K12 Engineering Subcommittee May 12 2005 Update Subcommittee

K-12 Engineering Subcommittee May 12, 2005 Update

Subcommittee Members • • Janie Fouke – Michigan State University Pat Galloway – Nielsen-Wurster Grp/ASCE Gary May – GA Inst. of Technology Susan Metz – Stevens Inst. Technology Rick Miller – Olin College of Engineering Jackie Sullivan – Univ. Colorado Boulder Assisted by NSF Staff: – Sue Kemnitzer – Mary Poats

The Motivation… • • • Science and math performance of our nation’s youth Flat — and declining — engineering enrollments Women & minority students conspicuously under-represented Public perception of engineers / engineering/ technology sad Preparing youth for change in a complex world

Science & Engineering Degrees U. S. Asia = China, India, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan. Natural science = math, physics, chemistry, astronomy, biological, and earth, atmospheric, ocean, agricultural sciences and computer sciences. Source: Science & Engineering Indicators, 2002

BS Engineering Degrees - 2003 Degrees by Ethnicity & Gender Women 20. 4% African American 5. 1% Hispanic 5. 4% r All lowe 99! 9 1 n a h t African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans comprise 30% of college-age people, and 25% of the U. S. workforce Source: ASEE PRISM, September 2004

K-12 Subcommittee Charge ü Summarize ENG ’ 00 -’ 05 investment in K 12 engineering ü Evaluate effectiveness of various NSF or ENG K-12 engineering program features ü Decipher which elements show promise and may merit further investment ü Ascertain initiatives that “harvest” ENG K-12 investments and truly disseminate results

K-12 Subcommittee Charge ü Evaluate if NSF-funded K-12 engineering initiatives support the reality of the standards-based K-12 world ü Recognizing the K-Grey continuum, recommend if programs should be better linked to encourage student participation

K-12 Subcommittee Charge ü Evaluate if smaller ERC-like programs should be developed to bridge between programs at an institution ü Determine if ENG has a K-12 investment plan ü If so, evaluate and react to it ü Make recommendations to ENG re: K-12 investment

Key K-12 Questions ü Considering the challenge with engineering enrollments, should ENG respond (and not rely on EHR or Dept of Ed)? ü Should ENG invest in K-12 initiatives? ü If yes, designed to achieve what goals? ü What can be gained by K-12 engineering initiatives when the public message about engineering is not inviting to youth?

Key K-12 Questions ü If ENG should invest in K-12, what % of the budget should be allocated to this priority? ü Should AP engineering courses be created that focus on working together to create things for the benefit of society? (pedagogy is key) ü Should initiatives be funded to disseminate what’s already been created?

K-12 Subcommittee Plan Synthesize recommendations in these reports as they relate to K-12 engineering: ü Engineer 2020 (NAE) ü Assessing the Capacity of the U. S. Engineering Research Enterprise (NAE) ü Innovate America: National Innovation Initiative ü Strategic Directions for Engineering Research, Innovation & Education (NSF) ü Extraordinary Women Engineers (ASCE) ü Building Engineering and Science Talent in K-12 (BEST)

K-12 Subcommittee Plan ü Evaluate ENG initiatives that invest in K-12 ü ü ü Effective? Why or why not? Worth expanding? Changing? ü Focus on dissemination of what’s already been created ü Be driven by realities of standards-based K-12 world ü Preliminary recommendations Nov ’ 05; final report January 2006

Summarize ENG K-12 Investment ü ENG Directorate ($39 M and counting): – GK-12 $11. 3 M (’ 00 -’ 05) – RET $13. 7 M (incl. $2. 5 M supplements; ’ 01 -’ 05) – Bridges for Engineering Education $9 M (’ 02 -’ 04) – Nanotech Cntr for Learning & Teaching (NCLT) $5 M (’ 04 -’ 08) ü NSDL: 8 engineering-related projects (no ENG $$ contribution to date)

Creating Tomorrow’s Engineers… • The challenge is great… • …so are the opportunities!

Last Thought… r, e t t o P y r r a H , es c , i e o r h a c y r l u tru e w t “It is o a h ” w. s w e i o t i h l i s ab r that u o aster n m a d a h e t H e r o dore, e m l b ry r m a u f Wizard sor D es and t f a r c --- Prof h r Witc o f l o o rts Sch a w g o H

Feedback? • Suggestions?

Title

What Do Engineers Do? 2003 1998 Build/construct/make things 38% 26% Design/draw/plan 19% 27% Mechanic/mechanical work 9% 2% Train operator 7% 5% Create/are creative 3% 3% Mathematics/physics 3% 2% Develop new technologies 3% - Application of technology 2% - Work with computers 2% Source: Harris Poll, December 2003

Teach. Engineering Digital Library • • Hands-on engineering curricula for grades 3 -12 Web-enabled Standards-based Searchable Dynamic Consistent look and feel See teachengineering. com Search example: Engineering as a vehicle to integrate math and science through inquiry-based K-12 curricula and hands-on activities relevant to the lives of youth Find engineering lessons about the laws of motion that address national science standard 2 for 5 th grade…