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Session # 3630

Teaching Teachers to Teach Engineering

Baaba Andam, Glenn W. Ellis, Susan Etheredge, Domenico Grasso Smith College, Northampton, MA

Thomas Gralinski Amherst Regional High School, Amherst, MA

ABSTRACT Massachusetts is leading the integration of engineering into K-12 education by adopting a statewide science and technology/engineering framework. To meet the need for teachers who can deliver this curriculum, we have assembled an interdisciplinary team from Smith College and Amherst Public Schools to design a workshop for pre-service teachers of all grade levels and subject areas. Through this workshop, we intend for students to increase their familiarity with the engineering field and state frameworks, learn about the engineering design process, develop an understanding of how engineering can be used in classrooms of many disciplines, and develop an understanding of the relationship between engineering and the liberal arts. This paper describes how the curriculum was implemented through a one-week workshop for 21 education students, representing a wide range of disciplines and grades. In this workshop, we used a variety of hands-on activities intended to meet the needs of each learner. Activities included laboratory explorations of content knowledge and delivery according to grade level, application of the engineering design process through redesign and design projects, student teaching of engineering topics, and team development of interdisciplinary engineering curricula. Pre- and post-workshop student surveys indicate that the intended learning outcomes of the workshop were met. The experience positively impacted how students viewed engineering and their intentions for including it in their teaching.

INTRODUCTION “Most people think that technology is little more than the application of science to solve practical problems…They are not aware that modern technology is the fruit of a complex interplay between science, engineering, politics, ethics, law, and other factors. People who operate under this misconception have a limited ability to think critically about technology—to guide the development and use of a technology to ensure that it provides the greatest benefit for the greatest number of citizens.” -- National Research Council (NRC), 20021

Although engineering traditionally has been taught exclusively at the college level, there is increasing nationwide interest in making engineering a part of pre-college education. For

Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright 2004, American Society for Engineering Education

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Etheredge, S., & Ellis, G., & Gralinski, T., & Grasso, D., & Andam, B. (2004, June), Teaching Teachers To Teach Engineering Paper presented at 2004 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--13292