During the fall semester of 2010, mechanical engineering students from Edison State Community College and Wright State University shared their skills and knowledge with students from the Upper Valley JVS (UVJVS) pre-engineering technology program in a highly motivating robotics activity. The activity culminated in 47 teams from regional high…

Living in the Adirondack Park and being an avid outdoorsman has often resulted in the author's love of the outdoors working its way into class projects. In 2010, the author gave a group of 25 students in grades 9-12 a challenge that required them to design and construct a prototype inexpensive, lightweight kayak for backpackers and fisherman. In…

Create a light and sound show to entertain friends. Design an improved safety device for a car. Develop a 2-3 minute voice-over for a sports clip explaining the physics involved in the sport. Modify the design of a roller coaster to meet the needs of a specific group of riders. Design an appliance package for a family limited by the power and…

At the University of Pittsburgh, the author and his colleagues have been exploring a range of approaches to design challenges for implementation in high school science classrooms. In general, their approach has always involved students working during class time over the course of many weeks. So, their understanding of what works must be…

Since its initial funding by the National Science Foundation in 2004, the National Center for Engineering and Technology Education (NCETE) has worked to understand the infusion of engineering design experiences into the high school setting. Over the years, an increasing number of educators and professional groups have participated in the expanding…

In 2004, the National Center for Engineering and Technology Education (NCETE) secured funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to infuse engineering design into the schools through technology education. In order to reach this goal the researchers, in cooperation with NCETE, conducted a two phase study to identify outcomes for high-school…

The complexity of engineering and its integration into K-12 education have resulted in a variety of issues requiring sustained empirical research (Johnson, Burghardt, & Daugherty, 2008). One particular area of need, given the emphasis on teacher effects on student learning, is to research engineering-oriented teacher professional development. A…

Through the efforts of National Center for Engineering and Technology Education (NCETE), three core engineering concepts within the realm of engineering design have emerged as crucial areas of need within secondary level technology education. These concepts are constraints, optimization, and predictive analysis (COPA). COPA appears to be at the…

The implementation of pre-engineering, standard curricula in K-12 schools is growing at a rapid pace. One such curriculum model, Project Lead the Way, consists of six standardized courses requiring significant training for teachers, specified laboratory equipment, standard topics, exams, etc. Schools implementing Project Lead the Way implement an…

In recent years educators and educational researchers in the U.S. have begun to introduce engineering design activities in secondary science classrooms for the purpose of scaffolding science learning as well as supporting such general problem-solving skills as decision making and working in teams. However, such curricula risk perpetuating a…