This article examines the Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement (MESA) program and investigates its impact on underrepresented student populations. MESA was started in California during the 1970s to provide pathways to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics careers for underrepresented students and represents an exemplar model…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present an improved concept of software-based laboratory exercises, namely a Virtual Laboratory for Engineering Sciences (VLES). Design/methodology/approach: The implementation of distance learning and e-learning in engineering sciences (such as Mechanical and Electrical Engineering) is still far behind…

The Lawrence Hall of Science, a science center, seeks to replicate real-world engineering at the "Ingenuity in Action" exhibit, which consists of three open-ended challenges. These problems encourage children to engage in engineering design processes and problem-solving techniques through tinkering. We observed and interviewed 112…

This paper presents a series of activities and educational strategies related to the teaching of digital electronics in computer engineering. The main objective of these methodologies was to develop a final tutored coursework to be carried out by the students in small teams. This coursework was conceived as consisting of advanced problems or small…

Many studies have been made on the impact of supplemental instruction in supported courses, with most showing significantly better examination results for students attending supplemental instruction in comparison to those who do not. However, remarkably little attention has been devoted to following up whether the benefits of supplemental…

We hereby present the main conclusions and perspectives obtained by the Group of Teaching Innovation in Electronics (Grupo de Innovación Docente en Electrónica, GIDEN) of the University of Valladolid (UVa) with regard to its main areas of work. This group comprises teachers of the "Specialty in Industrial Electronics" degree, and the…

The new standards for K-12 science education in the United States call for science teachers to integrate engineering concepts and practices within their science teaching in order to improve student learning. To accomplish this, teachers need appropriate instructional materials as well as the knowledge and skills to effectively use them. This mixed…

Engineering technology students can attain a meaningful mathematics learning if they are allowed to actively participate in hands-on activities. However, the current dissemination of knowledge in the classroom still focuses on teacher-centered paradigm of teaching. A study to explore lecturers' views regarding a newly developed integral calculus…

This paper reports on the design, implementation and assessment of a new approach course structure based on the combination of three cooperative methodologies. The main goal is to reduce the percentage of non-passed students focusing the learning process on students by offering different alternatives and motivational activities based on working in…

Students in science and engineering (S&E) are preparing for careers in fields where international partnerships are increasingly important to advancing knowledge and discoveries. It has been over a decade since the National Science Board (NSB) highlighted the importance of international collaboration and called for increased government…

Changes in engineering practices have spawned changes in engineering education and prompted the use of distributed learning environments. A distributed collaborative engineering design (CED) course was designed to engage engineering students in learning about and solving engineering design problems. The CED incorporated an advanced interactive…

This study contextualized the use of the engineering design process by providing descriptions of how each element in a design process was integrated in an eleventh grade industry and engineering systems course. The guiding research question for this inquiry was: How do students engage in the engineering design process in a course where technology…

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…

This study was conducted to describe a high school engineering curriculum, identify teaching strategies used to increase math and science literacy, and discover challenges and constraints that occur during its development and delivery, as well as what strategies are used to overcome these obstacles. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with…

This case study reviewed the collaborative efforts of university engineers, teacher educators, and middle school teachers to advance sixth- and seventh-grade students' learning through a series of project-based engineering activities. This two-year project enriched regular school curricula by introducing real-world applications of science and…