Development of a precollege engineering outreach program during the COVID pandemic

Claire Yu Yan

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Zone IV Conference
Location: Vancouver
Publication Date: May 12, 2022
Start Date: May 12, 2022
End Date: May 14, 2022
Conference Session: Equity and Ethics in Engineering-II
Tagged Topic: Conference Submission
Page Count: 10
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--44728
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/44728
Download Count: 46

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Claire Yu Yan P.Eng. University of British Columbia, Okanagan

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Dr. Claire Y. Yan is an associate professor of teaching in the School of Engineering, UBC Okanagan campus. She received her B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from Xi'an Jiaotong University, China and Ph.D. degree from the University of Strathclyde in the UK. Prior to joining UBC in 2008, she worked as a research scientist at Ryerson University in Toronto. Along her career, she has been involved in various research projects in the area of CFD, heat and mass transfer, vapour-liquid equilibrium in fluid mixtures, refrigeration, compressors and pumps, and she has taught both junior and senior engineering courses for over 1500 students. Her current interest is in the scholarship of teaching and learning. Dr. Yan is a registered P.Eng. with APEGBC and has served as a reviewer for various international journals.

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Abstract

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Precollege STEM outreach activities have been a common practice to help high school students gain diverse perspectives of STEM university education and career paths [1, 2, 3]. This paper describes the development of a new engineering outreach program, Engineering 11, by the School of Engineering, University of British Columbia, Okanagan (UBC Okanagan) through collaboration with the Central Okanagan School District (SD 23). Engineering 11 consists of several modules covering a wide range of engineering disciplines and subjects, such as civil, environmental, mechanical, biomedical and electrical engineering, and engineering ethics, aiming to provide senior high school students an opportunity to explore the many disciplines of engineering and career pathways. The course is designed to be taught collaboratively by a physics teacher of SD 23 and faculty and graduate students from UBC Okanagan School of Engineering. Since the spring of 2020, the course has been offered to two cohorts of grades 11 and 12 students in Kelowna Senior Secondary (KSS) in two consecutive years, in the format of in-person and online teaching (in response to the COVID pandemic). Both pre- and post- surveys have been conducted to the cohorts to assess the impact of the program on their attitudes towards engineering and their choices of university majors. This paper presents details on the curriculum development and delivery model (pre- and during the COVID pandemic). The survey results demonstrate that, in general, many students have gained a better understanding of engineering through this outreach program and are more excited about engineering careers. The survey results also reveals the challenges of maintaining a high momentum of the program due to the restrictions from the COVID pandemic.

References:

1. Zhou, B., Effectiveness of a Precollege STEM Outreach Program, Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, Volume 24, Number 3, p. 61, (2020) 2. Wiebe, E. N., & Faber, M., & Corn, J., & Collins, T. L., & Unfried, A., & Townsend, L. (2013, June), A Large-scale Survey of K-12 Students about STEM: Implications for Engineering Curriculum Development and Outreach Efforts (Research to Practice) Paper presented at 2013 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Atlanta, Georgia. 10.18260/1-2—19073 3. Cruz, Joshua, & Kellam, Nadia. Beginning an Engineer's Journey: A Narrative Examination of How, When, and Why Students Choose the Engineering Major. Journal of Engineering Education, 107 (4). https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20234

Citation
Format

Yan, C. Y. (2022, May), Development of a precollege engineering outreach program during the COVID pandemic Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Zone IV Conference, Vancouver. 10.18260/1-2--44728

TY - CPAPER
AB - I intend to follow up with a full paper.

Precollege STEM outreach activities have been a common practice to help high school students gain diverse perspectives of STEM university education and career paths [1, 2, 3]. This paper describes the development of a new engineering outreach program, Engineering 11, by the School of Engineering, University of British Columbia, Okanagan (UBC Okanagan) through collaboration with the Central Okanagan School District (SD 23). Engineering 11 consists of several modules covering a wide range of engineering disciplines and subjects, such as civil, environmental, mechanical, biomedical and electrical engineering, and engineering ethics, aiming to provide senior high school students an opportunity to explore the many disciplines of engineering and career pathways. The course is designed to be taught collaboratively by a physics teacher of SD 23 and faculty and graduate students from UBC Okanagan School of Engineering. Since the spring of 2020, the course has been offered to two cohorts of grades 11 and 12 students in Kelowna Senior Secondary (KSS) in two consecutive years, in the format of in-person and online teaching (in response to the COVID pandemic). Both pre- and post- surveys have been conducted to the cohorts to assess the impact of the program on their attitudes towards engineering and their choices of university majors. This paper presents details on the curriculum development and delivery model (pre- and during the COVID pandemic). The survey results demonstrate that, in general, many students have gained a better understanding of engineering through this outreach program and are more excited about engineering careers. The survey results also reveals the challenges of maintaining a high momentum of the program due to the restrictions from the COVID pandemic.

References:

1. Zhou, B., Effectiveness of a Precollege STEM Outreach Program, Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement, Volume 24, Number 3, p. 61, (2020)
2. Wiebe, E. N., &amp;amp; Faber, M., &amp;amp; Corn, J., &amp;amp; Collins, T. L., &amp;amp; Unfried, A., &amp;amp; Townsend, L. (2013, June), A Large-scale Survey of K-12 Students about STEM: Implications for Engineering Curriculum Development and Outreach Efforts (Research to Practice) Paper presented at 2013 ASEE Annual Conference &amp;amp; Exposition, Atlanta, Georgia. 10.18260/1-2—19073
3. Cruz, Joshua, &amp;amp; Kellam, Nadia. Beginning an Engineer&#39;s Journey: A Narrative Examination of How, When, and Why Students Choose the Engineering Major. Journal of Engineering Education, 107 (4). https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20234

AU - Claire Yu Yan P.Eng.
CY - Vancouver
DA - 2022/05/12
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Development of a precollege engineering outreach program during the COVID pandemic
UR - https://peer.asee.org/44728
DO - 10.18260/1-2--44728
ER -