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Session 1692

Lessons Learned from the Implementation of a GK-12 Grant Outreach Program

Laura J. Bottomley, Elizabeth A. Parry, Scott Brigade, La Toya Coley, Laura Deam, Elizabeth Goodson, Jan Kidwell, Jessica Linck, and Brent Robinson

North Carolina State University/Washington Elementary School

Abstract

This paper describes the lessons learned from the implementation of a National Science Foundation GK-12 grant in North Carolina Public Schools. Nine engineering students, both undergraduate and graduate, have worked with two elementary schools and one middle school as science, math, and technology resources and co-teachers. They have worked with over 1500 elementary and middle school students and over 100 teachers to date.

Introduction

The outreach program at the College of Engineering at NC State includes a GK-12 grant from the National Science Foundation aimed at using engineering students from the university level to enhance math, science and technology instruction. The grant was written and put in place as a response to two perceived problems. First, national reports indicate that U. S. students in K-12 schools currently lag behind their peers in other countries in math and science achievement1. And second, recruitment efforts directed toward women have stagnated for many Colleges of Engineering at a mere twenty percent of incoming classes for the past several years. The problem seems to lie at the time when students are making decisions about their careers. Most students decide as early as middle-school but primarily during high-school. Outreach efforts are usually directed at these ages, but the expected increase in interested students does not occur. These phenomena point to a need to change traditional methods at both the university and K-12 levels. We have chosen to implement this grant at the elementary and early middle school level.

The original grant proposal included four goals2:

• Integration of science, technology and engineering topics with math, reading and writing • Encouragement of underrepresented groups in science, math, engineering and technology (SMET) through role models and particular teaching techniques • Teaching SMET content to diverse populations, including hearing-impaired students, students for whom English is a second language, and others

Proceedings of the 2001 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition, Copyright 2001, American Society for Engineering Education.

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Brigade, S., & Deam, L., & Coley, L. T., & Linck, J., & Kidwell, J., & Goodson, E., & Robinson, B., & Parry, E., & Bottomley, L. (2001, June), Lessons Learned From The Implementation Of A Gk12 Grant Outreach Program Paper presented at 2001 Annual Conference, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 10.18260/1-2--9513