Impacts Of Engineering In 4 H After School Programs
- Conference
- Location
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Louisville, Kentucky
- Publication Date
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June 20, 2010
- Start Date
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June 20, 2010
- End Date
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June 23, 2010
- ISSN
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2153-5965
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
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K-12 & Pre-College Engineering
- Page Count
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7
- Page Numbers
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15.671.1 - 15.671.7
- DOI
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10.18260/1-2--16099
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/16099
- Download Count
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407
Paper Authors
Paul Klenk Duke University
Paul A. Klenk received is Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and materials science at Duke University’s Pratt School of Engineering in 2006. Since graduating, Paul has been the Co-Director of Engineering K-PhD, the Pratt School of Engineering's K-12 outreach center. In this position, he is an editor for the TeachEngineering Digital Library, develops after-school engineering curriculum through the TechXcite program, and manages Duke’s engineering GK-12 program.
Gary Ybarra Duke University
Gary A. Ybarra, Ph.D. is a Professor and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of
Electrical and Computer Engineering at Duke University. He is the principal investigator of
several K-12 engineering outreach programs as part of his Engineering K-PhD program at Duke.
He received a Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from North Carolina State University
in 1992 and has been on the faculty in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Duke University since 1993. In addition to his K-12 outreach work, his research interests include
microwave imaging and electrical impedance tomography.
Anne D'Agostino Compass Consulting, LLC
Anne D'Agostino, Ph.D. specializes in the evaluation of early childhood, K - 12, reform, and community development initiatives. She has extensive educational experience in program evaluation, research methods, and statistics. Anne is one of the founders of the Compass Consulting Group, Durham, NC (www.compassconsultinggroup.org).
Ed Maxa North Carolina Cooperative Extension
Ed Maxa, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor and the Department Extension Leader for the Department of 4-H Youth Development for North Carolina 4-H at North Carolina State University. Overall programmatic leadership for the NC 4-H afterschool and is the state leader for the TechXcite Program in NC.
Kate Guerdat North Carolina Cooperative Extension
Kate Guerdat, Ph.D. is an Extension Associate in the Department of 4-H Youth Development for North Carolina 4-H at North Carolina State University. She provides statewide training and curriculum assistance for counties in 4-H delivery modes and conducts research on best practices of 4-H delivery strategies for youth development programming in order to develop and deliver training to County providers.
Abstract
NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract
Impacts of Engineering in 4-H After-School Programs
Abstract
TechXcite is an informal, project-based engineering program for middle school students being implemented initially in after-school settings. The program is a partnership between the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University, the Department of 4-H Youth Development and Family & Consumer Sciences at North Carolina State University and the National 4-H Council. The TechXcite: Discover Engineering curriculum is centered on seven themes (Wireless Communication, Biomedical Technology, Digital Imaging, Alternative Energy, Transportation, Architecture, and GIS/GPS). Within each theme are modules containing 4-6 activities designed to engage kids in the engineering design and scientific thinking process in an informal setting. Each module is intended to introduce a modern and exciting technology that children encounter in their everyday lives while encouraging meaningful exploration and use of math and science as problem solving tools. After-school staff, most of whom do not have any formal engineering education, teach the program. Prior to teaching a module, after-school staff participate in a one- day workshop held at a 4-H Extension Center. This paper examines the impacts of the program on student learning through focus group data collected during the first two years of the project in North Carolina. Focus groups, conducted by Compass Consulting, who is responsible for the external evaluation of the project, have provided means of getting more detailed information than survey data has provided so far. Focus group data provide a more thorough investigation of student attitudes towards science, engineering, and technology than surveys because they provide a a method for determining the reasons for student responses. The goals of these focus groups are to answer the questions: 1) do students know what engineers do? 2) have there been changes in student attitudes towards science, math, and engineering? 3) are students more or less interested in pursuing a career in science, engineering, and technology? 4) do students in rural and urban counties have different preferences in engineering activities? 5) do girls/boys have different preferences in engineering activities? Three focus groups were completed during the fall of 2009 based on the Bioimaging and Your TV Remote modules, and data from those groups is presented. TechXcite is an Informal Science Education program funded by the National Science Foundation (Grant 0638970).
Introduction
TechXcite is a partnership between the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University, the Department of 4-H Youth Development and Family & Consumer Sciences at North Carolina State University and the National 4-H Council. The TechXcite curriculum began with engineering modules developed for the Techtronics After-school program funded by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. Techtronics is an after-school engineering program taught by students from the Pratt School of Engineering at Rogers-Herr Middle School in Durham, NC, using the model developed by the National Science Foundation’s GK-12 Program1-4. The TechXcite partnership has provided an opportunity to widely increase the dissemination of the after-school engineering curriculum developed initially for Techtronics and also to expand the breadth of the curriculum through the development of new modules.
Klenk, P., & Ybarra, G., & D'Agostino, A., & Maxa, E., & Guerdat, K. (2010, June), Impacts Of Engineering In 4 H After School Programs Paper presented at 2010 Annual Conference & Exposition, Louisville, Kentucky. 10.18260/1-2--16099
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