Conference Session

Thinking Outside the Box! Innovative Curriculum Exchange for K12 Engineering

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Tirupalavanam G. Ganesh, Arizona State University; Lisa Stapley Randall, Arizona State University; Johnny Thieken, Arizona State University

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

elaborated on topics whereappropriate, to include informal questioning concerning issues that were deemed important, butnot reported in the group share activity. The activity culminated with students reflecting on theirlearning experience with descriptive notes and drawings in their engineering notebooks.1. Many, Many Microbes. This activity began with facilitators distributing two photographs ofmicrobes to each team of four students and rotating the sets of pictures to another group until allteams have seen all sets of photos. Through a whole group discussion, students brainstormedtopics such as living vs. non-living, characteristics of microbes, where they live, what they eat

Conference Session

Developing Systems Engineering Curriculum, Part II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael C Smith, University of Virginia; Reid Bailey, University of Virginia

Tagged Divisions

Systems Engineering

, includes not only the analytic element but also development of recommendations forthe solution of the problem at hand. Moreover, they argue that systems engineering includespolicy analysis in addition to technical or analytical aspects, reflecting the fact that complexsystems inevitably involve trade-offs that involve underlying values articulated through writtenor unwritten policy.6The essence of this brief background is that systems engineering is not a set of tools, amethodology, a checklist, a technology, or a process, yet systems engineering often requiresanalytical tools, methods, checklists, technology, and processes. Rather, it is a way of thinking –systems thinking – that reflects an understanding and appreciation of goals (value

Conference Session

Issues and Answers in Mathematics Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Peter J. Sherman, Iowa State University

Tagged Divisions

Mathematics

ideasmight contribute to improved motivation, one must still acknowledge that there are other largerreasons for the continuing decline of STEM education in the USA.Having taught university-level undergraduate and graduate courses in a wide variety of STEMtopics for over 30 years, this author has observed an equally disturbing decline in the relativeperformance of U.S. students in relation to students from other countries. This observation isoften reflected in the consistent and continued „dumbing down‟ of course concepts,acknowledged by many academics who have taught in STEM disciplines for any length of time.In view of this continued decline of competency among U.S. university graduates, it is notsurprising that more and more companies are looking

Conference Session

Chemical Engineering in Silico

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Debra Gilbuena, Oregon State University; Ben Uriel Sherrett, Oregon State University; Milo Koretsky, Oregon State University

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

grateful for support provided by the National Science Foundation’s Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement Program, under Phase 2 grant DUE-0717905. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Page 22.139.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2011 Adaption of a Virtual Laboratory Curriculum: A Preliminary Study of Implementation at Other InstitutionsAbstractThis paper describes the adaption and implementation of

Conference Session

Design in Freshman and Sophomore Courses

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Leigh R Abts, University of Maryland, College Park

Tagged Divisions

Design in Engineering Education

proficiency in the engineering designprocess, however, portfolio assessment offers a promising alternative.While there is no single definition of an assessment portfolio, among features that manyportfolio-based programs, both past and ongoing, have in common is their understanding that aportfolio is “a purposeful collection of student work that exhibits to the students (and/or others)the student’s efforts, progress, or achievement in given area(s). The collection must includestudent participation in selection of portfolio content; the criteria for selection; the criteria forjudging merit; and evidence of student self-reflection.” 28 Archbald and Newmann 29, andPaulson, Paulson, and Meyer 30 were among the first proponents of the idea that students

Conference Session

Engineering Ethics Issues Part One

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Claire Komives, San Jose State University; Moira M. Walsh, Independent Scholar

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

illuminated the forms of their own activity, by identifying and exposing its limitations, and provided a way of posing further questions about practice. They had already asked themselves: “What ends am I pursuing, as a family member, in the work place, as member of this or that organization?” Aristotle gave them the resources for asking “But what is it all for? What is my end qua human being?” And Aristotle’s reflections on the human qualities needed to achieve worthwhile ends, on the virtues, coincided with and deepened their own reflections. [...] The only other thinker to whom such workers responded in a similar way was Marx. He too had asked their questions.” 9Aristotle (384-322 BC) was a student of

Conference Session

Ethical Perspectives on the Grand Challenges of Engineering

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Dean Nieusma, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Xiaofeng Tang, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

intriguingopportunity to reflect on how engineers imagine what engineering is and what its proper role insociety ought to be.This paper contributes one such reflection, carefully analyzing Grand Challenges as a way tointerrogate broader social and cultural meanings surrounding engineering, technology, and theirrelationships to major social and environmental problems. While sympathetic to the impulseunderlying the report, namely to direct engineering energies toward “the century’s greatchallenges,” 4 our analysis identifies key assumptions embedded in Grand Challenges that arelikely to constrain efforts to develop robust solutions. This paper argues that, in importantrespects, Grand Challenges relies on a problematic and increasingly outdated understanding

Conference Session

Qualitative Research Programs & International Research Experience from Around the World

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Yating Chang, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Joe J.J. Lin, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Juila D. Thompson, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Yi Shen, Purdue University; Brent K. Jesiek, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Eckhard A. Groll, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Edwin Daniel Hirleman, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

International

and reflect ontheir IREE experiences, (2) allow professional and social network opportunities among theparticipants, and (3) assess the challenges and opportunities faced by the program participants.At the IREE re-entry meeting, individual hour-long interviews and two-hour thematic focusgroups were conducted with 56 participants.For the scope of this paper, we present and discuss select focus group and interview data relatedto three different themes: (1) gender differences, (2) second generation Chinese immigrants, and(3) African and Hispanic Americans. Preliminary data analysis reveals some of the unique issuesfaced by each student population, as well as some of the cultural images encountered inside andoutside of various cultural

Conference Session

Build Diversity in Engineering Graduate Programs

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Allison Kang, University of Washington; Lisa A. Peterson, University of Washington; Elena Maria Hernandez, University of Washington

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

Successful Undergraduate Research Program for Science and Engineering UndergraduatesIf current trends continue, the percentage of whites in the United States by 2020 will decline to63.7% (down from 75.6% in 2000) and by 2050, almost half of the U.S. population will benonwhite1. The group predicted to make up the majority of the nonwhite population areHispanics2, but other underrepresented minority groups will also grow substantially. Hispanicsmake up roughly one in every five high-school-age youth, compared with one in ten in 19902.Those trends are expected to be reflected in the state of Washington as well, but Washington alsohas a relatively large population of Alaska Indians/American Natives (AI/AN), about 1.6% of thepopulation

Conference Session

Tricks of the Trade in Teaching II

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Michael Foster, George Fox University; Justin R. Vander Werff P.E., Dordt College

Tagged Divisions

New Engineering Educators

emphasizeresearch-based methods including use of clearly defined learning objectives and implementingactive learning techniques in the classroom. Such methods can be very useful and have beenshown to be successful; however, for the new engineering educator, the implementation of suchmethods can be mentally and emotionally challenging and time consuming.This paper provides the authors’ reflection, as two relatively new engineering educators, on theirpersonal implementation of learning objectives and active learning techniques in the classroom intheir second and third years of teaching. We feel that our comparative evaluations are unique andhelpful because we teach at two different teaching-focused institutions and have employedmethods and techniques that we

Conference Session

WIED Poster Session

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Lisa M Frehill, National Action Council for Minorities in Engineering

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

: Underrepresented Minorities in Engineering: A Data-Based Look at Diversity” and the NACME databook. Research in progress includes projects funded by the National Science Foundation on women’s interna- tional participation and collaboration in science and engineering and on career outcomes of engineering bachelor’s degree recipients. In addition, she is working on analyses of supply and demand for engineers and scientists. Support for this research was provided by NACME with additional support via a grant from the National Science Foundation, Research on Gender in Science and Engineering HRD#0827461. Any findings or conclusions are those of the author and do not reflect those of the National Science Foundation

Conference Session

Sustainability and Humanitarian Engineering

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Angela R. Bielefeldt, University of Colorado, Boulder

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

% among civil engineering students and 26-29% of the environmental engineering students. In the special topic papers written by the civilengineering students for Homework 6, significantly more students discussed sustainability inrelation to their topic in the semesters that the course included a sustainability module (21-24%vs. previous 5%). In the final reflective essays at the end of the semester (homework 7), 60-86%of the students mentioned ethics; there were not specific trends over time or differences betweenthe civil and environmental engineering courses. The semesters with the sustainability modulesignificantly increased the discussion of sustainability by the students: 5% civil engineers beforethe module vs. 52 and 76% after the module

Conference Session

Digital Technologies and Learning

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Debra Gilbuena, Oregon State University; Ben Uriel Sherrett, Oregon State University; Milo Koretsky, Oregon State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

authors are grateful for support provided by the National Science Foundation’s Course, Curriculum and Laboratory Improvement Program, under Phase 2 grant DUE-0717905. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. Page 22.635.1 c American Society for Engineering Education, 2011 Episodes as a Discourse Analysis Framework to Examine Feedback in an Industrially Situated Virtual Laboratory ProjectIntroductionFeedback has been shown to be one

Conference Session

Open-Ended Problems and Student Learning

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mark T. Carnes, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Heidi A. Diefes-Dux, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Monica E. Cardella, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

period. The MEA was launched in the laboratory setting which was facilitated by twoGTAs supported by four undergraduate assistants. Student teams of 3-4 students developedDRAFT 1 of their memo with procedure and results. This draft entered a double-blind peerreview process. In preparation for the peer review, students participated in a calibration exercisein which they practiced giving feedback on one prototypical piece of student work using theMEA Rubric, were provided an expert‟s review of that student work, and reflected on what theyneeded to do differently to improve their ability to give a peer review. For the actual peerreview, each student reviewed one other team‟s solution to the MEA. Each team was assigned atleast 3 peer reviewers. Each

Conference Session

Female Faculty, Learning, NSF, and ABET Issues at Two-Year Colleges

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Nicholas Massa, Springfield Technical Community College; Michele Dischino, Central Connecticut State University; Judith F. Donnelly, Three Rivers Community-Technical College; Fenna D. Hanes, New England Board of Higher Education

Tagged Divisions

Two Year College Division

, andengage in highly structured “cookbook” type laboratory activities, PBL is open-ended andcontextualized, where student learning is driven by the problem itself.While a number of different approaches to PBL have been described in the literature since firstbeing introduced in medical schools in the 1970s, they all share the same basic learningprocess10. Working in small teams, students learn “how to learn” by engaging in a recursiveprocess that includes problem analysis, independent research, brainstorming, and solutiontesting. Figure 1 – Problem solving cycleIn PBL, students are presented with an open-ended problem with little or no content preparation.Working in small teams, they collaboratively reflect upon prior

Conference Session

WIED Poster Session

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elaine R. Millam, University of Saint Thomas; Ronald J. Bennett, Univeristy of Saint Thomas

Tagged Divisions

Women in Engineering

Engineering degrees in 2005, but their proportion is smaller (30%) inmost S&E occupations. This is reflected in the study of “high technology” companies as well. 4However, NSF reports that more women than men have entered the S&E workforce over recentdecades. Their proportion in the S&E occupations rose from 12% in 1980 to 27% in 2007.Women in the S&E workforce are on average younger than men, suggesting that largerproportions of men than women may retire in the near future, changing the gender ratios.NSF data from the 2006 SESTAT5 data shows that, of the five S&E degree fields included, theratio of females to males is lowest for

Conference Session

Understanding Students and Faculty

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Linda Vanasupa, California Polytechnic State University; Qiong Zhang, University of South Florida; James R. Mihelcic, University of South Florida; Julie Zimmerman, Yale University; Nina J. Truch, California Polytechnic State University

Tagged Divisions

Educational Research and Methods

web-based open-access format toencourage change. The significance of this tool and its open format is that it provides theengineering education community with a way to participate in the broader development andrefinement of a tool that shows merit in assessing proxy indicators of students' readiness tocollaborate for sustainability. It has the potential to raise awareness of this limited proxyindicator of students’ readiness of collaborating for sustainable design. Our intent in making ittransparent is to foster a deeper reflection in the engineering education community aboutsustainable design and the hidden meaning within engineering curricula and cultures.Introduction: Why is this instrument needed?In 2007, the National Academy of

Conference Session

Computer Science and Information Technology in K-12 Engineering

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ethan E. Danahy, Tufts University, Center for Engineering Education and Outreach; Ashley Russell, Tufts University, Center for Engineering Education and Outreach

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

text input, audio record, image capture, andmovie record. UDL features can be utilized in several manners to best support the contentand to aid in information processing and conceptual understanding. By makinginstructional goals, strategies, and materials flexible in these ways, potential barriers tolearning are lowered and opportunities to learn are increased. By integrating UDL tools into a digital platform designed for cultivatingengineering education in K-12, the researchers aim to provide a means for improvingSTEM learning outcomes for all students. The software interface is utilized in thisresearch to promote teaching science through engineering by leveraging features inherentto the platform. Learning through design is reflected

Conference Session

Innovative Methods to Teach Engineering to URMs

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Elizabeth A. Eschenbach, Humboldt State University; Mary E. Virnoche, Humboldt State University; Tyler J. Evans, Humboldt State University

Tagged Divisions

Minorities in Engineering

HSUinstitutional research. In that research, the models look at population data for a group of studentsentering an institution or program in the fall term of an academic year and communicate thepercentage of that cohort that returns for study in each subsequent academic year: these are the Page 22.870.4“retention” and “persistence” rates. Retention usually reflects stay at the institution regardless ofmovement between majors, while persistence relates to particular course taking patterns in majorpathways. Most institutions simply track institutional retention. We track and report both.If a student enrolled in coursework for a given term, but dropped

Conference Session

Ethical Perspectives on the Grand Challenges of Engineering

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Donna M Riley, Smith College

Tagged Divisions

Liberal Education/Engineering & Society

Challenges in light ofengineering ethics. It can open up a set of larger questions that move us forward in defining theparameters of purposeful and significant work for the engineering profession in society. In thissense, backers of the Grand Challenges project who are allies of engineering education reformwill recognize the discussion of ethics as an invitation to a kind of reflexive practice,16 deepeningthe conversation by reflecting critically on the Challenges and the processes that produced them.Gary Downey17 among others has pointed out that problem framing is as important as it isneglected in engineering education. In this case, the NAE has defined the scope of severalproblems that constitute the “grand” work of the profession in this century

Conference Session

SE Tools and Techniques

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

John C. Georgas, Northern Arizona University

Tagged Divisions

Software Engineering Constituent Committee

early as possible.For effective group operation, it is also critical to provide evaluative feedback at both the groupand individual levels12. For this project, each deliverable element was accompanied by a student-provided peer-evaluation that is used in a zero-sum grading methodology. This allowed us toassign individual grades that are a better representation of individual student contributions thanthe quality of final deliverables alone. As a result, individual grades reflect high or low levels ofcontribution by students, based on the evaluations of their teammates.Each student is required to provide a peer evaluation along with project deliverables: this peerevaluation provides a scaling factor for the score of the submitting student and

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Salahuddin Qazi, State University of New York, Institute of Tech, Utica, New York and Mohawk Valley Community College; Robert C. Decker, Mohawk Valley Community College

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees

visualized.Probes are typically made from SiN4 or Si, but other materials are used for specialized studies. Alaser beam reflecting from the back side of the tip provides a moving light source to aphototransistor array, providing detailed z-axis probe deflection and other data in the process thatis stored in the computer relative to spatial variation in the x-y plane. This data is used togenerate the topographic image of the sample surface. The amount of force between the probeand sample is dependent on the stiffness of the cantilever and the distance between probe and thesample surface which can be calculated using Hooke’s Law. If the spring constant of cantilever(typically ~0.1-1 N/m) is less than surface, the cantilever bends and deflection is monitored

Conference Session

NSF Grantees Poster Session

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Jason Yao, East Carolina University; Loren Limberis, East Carolina University; Steve Warren, Kansas State University

Tagged Topics

NSF Grantees

], assessment of laboratory experiences in engineering education remains an area that warrants more research. In our project, the authors planned to use FE-style multiple-choice questions to assess ABET outcomes (a) apply math and engineering knowledge and (e) problem solving. Although many may agree that laboratories should help to improve student abilities in these two outcome areas and that comparing the experimental and control groups appears to be a sensible approach to evaluate the proposed tools, these two outcomes are a result of many other different factors (e.g., instructor, student background, assignments, etc.). In this project, assessment results from Figures 3 and 4 reflect the fact

Conference Session

ABET and Curriculum-Level Assessments

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Howard S. Kimmel, New Jersey Institute of Technology; Angelo J. Perna, New Jersey Institute of Technology; Shari Klotzkin; John D. Carpinelli, New Jersey Institute of Technology; Reginald Percy Tomkins, New Jersey Institute of Technology

Tagged Divisions

Chemical Engineering

vapors. None of thestudents were able to score at least 15 points out of 20 points (75%) for the problem. Only 25%of the students were able to score at least 12 out of 20 (60%). Some students were unable to findthe correct equation for the problem. Most students used an incorrect approach to the problem,including wrong assumptions or incorrect variables.In reflection, it appeared that students were unable to apply prior knowledge to differentsituations or to different models. As a result the instructor believed that more reinforcement maybe necessary in working with different models and in different situations. The next time heteaches the course, he plans to have group work in the classroom, where he has groups ofstudents working on problems

Conference Session

Tablet PC use in Education

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

JUDITH VIRGINIA GUTIERREZ, Universidad de las Americas, Puebla; Aurelio Lopez-Malo, Universidad de las Americas, Puebla; Enrique Palou, Universidad de las Americas, Puebla

Tagged Divisions

Computers in Education

noted the importance of provided opportunities for “what if” thinking, given variationson the challenge and for new problems that also involved the lesson’s concepts. Attempts to helppeople reflect on their own processes as learners (to be metacognitive) were also emphasized.MethodologySince spring 2009 we implemented the use of Tablet PC in the courses IA-332 and IA-530.These courses are taught alternately during the year. In the spring semester IA-332 is offeredwhile IA-530 is taught in the fall. Therefore, this study was carried out during 2 periods per yearsince 2009. Data were collected from spring 2008 (before course redesign and Tablet PCimplementation) to fall 2010. The studied populations are presented in Table 1

Conference Session

Sustainability and Humanitarian Engineering

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ryan C. Campbell, University of Washington; Denise Wilson, University of Washington

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Ethics

) identify and apply specific scientific principles (i.e., equations derived exclusively from the engineering sciences) to the problems, 5) deploy mathematical strategies to solve these equations, 6) produce a single "correct" solution on which they are graded, 7) reflect back on the answer and ask whether it makes sense in the physical world.Students are rarely taught how to consider non-technical issues throughout this process: theymay even learn that such issues are irrelevant and unimportant. Engineering students are thustaught a reductionist approach to design that deliberately limits problem scope to technicalconcerns and both excludes and devalues broader considerations [4]. Similarly, Moriarty [6 , pp. 90]describes the

Conference Session

Unique Developments in Engineering Technology

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Branislav Rosul, College of Dupage; Niaz Latif, Purdue University, Calumet ; Mohammad A. Zahraee, Purdue University, Calumet; Aco Sikoski, Ivy Tech Community College

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Technology

22.1077.2modularization efforts, along with experiential project-based learning and innovative deliverymethods, will be presented.Modularization and Sequencing of Mechatronics Curriculum The necessity for multi-disciplinary programs, reflecting the industry need for graduateswho can be multi-task-oriented and understand the whole system, is increasing as technologyimproves. Industrial multi-disciplinary skill training programs can be viewed as high-quality,technical teaching programs, particularly when they are supervised and/or taught by aninstitution of higher education3. To serve this need, Purdue University Calumet with thetremendous support of industry, in particular the packaging industry, developed the EngineeringTechnology baccalaureate program

Conference Session

FPD II: Increasing Engagement and Motivation of First-Year Students

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Julie J. Parish, Texas A&M University; Kristi J. Shryock, Texas A&M University; Dimitris C. Lagoudas, Texas A&M University

Tagged Divisions

First-Year Programs

to introduce their missions and activities. The final area included in the curriculumconcerns career opportunities. Here, activities are prepared to help students better understand thebroad range of career options available in the aerospace industry and how to prepare for anemployment search. To support each of these topics, students are given both individual and teamassignments to engage them in critical thinking about aerospace engineering problems.Furthermore, each of these components is supplemented by a mentoring program session with anassignment that reflects the content of the component. Page 22.1287.3These three parts of the

Conference Session

IE Technical Session I

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ivan G. Guardiola, Missouri University of Science & Technology; Susan L. Murray, Missouri University of Science & Technology; Elizabeth A. Cudney, Missouri University of Science & Technology

Tagged Divisions

Industrial Engineering

’ potential fordeveloping a “business culture,” that is, developing optimization models, which reflect andencompass the student’s goals. These unique attributes of this game make it ideal for presentingthe students with a problem that evolves, aims to define the student’s decision making rational,develop key concepts regarding goals and formulation relevance, allows the student to addressconflicting and competing objectives within the mathematical abstract model, and presentscontinuous change that must be addressed in order to increase the relevance of the mathematicalmodel and its solution. Thus, this game has multiple characteristics that have high relevance inthe instruction of basic and advanced operations research such as linear, integer

Conference Session

K-12 and Pre-College Engineering Poster Session

Collection

2011 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Shamsnaz Virani, University of Texas, El Paso; Iris B. Burnham, Burnham Wood Charter School District; Virgilio Gonzalez, University of Texas, El Paso; Miroslava Barua, University of Texas, El Paso; Elaine Fredericksen, Ph.D., University of Texas, El Paso; Sally J. Andrade, Andrade & Associates, Inc., El Paso, TX

Tagged Divisions

K-12 & Pre-College Engineering

required to function in work and homeenvironments characterized by increasing technological sophistication. A decade ago, the GlennCommission Report 1 voiced grave concern that declining performance and interest in STEMsubjects among U.S. students would significantly impact efforts to increase the size of atechnical workforce already too small to meet the hiring needs of the nation’s firms, that werepoised to face drastic reductions as Baby Boomers reach retirement age. Since the release of thatreport, STEM education reform has been a growing priority of both government and privatesector agencies, as reflected by a proliferation of STEM initiatives at national, state, and locallevels