Beth Cady, National Academy of Engineering Posted Friday, January 8, 2016 at 2:20 PM What was your favorite engineering toy as a child? What is your favorite recent toy? Toys that promote engineering habits of mind have been around for many years, and new toys are being developed every year. What was your favorite engineering toy as a child? What is your favorite recent toy? 7 Answers Kate Gramling, LinkEngineering Posted Monday, January 18, 2016 at 10:33 AM I really don’t remember playing with toys. I grew up on a farm where there was always something interesting to do outside. When the weather was bad, there were always books to read, which would inspire other adventures. Thinking about this question has ...Read More Deborah Fike, Spotkin Posted Tuesday, January 12, 2016 at 9:20 PM My 4 and 2 year old girls have "play tested" a lot of engineering toys. By far and away, the most popular building toy with my children and their friends (and their parents) are Magna-Tiles, which are tiles with magnets that you can build with. The ...Read More Pat Gramling, PictureBookWoman.com Posted Tuesday, January 12, 2016 at 4:24 PM Growing up in the 50’s I spent a lot of time following my dad around and “helping” with his tinkering. He was a great one for taking things you have and making something that would solve your problem or make your work easier. We still use the “Mole ...Read More
Sneha Tharayil, University of Texas at Austin Posted Wednesday, November 18, 2015 at 2:22 PM Anyone know of any good social-justice themed engineering design projects for the middle school level? Coming from a Catholic school teaching background, there was a heavy emphasis on social justice and community-oriented curricula. In thinking about engineering design projects for my students, I always thought this was a good theme to incorporate because not only did it align with our school's mission, but this was a great way to emphasize the authenticity and relevancy of curricula for students. Furthermore, I believe that this is an excellent way to emphasize social/community ... 5 Answers Meg Draeger, Chaminade Julienne Catholic High School Posted Thursday, March 2, 2017 at 3:34 PM I also work at a Catholic school - a high school - where I coordinate our STEMM program. I'm an engineer by formal education but have worked in K-12 STEM education for 20 years. One resource for service-connected engineering projects for college and ...Read More Sneha Tharayil, University of Texas at Austin Posted Monday, January 11, 2016 at 9:20 PM Dr. Strobel, thank you for your response! Yes, I've heard about Purdue's EPICS program. I learned of it when I was applying to Purdue's Engineering Education program. The EPICS model is very impressive and I hope they develop this program further!Read More Sneha Tharayil, University of Texas at Austin Posted Monday, January 11, 2016 at 9:14 PM Hi Mr. Huffman, thank you so much for the resource! That's fantastic! I love the themes/goals the units work towards. Does your organization have any other plans to develop any other similar units/projects, aside from the ones currently in development? Read More
Sneha Tharayil, University of Texas at Austin Posted Sunday, April 17, 2016 at 7:30 PM What's the best format for a K-12 engineering lesson plan/unit? As Jennifer Love and I make steady progress on developing our shoe design curriculum unit, I was curious what the community thought would be the best format for an engineering lesson? I'm familiar with a variety of lesson plan formats but none of them really seem ideal or terribly fitting for an engineering design lesson/unit, so I was wondering if anyone had some suggestions for this. I know there isn't necessarily one model, and really as long as all the necessary elements a teacher ... 4 Answers Sneha Tharayil, University of Texas at Austin Posted Thursday, April 28, 2016 at 3:48 AM Mr. Huffman, Thank you so much for the resource and reference! I had heard of the 5E model previously, but I hadn't known it was further modified into the 6E model to include engineering! That's wonderful, and I will certainly read and learn more ...Read More Tanner Huffman, International Technology and Engineering Educators Association Posted Thursday, April 21, 2016 at 4:51 PM Hi Sneha, Having a strong instructional model can help immensely with lesson development and format. The basic premise of the 6E Learning byDeSIGN™ Model was to develop a student-centered model that would blend design (context and concepts) and inquiry. ...Read More Sneha Tharayil, University of Texas at Austin Posted Thursday, April 21, 2016 at 12:32 AM Mr. Soltys, Thank you so much for the recommendation! Jennifer and I certainly do plan on submitting our unit on TeachEngineering.org. I will be sure to reach out to you with any questions as we get closer to submission time. Sincerely, SnehaRead More
Kate Gramling, LinkEngineering Posted Thursday, November 19, 2015 at 10:00 AM What scene from a movie or TV program has made you think about engineering or the engineering design process? Movies and television programs influence the ideas and opinions people develop about professions - particularly young people with little or no personal experience or role models to compare with what they see on various screens. This reality was the motivation for the recently completed "Next MacGyver" contest. Before we can build on good ideas students have developed about engineering - or replace the bad ones - we should ... 4 Answers Mukesh Gupta Posted Tuesday, September 4, 2018 at 3:40 PM The first thing that popped into my head when I read this question was the movie "The Martian." What stood out to me, in addition to the incredible technological solutions showcased, was the perseverance exhibited by the main character - that ...Read More Pius Wong, Pios Labs Posted Sunday, May 21, 2017 at 11:47 AM This is a late answer, but we discussed this for our latest podcast episode: http://www.k12engineering.net/transcripts/ep35.html For our conversation, we were two engineers working in education and a science teacher working in educational leadership. ...Read More Lynn Farrin, Maine Mathematics & Science Alliance Posted Friday, December 4, 2015 at 2:45 PM The first thing that popped into my head when I read this question was the movie "The Martian." What stood out to me, in addition to the incredible technological solutions showcased, was the perseverance exhibited by the main character - that is such an ...Read More
Greg Pearson, National Academy of Engineering Posted Friday, October 31, 2014 at 11:54 AM I have noticed that a lot of the kids in my 6th grade class get really excited about doing a design project, but it doesn’t really seem that the science and math concepts I’m trying to get in their heads stick. What am I doing wrong? 4 Answers Donna Migdol, Oceanside Union Free School District Posted Thursday, May 14, 2015 at 7:50 AM When doing a design challenge it is important to think of the following: - What are the opportunities for integrated math and science, and how can I expand upon it? - What is the math that I can "push" in, that is not integrated (asking students to be ...Read More Alexander Major II, Project ARISE; Brown University Posted Monday, April 13, 2015 at 11:35 PM Keeping it simple, real world application to their world. I have taught middle school for 17 years, and I have found that students need to see the concepts presented in their real world perspective so they can make a connection. I taught how to use a ...Read More Cary Sneider, Portland State University Posted Tuesday, March 31, 2015 at 9:54 AM As a friendly amendment to Mitchell’s response, I suggest not only going through more than one design cycle by improving on a solution, but also presenting students with more than one challenge, so they need to apply the concept in in different contexts. ...Read More
Phillip Coleman, National Academy of Engineering Posted Thursday, July 7, 2016 at 10:41 AM How do you feel about showing videos in the classroom? 3 Answers Janet Anderson, Walsh Middle School Posted Thursday, July 7, 2016 at 2:10 PM I would say most of the time they are engaged....and I don't always give them a "Things to Look for" sheet. I think the visual of the video (if it's done well in an engaging way), helps this age group see concepts that they may not "get" otherwise and ...Read More Phillip Coleman, National Academy of Engineering Posted Thursday, July 7, 2016 at 1:39 PM Thanks Janet- Do you find that your students are engaged or that they only do the specific notes on the "Things to Look for" Janet Anderson, Walsh Middle School Posted Thursday, July 7, 2016 at 1:30 PM Hello Phillip - I'm a middle school Tech Ed teacher in a Computer Lab (grade 6, 7, 8). In my classes I include a lot of topics including Computer Applications as well as some pre-engineering topics. I don't have these classes for a full term, so I find ...Read More
Pius Wong, Pios Labs Posted Tuesday, July 5, 2016 at 12:37 PM I'm researching job market trends for K12 engineering teachers around the US. Do you recommend any resources to consult? Overall I'm researching the questions: "How has the demand for engineering teachers changed over time?", "What types of schools are seeing the biggest demand?", and "Do engineering teachers face a welcoming job market?". I intend to bring up some of this topics in an episode of a new podcast dedicated to K12 engineering education ("The K12 Engineering Education Podcast"). I'm open to contacting people who are experts in this and to researching relevant databases. So far I'm aware of ... 3 Answers Phillip Coleman, National Academy of Engineering Posted Thursday, July 7, 2016 at 3:49 PM Jennifer- If you'd like I can connect you to someone in the NAE with that information. Jennifer Love, Northeastern University Posted Thursday, July 7, 2016 at 1:42 PM I'd be interesting in learning what you find out! I'm an engineering educator asking myself the same question about how the K-12 job market for engineering teachers is changing. I'll be sure to listen to your upcoming podcast! Phillip Coleman, National Academy of Engineering Posted Thursday, July 7, 2016 at 9:08 AM Hello Prius, I saw your e-mail you carbon copied to me. I'm glad that you got in touch with Beth because she is the person to answer that question.
Maribeth Keitz, National Academy of Engineering Posted Friday, February 26, 2016 at 2:33 PM What are your thoughts on covering engineers like celebrities? Watch the new Covering Engineers like Celebs video. Tell us what you think. 3 Answers Linda Kekelis, Linda Kekelis Consulting Posted Wednesday, March 9, 2016 at 12:48 PM I like the video and don’t mind confessing that I also like pop culture TV programs like E! Entertainment. There is something rather addictive about how pop culture uses fast-paced features to draw us in to what’s happening. I think what we need is MORE ...Read More Elizabeth Parry, Elizabeth Parry Consulting Posted Monday, February 29, 2016 at 5:03 PM I loved this video, and love the work Viterbi does to promote engineering. In today’s digital environment, this is a great and approachable way to share what engineers can do. I believe a great need for our society is to use the word “engineering” ...Read More Tanner Huffman, International Technology and Engineering Educators Association Posted Friday, February 26, 2016 at 4:26 PM Very cool video that takes a fun approach to spark conversation around a serious societal issue. Got to love the Andrew Viterbi reference at the end. Pop culture is a tough nut to crack. Public perception is volatile at best. I think that we should ...Read More
Tiffany Coulson, NLA Group Posted Friday, August 28, 2015 at 12:59 PM Our after school organization is interested in using digital badges or electronic portfolios. Is anyone doing this? 3 Answers Laura Bottomley, North Carolina State University Posted Tuesday, December 1, 2015 at 4:23 PM Hi Tiffany. Leigh Abts at the University of Maryland has worked in this area for years. I would encourage you to email him and ask for his set of resources. Abts, Leigh R. Abts, Leigh R. Research Associate Professor Fischell Department of ...Read More Linda Kekelis, Linda Kekelis Consulting Posted Saturday, November 28, 2015 at 5:45 PM The Afterschool Alliance produced a paper, Digital Badges in Afterschool, which describes case studies of five digital badging pilot projects run through the Afterschool Alliance and the statewide afterschool networks in Maryland, Michigan, Ohio, Oregon, ...Read More Mark Schroll, Project Lead The Way Posted Friday, August 28, 2015 at 6:50 PM Hi Tiffany, The Innovation Portal is a free, online project portfolio application that may be of interest. Here is a description of the portal and its functionality and a link to the site. “The Innovation Portal enables students, teachers, and ...Read More
Tiffany Coulson, NLA Group asked Cary Sneider, Portland State University Posted Saturday, January 23, 2016 at 2:19 PM Hello! Are results available for the NAEP TEL assessment? Is there a way to find out school level scores? 2 Answers Cary Sneider, Portland State University Posted Wednesday, January 27, 2016 at 2:40 AM Thanks for y our interest Tiffany. Greg is right that school-level results are not announced. The purpose of the assessment is to determine the educational level of the country (and in math and reading the level of states and major cities); but school ...Read More Greg Pearson, National Academy of Engineering Posted Monday, January 25, 2016 at 9:45 AM Hi, Tiffany. This is an excellent question. As background to those who don't know, in 2014, the National Assessment Governing Board (NAGB), an independent agency of the US Dept. of Education, conducted the first-ever assessment of technology and ...Read More
Amelia Greer, National Academy of Engineering asked Beth Cady, National Academy of Engineering Posted Thursday, February 11, 2016 at 1:30 PM Have you heard that the NAE is hosting a forum on Tuesday, February 16 to discuss the changes to ABET Criteria 3 and 5? 2 Answers Amelia Greer, National Academy of Engineering Posted Thursday, February 11, 2016 at 2:19 PM Certainly. The NAE is hosting a “Forum on Proposed Revisions to ABET Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) General Criteria on Student Outcomes and Curriculum (General Criteria 3 and 5)” at the Academies’ Keck Center in Washington, DC on Tuesday, ...Read More Beth Cady, National Academy of Engineering Posted Thursday, February 11, 2016 at 1:30 PM I had not... can you please give me more information?
Phillip Coleman, National Academy of Engineering Posted Thursday, July 14, 2016 at 11:37 AM How could you use Tony Stark (Ironman) or Thomas Edison to stimulate classroom discussions about engineering? 2 Answers Phillip Coleman, National Academy of Engineering Posted Monday, July 18, 2016 at 2:18 PM Cary- Do you think Tony Stark has any merit in the classroom? Cary Sneider, Portland State University Posted Friday, July 15, 2016 at 12:16 PM Both of these men are portrayed as lone inventors. Tony Stark is fictional, Edison is not. So we can examine Edison's life to draw some tentative conclusions about how realistic the "lone inventor" vision really is. In fact, Edison lead a large team ...Read More
Steven Barbato, International Technology and Engineering Educators Association asked Aaron Clark, North Carolina State University Posted Wednesday, February 17, 2016 at 5:34 PM Quick Question - regarding your use of LikEngineering.org As a Technology and Engineering Teacher Educator, have you been able to identify and use any of the inservice or preservice resources from the website? 2 Answers Steven Barbato, International Technology and Engineering Educators Association Posted Thursday, February 18, 2016 at 1:52 PM Aaron, Thank you for the response and thoughts moving forward!. Aaron Clark, North Carolina State University Posted Thursday, February 18, 2016 at 10:43 AM We have used the resources in a limited way to this point. Pre-service has reviewed some materials in our introduction methods courses and at the graduate level we have reviewed the materials in a few courses, again, very limited to this point. Our ...Read More
Ashok Agrawal, American Society for Engineering Education asked Paul Ainslie, I-STEM Resource Network Posted Friday, February 12, 2016 at 1:51 PM Dr. Ainslie, What functions ans support are provided by I-STEM Resource Center Dr. Ainslie, As you know just about every state and university has a STEM center named entity. Is there a national standard or coordination on when an organization calls itself 'A STEM Center", they all follow certain prescribed set of activities and programs for the citizenry (teachers and students) of the state? Is there a national accreditation standards for "STEM Centers"? 2 Answers Greg Pearson, National Academy of Engineering Posted Friday, February 12, 2016 at 3:43 PM I would add that the casual and wide use of the STEM acronym to mean often very different things has contributed to a sense of confusion and scatteredness in this domain. The question of "What is STEM?" was addressed by the National Academies in a ...Read More Paul Ainslie, I-STEM Resource Network Posted Friday, February 12, 2016 at 2:29 PM I believe the only rule on state-identified STEM centers is the first one to claim it gets the name. However, there are a few multistate groups which link such organizations, including STEMx at Battelle in Columbus, OH, and the Midwest STEM Consortium ...Read More
Alexander Major II, Project ARISE; Brown University asked Blair Blackwell, Chevron Posted Tuesday, April 21, 2015 at 8:15 PM With your filename, I assume that you support chemical and biochemical engineering. How do you involve students in the areas? Chevron has a big interest in engineering, so I ask how can students be motivated to explore the chemical/biochemical engineering area with little resources available for high school students? 2 Answers Laura Bottomley, North Carolina State University Posted Monday, April 27, 2015 at 10:19 AM Chemical and biomedical engineering are an integral part of the profession. As the resources grow, expect to find more that apply directly to these areas. Food, medicines, paints, prosthetics, and many other applications are directly related to these ...Read More Meg Draeger, Chaminade Julienne Catholic High School Posted Thursday, April 23, 2015 at 11:45 AM The American Chemical Society is a tremendous organization, that, at least in our area, has a very active professional section that is more than willing to conduct and support educational outreach, when requested. There may be chemists and chemical ...Read More
Pius Wong, Pios Labs Posted Thursday, September 8, 2016 at 7:58 PM What percent of engineering teachers teach it as a dedicated class, versus teaching it within a science or math class? I'm curious about the trends, since the logistics of each case are very different. I'd like to know if more schools are trending toward dedicated classes or not, and why. If LinkEngineering had a polling function, maybe we can find out different pieces of data like this for at least the LinkEngineering teacher community. 2 Answers Kate Gramling, LinkEngineering Posted Monday, September 19, 2016 at 3:35 PM I suspect that what is happening in elementary schools is different from what is happening in middle and high schools, but don't have any data or even anecdotal evidence of that. I'm also curious about what factors (required curriculum, school resources, ...Read More Greg Pearson, National Academy of Engineering Posted Monday, September 12, 2016 at 4:52 PM Pius: This is an interesting question. Ideally, one would want to go to the research literature for answers. The National Academies did that in our 2009 report, Engineering in K-12 Education: Understanding the Status and Improving the Prospects. (The ...Read More
Lisa Blank, Watertown City School District Posted Friday, March 18, 2016 at 10:46 AM I'm looking for good research on the benefits of engineering education at the elementary/middle levels. I'm particularly interested in how it is linked to student achievement and perseverance in education. I appreciate any support and ideas members of this group might provide! 2 Answers Christine Cunningham, Engineering is Elementary Posted Monday, March 21, 2016 at 3:40 PM Hi Lisa, Research on engineering education with these sorts of documented findings is still in its infancy. Here are a few more resources I would suggest: Engineering in Pre-College Settings (2014) Purzer, Strobel, and Cardella (Eds.) Schauble, ...Read More Tanner Huffman, International Technology and Engineering Educators Association Posted Friday, March 18, 2016 at 12:54 PM Hi Lisa, A good place to start may be the book, "Achieving science and technological literacy through engineering design practices." L. Annetta & J. Minogue (Eds.). Another would be the "Engineering in K-12 Education" report by the National ...Read More
Alexander Major II, Project ARISE; Brown University asked Eric Iversen, Start Engineering Posted Tuesday, April 21, 2015 at 8:11 PM What type of engineering do you encourage with high school students? How do you acquire the needed resources to pursue the possible engineering projects? Does it depend greatly on the type of engineering? 2 Answers Eric Iversen, Start Engineering Posted Friday, May 1, 2015 at 11:41 AM At the high school level and before, it's best to focus on engineering "habits of mind," as people say these days. That means focusing on the design process more than a particular discipline or areas of technical content. The design process is the secret ...Read More Meg Draeger, Chaminade Julienne Catholic High School Posted Thursday, April 23, 2015 at 11:39 AM High school students are very rarely informed enough to select one engineering discipline over another, and rarely need to prior to being in college, because of the design of most college and university engineering programs. Additionally, new fields and ...Read More
Alexander Major II, Project ARISE; Brown University Posted Monday, April 13, 2015 at 11:28 PM Can anyone give me a suggestion on how universities can assist public science programs in STEAM programs? I have pointed out in my power point, "Artistic Inquiry in the Sciences" (which culminated from a workshop visit to the Rhode Island School Of Design) that Art appreciation is needed to assist future scientists in engineering design. However, access to the needed resources to promote this perspective is difficult in the High School;Public Schools. 2 Answers Greg Pearson, National Academy of Engineering Posted Friday, April 17, 2015 at 2:26 PM Alexander: Let me also suggest you contact another LE pioneer user, Jeff Lonnett, who has been weaving engineering design into his art classes. I believe his email is listed in his profile. If not, please contact me and I will connect you ...Read More Greg Pearson, National Academy of Engineering Posted Friday, April 17, 2015 at 2:23 PM Alexander: There are many ways universities can interact with local PreK-12 schools around STEAM. (I am assuming the "A" you've added to STEM is for the arts.) Some invite teachers on campus for workshops or longer summer internships. Others have ...Read More
Sneha Tharayil, University of Texas at Austin Posted Monday, April 20, 2015 at 12:47 PM With PTLW's Innovation Portal, can engineers provide feedback to student projects? I know this is a fantastic portal where students can receive feedback on their design projects from a global community of STEM educators. However, it would also be really great for students if they could get input from those working in industry, and I was wondering if the Innovation Portal allows for that, and if so, how do they vet the "expertise" level of those providing such feedback? I LOVE the idea of the Innovation Portal though, and plan on exploring it more. Thanks for ... 2 Answers Mark Schroll, Project Lead The Way Posted Monday, January 4, 2016 at 3:34 PM Hi Sneha. Students can indeed receive feedback on their work right through the Innovation Portal. This kind of connection and feedback is done through the portal every day. The one catch is that you would have to be invited by the student to connect ...Read More Greg Pearson, National Academy of Engineering Posted Wednesday, April 22, 2015 at 2:55 PM Sneha: I believe that the PLTW Innovation Portal can be configured in a variety of ways to serve the needs of individual users. For example, it is being used in a number of states to judge student work in STEM competitions, which suggests that "judge" ...Read More