An Engineering Design Curriculum for the Elementary Grades

The United States has historically excelled in the design of products, processes and new technologies. Capitalizing on this historical strength to teach applied mathematics and science has many positive implications on education. First, engineering design can be used as a vehicle for addressing deficiencies in mathematics and science education. Second, as achievement in mathematics and science is enhanced, a greater number of students at an earlier age will be exposed to technical career opportunities. Third, enhancing elementary and secondary curricula with engineering design can attract underrepresented populations, such as minorities and females, to engineering as a profession. This paper describes a new and innovative engineering design curriculum, under development in the Austin Independent School District (AISD) in Austin, TX. The philosophic goals upon which the curriculum is based include: integrating the design problem-solving process into elementary schools, demonstrating the relationship of technical concepts to daily life, availing teachers with instructional strategies for teaching applied (as opposed to purely theoretical) science and mathematics, and teaching teamwork skills that are so greatly needed in industry and everyday life. Based on these goals, kindergarten, first grade, and second grade engineering design lessons have been piloted in AISD, in conjunction with a University of Texas program for teacher enhancement and preparation.     

Designing Cognitive Apprenticeships for Biomedical Engineering

This article explores challenges involved in developing effective and workable models for engineering education that emphasize the development of student cognitive skills over the delivery of specific course content. It chronicles efforts to systematically design engineering learning environments based on cognitive and learning science studies and then to optimize those environments through “design‐based research.” It follows the evolutionary trajectory of curricular design efforts over four years using Problem‐based Learning (PBL) in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech, elucidating the activities, mistakes, realizations and the progressive refinements instituted towards the development of learning theory in the context of biomedical engineering. It argues for the need to scaffold students in the development of model‐based reasoning throughout the engineering curricula.     

The Other Re-engineering of Engineering Education, 1900–1965

Many engineering colleges in the 1990s are busily revising the style and substance of engineering curricula to provide increased attention to design. The intent is to redress what many reformers see as an imbalance caused by too much emphasis on the analytical approaches of engineering science. In effect, current reforms are responding to changes made in American engineering colleges in the years immediately after World War II, when engineering curricula first fully embraced an analytical mode of engineering science. This paper examines how and why this earlier “re-engineering” of engineering education came to pass. It begins by summarizing the state of engineering education in the late 19th century. Then the paper discusses the role of European-born and educated engineers such as Stephen Timoshenko, Theodore von Kérmén, and Harald Westergaard, who after 1920 prepared the ground for the later transformation of engineering curricula. The paper next discusses the efforts of leaders such as Solomon Cady Hollister and Eric Walker to introduce changes after 1945, and concludes by noting how their initial visions of curricula based on engineering science were altered during implementation.     

Aptitude,Gender, and Computer Algebra Systems

The answers to a nationwide questionnaire among college engineering students in Norway have resulted in a large database on attitudes towards use of computer algebra systems (CAS). These results have been used to investigate students' attitudes towards use of CAS correlated to academic standing and to gender. We found that strong students have a more positive attitude towards CAS than weak students, although both groups showed a majority of positive responses. The data also show a gender difference in attitude towards CAS, male students being more positive, although there was no noticeable gender difference in mathematics grade expectation. Another result of these studies is that students find use of CAS to be more appropriate in subjects like physics and engineering than in purely mathematical subjects     

Advancing Engineering Education in P‐12 Classrooms

Engineering as a profession faces the challenge of making the use of technology ubiquitous and transparent in society while at the same time raising young learners' interest and understanding of how technology works. Educational efforts in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (i.e., STEM disciplines) continue to grow in pre‐kindergarten through 12th grade (P‐12) as part of addressing this challenge. This article explores how engineering education can support acquisition of a wide range of knowledge and skills associated with comprehending and using STEM knowledge to accomplish real world problem solving through design, troubleshooting, and analysis activities. We present several promising instructional models for teaching engineering in P‐12 classrooms as examples of how engineering can be integrated into the curriculum. While the introduction of engineering education into P‐12 classrooms presents a number of opportunities for STEM learning, it also raises issues regarding teacher knowledge and professional development, and institutional challenges such as curricular standards and high‐stakes assessments. These issues are considered briefly with respect to providing direction for future research and development on engineering in P‐12.     

Bioinformatics: A New Field in Engineering Education

Bioinformatics is a new engineering field poorly served by traditional curricula. Bioinformatics concerns the use of computer and statistical methods to understand biological data, such as the voluminous data produced by high‐throughput biological experimentation. As the demand has outpaced the supply of bioinformaticians, the University of California, Santa Cruz, School of Engineering is establishing undergraduate and graduate degrees in bioinformatics. In this paper we explore the blend of mathematics, engineering, science, and bioinformatics topics and courses needed for an undergraduate degree in this new field.     

A Method for Identifying Variables for Predicting STEM Enrollment

This research examines demographic, academic, attitudinal, and experiential data from the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP) for over 12,000 students at two universities to test a methodology for identifying variables showing significant differences between students intending to major in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM) versus non‐STEM subjects. The methodology utilizes basic statistical techniques to identify significant differences between STEM and non‐STEM students within seven population subgroups based upon school attended, race/ethnicity, and gender. The value of individual variables is assessed by how consistently significant differences are found across the subgroups. The variables found to be most valuable in identifying STEM students reflect both quantitative and qualitative measures. Quantitative measures of academic ability such as SAT mathematics score, high school grade point average, and to a lesser extent SAT verbal score are all indicators. Qualitative measures including self‐ratings of mathematical ability, computer skills, and academic ability are also good indicators.     

K‐12 Outreach: Identifying the Broader Impacts of Four Outreach Projects

Over the last four years, a series of outreach programs have been offered through the Colorado School of Mines to middle school teachers from eleven school districts in the State of Colorado in the United States. Each of these programs is designed to illustrate through hands‐on activities the application of mathematics to science and engineering. Each also has an academic year follow‐up such that a faculty member, an expert teacher, or a graduate student assists the teachers in the classroom. An expected outcome of this effort is the improvement of instruction in mathematics and science in the participating middle schools; an unexpected outcome has been the impact of these projects on the culture of the participating schools, both middle schools and university. Based on our assessment efforts, this article describes the qualitative and quantitative outcomes of this sequence of projects on middle school students, teachers, graduate students, professors, and college curriculum.     

Motivating Students with Disabilities to Prepare for SEM Careers

The National Science Foundation funded the project Enabling SUCCESS (Enabling Students to Undertake the Challenge of Careers in Engineering and Science) at Louisiana Tech University beginning in 1996. The goals of this three‐year project were to: stimulate student interest in science, engineering, and mathematics (SEM); heighten the awareness among middle school students, their families, and their science teachers of the opportunities for persons with disabilities in these fields; and provide them with an understanding of the importance of career exploration and taking appropriate college preparatory courses in high school. The project at Louisiana Tech University built upon twenty years of experience in applying assistive technology to the needs of people with disabilities and a ten‐year history of national educational reform initiatives. The project staff included engineering and science professors, teacher educators, college students, practicing engineers and scientists with disabilities, and rehabilitation technology professionals. A unique feature of this project was its focus on middle school students (grades six through nine) with disabilities, their parents, and their teachers. Through on‐campus workshops and showcases, home science activities, and college student mentoring, the project sought to inform and motivate. This paper summarizes the major activities of the model project and the results of the three‐year effort.     

Applied Aerodynamics Experience for Secondary Science Teachers and Students

The Department of Aerospace Engineering, Mechanics & Engineering Science at the University of Florida in conjunction with the School Board of Alachua County, Florida has embarked on a four-year project of university-secondary school collaboration designed to enhance mathematics and science instruction in secondary school classrooms. The goals are to provide teachers with a fundamental knowledge of flight sciences as well as stimulate interest among students, particularly women and minorities, toward careers in engineering, mathematics, and science. In the first year, all thirteen of the county's eighth grade physical science teachers and their 1200 students participated. The activities included a three-day college level seminar for the teachers, several weeks of classroom instruction for all the students, and an airport field trip for a subgroup of about 400 students that included an orientation flight in a Cessna 172 aircraft. The project brought together large numbers of middle school students, teachers, undergraduate and graduate engineering students, school administrators, and university engineering faculty. In Year 2, we are expanding our coverage and improving our minority outreach by offering the program to additional counties and the Florida Comprehensive State Center for Minorities. We are also introducing a program to recruit undergraduate minority engineering students for teaching careers by teaming these students with middle school teacher “mentors”, and having them work with teachers in the classroom.     

Refocusing Our Efforts: Assessing Non‐Technical Competency Gaps

This study reports the findings of a National Science Foundation‐funded study* focused on providing solutions to the identified needs for curricular change in Advanced Technological Education programs. The purpose of this study was to explore the extent of competency gaps in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology (SMET) education graduates as perceived by business and industry leaders. Due to the nature of the research questions investigated in this study, the methodology was divided into three phases. Phase one employed a widely accepted multi‐step, scale development procedure to determine the domain of the subject matter. Phase two validated survey items. Phase three comprised two parts; part one prioritized SMET competency gaps. Part two utilized Hoshin quality analysis techniques to group, identify, and sequence thematic content areas for curricular development. This study found that SMET programs must extend the boundaries of their traditional curricula to include competencies such as: customer expectations and satisfaction, commitment to doing one's best, listening skills, sharing information and cooperating with co‐workers, team working skills, adapting to changing work environments, customer orientation and focus, and ethical decision making and behavior.     

The Effects of Engineering Modules on Student Learning in Middle School Science Classrooms

The Teachers Integrating Engineering into Science (TIES) Program is a collaborative project among faculty from the College of Education and the College of Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno. The TIES project paired university faculty with middle school science teachers to create three units that included engineering design using a variety of interactive learning activities in order to engage a wide range of students. The units included a Web‐based simulation activity, lesson plans, a design project, and three types of assessments that were standardized across schools. Results of assessments were disaggregated by gender, ethnicity, special education, and socio‐economic level. Mean scores for these student population groups were compared to mean scores for the same groups on the 2004 Nevada eighth grade science criterion referenced test. These results indicate that engaging students in engineering curriculum activities may diminish achievement gaps in science for some student populations.     

Incorporating Group Writing Instruction in Engineering Courses

Group writing is an important and integral part of the engineering workplace which is rarely addressed in most undergraduate engineering curricula. Virtually every engineering student takes courses in composition and writing; however, these courses inevitably emphasize the development of individual writing skills. Engineering students need to be exposed to different group writing styles and learn to be effective group writers. The key elements to effective group writing include group dynamics and leadership and group members attitudes towards revision and criticism. By discussing with the students the key points to successful group writing, engineering students will turn in better assignments to their instructors and will be better prepared for the engineering workplace.     

A Longitudinal Study of Engineering Student Performance and Retention II. Rural/Urban Student Differences

A cohort of chemical engineering students has been taught in an experimental sequence of five chemical engineering courses, beginning with the introductory course in the Fall 1990 semester. Differences in academic performance have been observed between students from rural and small town backgrounds (“rural students,” N=55) and students from urban and suburban backgrounds (“urban students,” N=65), with the urban students doing better on almost every measure investigated. In the introductory course, 80% of the urban students and 55% of the rural students passed with a grade of C or better, with average grades of 2.63 for the urban students and 1.80 for the rural students (A=4.0). The urban group continued to earn higher grades in subsequent chemical engineering courses. After four years, 79% of the urban students and 64% of the rural students had graduated or were still enrolled in chemical engineering; the others had either transferred out of engineering or were no longer attending the university. This paper presents data on the students' home and school backgrounds and speculates on possible causes of observed performance differences between the two populations.     

Measuring Leadership in Self‐Managed Teams Using the Competing Values Framework

This study demonstrates how the application of the Competing Values Framework (CVF) to self‐managed teams (SMTs) assist engineering educators to understand how to measure leadership within this context and facilitate an increased awareness of the students in a team, which will consequently increase effectiveness. Specifically, we analyzed data from the Managerial Behavior Instrument, completed by 81 engineering students who participated in self‐managed teams for one semester. The instrument measured the use of the four leadership profiles of the Competing Values Framework which then allowed the researcher to determine the presence of high or low behavioral complexity. Behavioral complexity determines the team's ability to utilize multiple leadership roles and subsequent effectiveness. The findings indicate that behavioral complexity does have a significant effect on performance but does not have a significant effect on the attitudes of team members. Overall, teams with high behavioral complexity earned a higher grade on their final team project than teams with low behavioral complexity. This study is significant for engineering education because it provides a theory and framework for understanding leadership in teams. By exploring the relationship between leadership in SMTs and effectiveness, educators and industry can better understand the type of leadership roles necessary for achieving a highly effective team. As a result, instructors can design their teamwork curricula and teamwork training based on the leadership strengths and skills of students which will then prepare students for industry upon graduation.     

The Relationship Between PDA Usage and Student Performance in an Introductory Engineering Course

This research focuses on the development of a methodology to evaluate student attitudes towards technology in the classroom and the impact of this technology on student learning. A survey was developed and tested to evaluate the impact of introducing Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) in a traditional college classroom setting. PDAs were introduced in an introductory course in the College of Engineering at Oregon State University. A reliable attitude assessment tool was developed as a result of this research. Initial results of this study also provide empirical data that engineering students respond favorably to the introduction of PDAs in a traditional classroom setting. Preliminary results also provide limited evidence that student attitudes may vary based on gender, age, and/or ethnicity. Standard student performance metrics (course assignment and exam scores) and student self‐evaluations were used to assess the impact on student learning and are discussed.     

Pre‐College Engineering Studies: An Investigation of the Relationship Between Pre‐college Engineering Studies and Student Achievement in Science and Mathematics

Background The U.S. has experienced a shift from a manufacturing‐based economy to one that overwhelmingly provides services and information. This shift demands that technological skills be more fully integrated with one's academic knowledge of science and mathematics so that the next generation of engineers can reason adaptively, think critically, and be prepared to learn how to learn. Purpose (Hypothesis ) Project Lead the Way (PLTW) provides a pre‐college curriculum that focuses on the integration of engineering with science and mathematics. We documented the impact that enrollment in PLTW had on student science and math achievement. We consider the enriched integration hypothesis, which states that students taking PLTW courses will show achievement benefits, after controlling for prior achievement and other student and teacher characteristics. We contrast this with alternative hypotheses that propose little or no impact of the engineering coursework on students' math and science achievement (the insufficient integration hypothesis), or that PLTW enrollment might be negatively associated with student achievement (the adverse integration hypothesis). Design/ Method Using multilevel statistical modeling with students (N = 140) nested within teachers, we report findings from a quantitative analysis of the relationship between PLTW enrollment and student achievement on state standardized tests of math and science. Results While students gained in math and science achievement overall from eighth to tenth grade, students enrolled in PLTW foundation courses showed significantly smaller math assessment gains than those in a matched group that did not enroll, and no measurable advantages on science assessments, when controlling for prior achievement and teacher experience. The findings do not support the enriched integration hypothesis. Conclusions Engineering education programs like PLTW face both challenges and opportunities to effectively integrate academic content as they strive to prepare students for college engineering programs and careers.     

Measuring the Impact of an Individual Course on Students' Success

Background At the University of Michigan, qualified first‐year students who place out of the first‐semester calculus course may enroll in either the regular second‐semester calculus course or Applied Honors Calculus II. Students who enroll in Applied Honors Calculus II show higher academic performance than students enrolling in the Regular Calculus II. Purpose (Hypothesis ) The study addressed the question: does enrollment in Applied Honors Calculus II have a positive causal impact on subsequent academic performance for engineering students at the University of Michigan? Design /Method We acquired seven years of institutional data for engineering students who entered the University of Michigan from 1996 through 2003 and who qualified to enroll in Applied Honors Calculus II. Using regression analyses, we tested a causal model of impact of Applied Honors Calculus II on four measures of subsequent academic performance: grade in Physics II and average grade in all subsequent physics, mathematics, and engineering courses. Results After controlling for students' personal characteristics and prior academic achievement, the impact of Applied Honors Calculus II on students' academic performance was not statistically significant. In particular Advanced Placement scores accounted for the higher performance observed in Applied Honors Calculus II students. Conclusions We recommend including Advanced Placement scores in models that predict academic performance. Future research should also include measures of socioeconomic status (SES) and explore interactions between SES and academic background. Finally, in evaluations of specific curricula, the treatment effect—measured as treatment group mean minus control group mean, after controlling for covariates—is unlikely to be large if the control group receives high quality instruction.     

Exploring the Gender Gap in Engineering: A Re‐Specification and Test of the Hypothesis of Cumulative Advantages and Disadvantages

Researchers using the hypothesis of cumulative advantages and disadvantages argue that the accumulation of small advantages for men and small disadvantages for women contributes to the gender gap in engineering. This paper uses data from a 1998 survey of engineering undergraduates to test a re‐specification of this hypothesis that treats the gender distribution of advantages and disadvantages as an empirical question. We considered four sets of factors that have been shown to promote choice of an engineering major, persistence in engineering, and progress in engineering: family background, high school participation in mathematics and science, university participation in engineering, and integration into engineering. We found gender differences for each set of factors. We also found that men and women accumulate different advantages and disadvantages as they move through the education pipeline. By demonstrating that the accumulation of advantages and disadvantages is gendered, these results highlight the importance of examining the impact of micro‐inequities on the persistence and progress of men and women in engineering.