ABET requires that engineering programs demonstrate continuous assessment and continuous improvement in order to be accredited. Central to the process is establishing and assessing measurable "student outcomes" that reflect whether the goals and objectives of the program are being met. This paper examines effective strategies for…

The National Science Foundation's Math and Science Partnership (MSP) program (NSF, 2012) supports partnerships between K-12 school districts and institutions of higher education (IHEs) and has been funding projects to improve STEM education in K-12 since 2002. As of 2011, a total of 178 MSP projects have received support as part of a STEM…

The term "STEM," used to describe science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, has come to prominence in Canada over the last decade, raising questions about its meaning. Here we examine its history in the United States and the sociopolitical commitments that have, in parallel, guided science education in Canada. The divergent…

STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) is a buzzword in America (Ames, 2013; Woodruff, 2013). With recent pushes from the federal government (Obama, 2013) the educational landscape is changing, with an increased emphasis on STEM (Noddings, 2013; Obama, 2013). However, a clear definition of who teaches each aspect of STEM does not exist…

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) were released in April 2013. As was done for the two public drafts that preceded it, and for the National Research Council (NRC) framework on which it is based, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute asked their expert reviewers to evaluate these standards against their criteria for content, rigor, clarity,…

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)--now in development--will be based on "A Framework for K-12 Science Education" released by the National Research Council last summer. The "Framework" identifies seven scientific and engineering practices that should be used in science classrooms. These practices reflect the multiple ways in which…

The new "Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas" is a big, comprehensive volume, carefully organized and heavily documented. It is the long-awaited product of the Committee on a Conceptual Framework for New K-12 Science Education Standards. As noted, it is a weighty document (more than 300…

No one is satisfied with science education in the U.S. today. One need only look at Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), and National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) data to see what a mediocre job is being done of imparting a solid science education to the…

The Thomas B. Fordham Institute monitored the evolution of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) through two public drafts, on both of which reviewers provided extensive feedback and recommendations for improvement. This third Fordham Review of the (NGSS) is the product of a nine member team that includes practicing scientists and…

In May, Achieve unveiled and solicited comments on the first draft of the Next Generation Science Standards, the product of months of work by a team of writers on behalf of twenty-six states. This review by Fordham provides commentary, feedback, and constructive advice. The following four suggestions are offered by Fordham reviewers for those who…

The hypothetical learning progressions presented here are the products of the deliberations of two working groups of science education researchers, each group also including a state science curriculum supervisor, organized by the Consortium for Policy Research in Education (CPRE), with support from the National Science Foundation. Their charge was…

This paper presents the development and implementation of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in an engineering thermodynamics course at Kettering University. In this project, the thermodynamics course was restructured as modules presenting practical applications first, whereas principles were introduced just-in-time and as encountered. Theoretical…

The purpose of the study was to identify and refine a conceptual foundation for secondary school engineering education. Specifically, this study sought to address the following research questions: (1) What engineering concepts are present in literature related to the nature and philosophy of engineering?; (2) What engineering concepts are embedded…

Describes the structure of an in-depth laboratory project chemical engineering. Provides modeling work to guide experimentation and experimental work on heat transfer analysis. Discusses the experimental results and evaluation of the project. (YP)

The publicly available free computer program, "SimChemistry," was used as an active learning tool in the chemical engineering curriculum at the University College of Boras, Sweden. The activity involved students writing their own simulation programs on topics in the area of molecular structure and interactions. Evaluation of the learning…