Celeste Baine's thoughts, perceptions and ideas about marketing engineering education.

Celeste Baine's Blog

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  Formerly known as the Engineering Education Advocate

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• 2008
  

Books by Celeste Baine

Engineers Make a Difference: Motivating Students to Pursue an Engineering Education

Sustainable Energy Engineering Teacher's Guide

Aerospace Engineering Teacher's Guide

Mechanical Engineering Teacher's Guide

Engineering Principles Teacher's Guide

Engineering Graphics Teacher's Guide

Aeronautical Engineering Teacher's Guide

Civil Engineering Teacher's Guide

Teaching Engineering Made Easy: A Friendly Introduction to Engineering Activities for Middle School Teachers

The Musical Engineer: A Music Enthusiast's Guide to Engineering and Technology Careers

The Fantastical Engineer: A Thrillseeker's Guide to Careers in Theme Park Engineering - Second Edition

High Tech Hot Shots: Careers in Sports Engineering

Is There an Engineer Inside You?: A Comprehensive Guide to Career Decisions in Engineering

NSTA in New Orleans

Last week I attended the National Science Teacher Association (NSTA) annual conference in New Orleans. I wanted to meet as many people as possible that were doing engineering at the K-12 level so I splurged on a booth and made it colorful. Happily, there were many people that stopped to talk about their programs and give me some insights about what is going on in classrooms across the country.

I’ve listed my observations below but keep in mind that only about 20 percent of NSTA attendees are interested in engineering and the conference is so overwhelming, it’s difficult to have linear conversations after the first day.

My observations:

1. Overall, there is definitely a huge wave sweeping the country about getting students interested in engineering. Many teachers in several different states explained that this would be their first year teaching the subject and they weren’t sure what to do or how to begin.
2. Many schools are trying to introduce engineering at the elementary school level. Many students in this age group are finding very creative solutions to problems. They are very enthusiastic and thrive in a hands-on environment. Most teachers of this age group had not heard of “Engineering is Elementary” or “Engineering By Design”.
3. Middle school – The bulk of teachers that attended (for engineering) were looking for resources to teach engineering in middle school. The teachers of this age group seemed to be the best adjusted. They knew what they wanted and were comfortable with the material (maybe nothing can scare a middle school teacher?).
4. Other than Project Lead The Way, high school teachers seemed frustrated about the lack of resources for higher grades. Most had not heard of the curriculum “Engineering the Future” by the Boston Museum of Science, “Engineering by Design” from ITEA or the “Engineering Academy” from Pitsco.
5. We are way ahead of the UK in stirring interest in engineering at the K-12 level.

So how do we tell all the new K-12 engineering teachers where to find what they need? I connected with around 50 teachers that needed direction but I bet that’s only a tiny fraction of who needs help. I listed my Top 11 Engineering Education Programs in a previous blog. What do you do? What is a solution that can help everyone?

Posted by Celeste Baine on March 25, 2009

Talkback

From Dave Wilson - I also posted this on your facebook wall...keep up the good work!

Hello Celeste: I read with great interest your blog regarding your recent trip to New Orleans to attend the NSTA conference. It seems like there was a lot of excitement! However, in my opinion, as we encourage young people to go into engineering, they must also be reminded of the proper preparation, particularly in mathematics and science so that they will be successful once they enter college. As you well know, the individual engineer today is competing globally, which means after they earn a degree that person must be ready for the fierce global competition. When I am talking to students about careers in engineering, I will always give an example of a job that can be done in the USA, China, Indonesia, Singapore, India, Japan, etc., and that they will be competing with individuals from these countries plus many others.

Generally, our politicians make a lot of noise about manufacturing jobs moving overseas; many times I donâ t think that they have a clue about the high tech jobs such as software and hardware design, reliability, research, technical support, etc. These jobs are not as visible as a hardware manufacturing job, but nevertheless these are some of the best paid positions. I know that I am getting off the subject a bit, but it goes to the heart of careers in engineering.

Best regards, Dave

Posted on March 25, 2009 at 7:50pm