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Session 2160

The Fortress of Knowledge – Social Dimension in Engineering Education

Claudio da Rocha Brito, Melany M. Ciampi, Edvaldo Valle, Janete Molnar Supportnet School of Technology

Abstract This work is the description of a project that has been implemented in public schools in the city of São Vicente. It is the initiative of São Vicente City Hall that has decided to implement special programs for K12 in public schools in the city. The main goal is to help students to develop the necessary skills to follow carriers like engineer, which is so necessary for the development of a country, or computer science and others. The project has been named Let’s go folks! and the Fortress of knowledge is the special space created in the schools where the students can spend some hours of the week enjoying the good time of learning in a complete new way. It started in February of 2002; it has been dimensioned to serve 10 thousand students per year, including the qualification of teachers and technical staff. The project has been developed and applied by the City Hall education coordination in a joint venture with Supportnet, a private enterprise with the support of COPEC – Council of Researches in Education and Sciences. The success of the project has been so good that it is going to be amplified to the qualification of poor communities citizens in the city.

1. Introduction

Engineering education in Brazil has been widely discussed because it has been facing a large decrease in the number of students in engineering programs. Not only because it is one of the most difficult program but also because it is not a so appealing career like marketing, medicine or marine biology (so up to date presently). All these aspects added to the loss of status that engineer has suffered [01]. The importance of engineering can be observed in developed countries that have achieved such a social and economical level thanks to the technology development policies. These policies leaded to the achievement of the best schools and centers of technology that receive huge financial aids from the government and enterprises investments.

The discussions about this issue, in Brazil have leaded to some practical actions at governmental level. And among the actions there is one that is the object of this work. It is the initiative of São Vicente City Hall that has decided to implement special programs for K12 in public schools in the city.

The main goal is to help students to develop the necessary skills to follow carriers in, computer science and other similar fields, principally engineering, which is so necessary for the development of a country. The effort has resulted in a project that has been developed and

Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2003, American Society for Engineering Education

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Ciampi, M., & Brito, C. (2003, June), The Fortress Of Knowledge Social Dimension In Engineering Education Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--12539