Incorporating Engineering Design into High School STEM Initiatives

Taryn Melkus Bayles; Joshua A. Enszer; Julia M. Ross

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Conference: 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: San Antonio, Texas
Publication Date: June 10, 2012
Start Date: June 10, 2012
End Date: June 13, 2012
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Engineering Design
Tagged Division: K-12 & Pre-College Engineering
Page Count: 13
Page Numbers: 25.760.1 - 25.760.13
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--21517
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/21517
Download Count: 329

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Paper Authors

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Taryn Melkus Bayles University of Maryland, Baltimore County

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Taryn Bayles, Ph.D., is a Professor of the Practice of chemical engineering in the Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental
Engineering Department at UMBC, where she incorporates her industrial experience by bringing practical examples and interactive learning to help students understand fundamental engineering principles. Her current research focuses on engineering education, outreach and curriculum development.

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biography

Joshua A. Enszer University of Maryland, Baltimore County

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Joshua Enszer is a full-time lecturer in chemical engineering at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. He has taught core and elective courses across the curriculum, from introduction to engineering science and material and energy balances to process control and modeling of chemical and environmental systems. His research interests include technology and learning in various incarnations: electronic portfolios as a means for assessment and professional development, implementation of computational tools across the chemical engineering curriculum, and game-based learning.

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Julia M. Ross University of Maryland, Baltimore County

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Abstract

Incorporating Engineering Design into High School STEM Initiatives A report by the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering andInstitute of Medicine entitled “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” specifically called for thedevelopment of rigorous new K-12 curriculum materials to improve science and mathematicseducation as a highest priority action. With funding from the National Science Foundation, wehave developed new curriculum modules which target the ITEEA Standards for TechnologicalLiteracy and to increase involvement in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering andMathematics) related fields. Each module focuses on an engineering design challenge whichprovides real world context; is grounded in STEM content; and utilizes the engineering designprocess to design, construct and test a working prototype. The curricula features professionallyproduced video segments which introduce the design challenge, hands-on activities, on-linesegments with interactive animations and mathematical simulations. Over the last six years thecurricula has successfully been used in high school technology education classes. Our state recently received an award from The Race To the Top (RTTT) fund, which is acompetitive grant program designed to encourage and reward States that are creating theconditions for education innovation and reform; achieving significant improvement in studentoutcomes, including making substantial gains in student achievement, closing achievement gaps,improving high school graduation rates, and ensuring student preparation for success in collegeand careers. Our state has focused their RTTT program to include STEM initiatives throughoutPreK-12 – which in-turn has fostered collaborations between STEM high school teachers – withteachers looking for new curricula which have a STEM focus. As a result, a higher percent ofscience teachers attended our Professional Development (PD) workshop last summer and arecurrently using our engineering design curricula in their traditional science classrooms. Inaddition, one of the technology education teachers using our curriculum has partnered withPhysics and Biology teachers to provide supplemental science lessons related to the overarchingengineering design challenge. In another school, three teachers who attended the PD workshopare partnering with two teachers who did not attend the workshop, to help them deliver thecurriculum to their students – which has resulted in thirteen classrooms from a single high schoolusing the same curriculum module. Currently thirty-five classrooms at eleven different schools are using the "Engineering inHealth Care: A Heat Lung Case Study" curriculum module (with more slated in winter andspring of next year). Student learning data is being collected and analyzed to determine theeffectiveness of using the curriculum in a variety of different settings and will be compared theresults attained in previous years of the program.

Citation
Format

Bayles, T. M., & Enszer, J. A., & Ross, J. M. (2012, June), Incorporating Engineering Design into High School STEM Initiatives Paper presented at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, San Antonio, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--21517

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -      Incorporating Engineering Design into High School STEM Initiatives        A report by the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering andInstitute of Medicine entitled “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” specifically called for thedevelopment of rigorous new K-12 curriculum materials to improve science and mathematicseducation as a highest priority action. With funding from the National Science Foundation, wehave developed new curriculum modules which target the ITEEA Standards for TechnologicalLiteracy and to increase involvement in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering andMathematics) related fields. Each module focuses on an engineering design challenge whichprovides real world context; is grounded in STEM content; and utilizes the engineering designprocess to design, construct and test a working prototype. The curricula features professionallyproduced video segments which introduce the design challenge, hands-on activities, on-linesegments with interactive animations and mathematical simulations. Over the last six years thecurricula has successfully been used in high school technology education classes.        Our state recently received an award from The Race To the Top (RTTT) fund, which is acompetitive grant program designed to encourage and reward States that are creating theconditions for education innovation and reform; achieving significant improvement in studentoutcomes, including making substantial gains in student achievement, closing achievement gaps,improving high school graduation rates, and ensuring student preparation for success in collegeand careers. Our state has focused their RTTT program to include STEM initiatives throughoutPreK-12 – which in-turn has fostered collaborations between STEM high school teachers – withteachers looking for new curricula which have a STEM focus. As a result, a higher percent ofscience teachers attended our Professional Development (PD) workshop last summer and arecurrently using our engineering design curricula in their traditional science classrooms. Inaddition, one of the technology education teachers using our curriculum has partnered withPhysics and Biology teachers to provide supplemental science lessons related to the overarchingengineering design challenge. In another school, three teachers who attended the PD workshopare partnering with two teachers who did not attend the workshop, to help them deliver thecurriculum to their students – which has resulted in thirteen classrooms from a single high schoolusing the same curriculum module.        Currently thirty-five classrooms at eleven different schools are using the &quot;Engineering inHealth Care: A Heat Lung Case Study&quot; curriculum module (with more slated in winter andspring of next year). Student learning data is being collected and analyzed to determine theeffectiveness of using the curriculum in a variety of different settings and will be compared theresults attained in previous years of the program.
AU  - Taryn Melkus Bayles
AU  - Joshua A. Enszer
AU  - Julia M. Ross
CY  - San Antonio, Texas
DA  - 2012/06/10
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Incorporating Engineering Design into High School STEM Initiatives
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/21517
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--21517
ER  -