in electrical engineering from North Carolina State University in 1992, and her MSEE and BSEE from Virginia Tech in 1984 and 1985, respectively. She has worked at AT&T Bell Labs and Duke University.Elizabeth Parry, North Carolina State University ELIZABETH A. PARRY is
activities on a rating of 1–5. (1 being the lowest score) Each year, new activities are included in the event, and thisinformation gives an indication of how the activity is received and how successful it has been.There is also an opportunity for both general comments and their interests in careers in science,engineering and the possibility of attending Purdue University. Parents and teachers also have anopportunity to give comments about the day which have always resulted in very positivecomments. Atypical quote from a parent is as follows:I wanted to thank everyone involved for a wonderful program Saturday. I brought my son, Nick, for thefirst time and he had a great day. It has opened his mind and he is now thinking of designing airplanesfor a
the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education.Pam King, Clemson University Pamela King is a lead curriculum developer for the Math Out of the Box pre-engineering curriculum project. She writes curriculum for K-5 students and teachers. Her area of expertise is in special education and she is currently investigating the use of Math Out of the Box with special education students. Page 12.175.1© American Society for Engineering Education, 2007 Adapting a Post-Secondary STEM Instructional Model to K-5 Mathematics InstructionAbstractIf Science, Technology, Engineering
problem solving matrix was a great tool to get the students to try to start thinking. • I’ve used the videos, the matrix and design of the eCar for the purpose of teaching pre-engineering. • I have had a lot more success in getting to student to judge (and select) work with an open mind using the matrix. Question: In what ways have you seen students benefit from the PD experience? • Engineering is not a foreign thing that makes students stand back and look at you with fear in their eyes. When I describe people who can identify a problem and solve it students seem to take notice and realize that engineering may be something interesting and useful. • The pedagogical
through the Institute's activities, including radical ideas and disruptive technologies, and 4. Promote aerospace science and engineering and provide outreach to the region and nation. In support of the fourth imperative, our workshops are to provide a brief yetthoughtful introduction to some of the important scientific and engineering challengesinvolved in NASA’s complex missions and to relate this to grades 6-12 science andmathematics education. This paper describes our workshop components relating topower and performance and the experiences of teachers in learning more aboutpropulsion and flight. Care was taken to provide teachers with basic materials so that theycould stimulate young minds. Building on this, students should learn
are lost on the students, but of somepolitical worth since the general public thinks they do understand such distinctions. More to thepoint, our teachers have to learn enough engineering science so that they start to see how Page 12.1354.3engineering has a significant impact on peoples lives, how it is driven by a strong knowledge ofmathematics and science, and how this knowledge base can easily strengthen all of the“traditional” lessons typically used by teachers in other elementary schools in our district.IntroductionWith this background in mind, how do you get elementary school teachers to teach their studentsengineering concepts
AC 2007-317: HIGH SCHOOL MATH AND SCIENCE TEACHERS' AWARENESSOF GENDER-EQUITY ISSUES FROM A RESEARCH-BASED WORKSHOPStephen Krause, Arizona State University Stephen J. Krause is Professor and an Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies in the School of Materials in the Fulton School of Engineering at Arizona State University. His teaching responsibilities are in the areas of design and selection of materials, general materials engineering, polymer science, and characterization of materials. His research interests are in innovative education in engineering and K-12 engineering outreach. He has co-developed a Materials Concept Inventory for assessing fundamental knowledge of students in
ramifications of theworkshop with regard to the new paradigm of “technology education” in K-12 setting.However, the participants readily realized how “instructional technology”, “computers”,“computer graphics”, “information technology”, “science” and “mathematics” content,can be integrated within a “technology education” lesson over and above providing aplatform for discussion on social and ethical implications of advanced technologies, andthe engineering design process. It is this integrative holistic nature of “technologyeducation” that the new standards aspire to promote which has the potential tosignificantly transform and improve K-12 STEM education and unleash the creativity ofyoung minds throughout the nation. In the recent past, the primary