Developing Elementary Students’ Career Awareness of Advanced Manufacturing
- Conference
- Location
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Portland, Oregon
- Publication Date
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June 23, 2024
- Start Date
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June 23, 2024
- End Date
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July 12, 2024
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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Manufacturing Division (MFG)
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/47164
Paper Authors
Hengtao Tang University of South Carolina
Hengtao Tang is an associate professor in Learning, Design and Technologies at the University of South Carolina. His research focuses on self-regulated learning in engineering education, especially using learning analytics and machine learning algorithms to understand the self-regulated learning process, profile self-regulated learners, and create AI-scaffolded interventions to support self-regulated learning.
Ramy Harik University of South Carolina
Dr. Ramy Harik, a Fulbright Scholar, is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of South Carolina and a resident researcher at the McNAIR Center for Aerospace Innovation and Research. He is currently a v
Abstract
Broadening underserved students’ participation in advanced manufacturing (AM) workforce at scale is critical. This exploratory study showcased outreach activities in a suburban elementary school serving primarily students from underserved communities. Given the age group of those elementary students, the goal of this series of outreach activities was to inspire their career awareness of engineering. Approximately sixty students all around the age of seven participated in this event. All of them had some STEM experience through their participation in math and science classes. Local students do not yet have solid career plans until the ninth grade, but most of the students involved in this outreach activity had an interest in engineering. There were six activities in the rotation: gum drop towers, popsicle stick structures, paper gliders, catapults, Legos, and homemade slime; each of these activities were associated with different tasks to accomplish. To ensure students’ exposure to various aspects of AM projects and jobs, all the students had the opportunity to rotate through all the activities. Overall, elementary students involved in this outreach activities stayed engaged in those activities. The findings showed that students established awareness of the advanced manufacturing field and fostered excitement about pursuing such a career in the future. The experience assured the importance of hosting outreach events for students to hear it straight from people in the field who used to be in their same position.
Tang, H., & Harik, R. (2024, June), Developing Elementary Students’ Career Awareness of Advanced Manufacturing Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47164
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