Both those inside and outside of the education community are becoming increasingly familiar with the STEM acronym and the extensive efforts underway nationally to develop integrated PK-12 STEM programs that promote critical thinking, problem solving, 21st Century skill development and authentic learning experiences (Ingram, 2019). However, for…

In this quickly evolving digital world, the technology and education (T&E) education classroom can provide valuable instruction that creates a well-informed online citizenry through digital understanding and citizenship curriculum. For twenty years, "Standards for Technological Literacy" (STL) (ITEA/ ITEEA, 2000/2002/2007) provided…

Technology and Engineering Education (T&EE) includes "engineering design challenges" to establish a connection to designing and problem-solving indicative of being an Engineer. Engineering design challenges involving bridges (or towers) have been a common feature of the discipline. These bridge design challenges ask students to…

For as long as the profession of technology and engineering education (TEE) has existed (the addition of engineering to the professional title marks the official beginning of the profession, and that occurred in 2010), there has been a struggle. Arguably, this struggle's roots go back to the beginning of public education in the U.S. The struggle,…

The process of writing lesson plans at the beginning of one's teaching career can be very time-consuming (Arnett-Hartwick and Cannon, 2019); however, the development of sequenced lessons that result in effective learning must be organized and articulate, not done haphazardly. Designing a lesson through a written document can help a teacher see the…

In order to be prepared for future college or careers, 21st century students should have critical thinking in their arsenal of soft skills. Most teachers and schools feel that critical thinking skills are important to teach, but unfortunately they have a lack of understanding of what critical thinking is and what strategies are best utilized to…

The International Technology and Engineering Educators Association's (ITEEA's) "Standards for Technological and Engineering Literacy" ("STEL") describes design thinking as an approach that allows students and educators to integrate other content areas by considering relevant contextual information to guide design and making…

Part One of this article ("Technology and Engineering Teacher," 75(4), December/January, 2016) presented a process that science, math, engineering, and technology teachers could use to collaborate and design integrated STEM courses. A conceptual framework was discussed that could provide a premise that educators interested in delivery of…

Documentation of ideas and the engineering design process is a critical, daily component of a professional engineer's job. While patent protection is often cited as the primary rationale for documentation, it can also benefit the engineer, the team, company, and stakeholders through creating a more rigorously designed and purposeful solution.…

The beginning of a new school year can be hectic, but it is an opportune and critical time for teachers, supervisors, administrators, and school systems to establish proper safety procedures and practices. It can be more difficult to correct inappropriate behaviors or unsafe habits later in the year. This is especially true if a safety accident…

In this first of a two-part series, the authors report that STEM is still mostly science and mathematics, taught separately with little or no attention to technology and engineering. Where connections do get made to technology and engineering, too often they happen through several disconnected projects that lack coherence in content standards and…

Biotechnology is an innovative field that is consistently growing in popularity. It is important that students are taught about this technology at an early age, so they are motivated to join the field, or at least motivated to become informed citizens and consumers (Gonzalez, et al, 2013). An increase in biotechnology knowledge can result in an…

3D printing is becoming ever more popular in both the manufacturing world as well as in technology and engineering education classrooms all over the United States. 3D printing is an additive manufacturing process in which successive layers of material are built up to produce three-dimensional objects from computer-aided design (CAD) files, making…

With the introduction of "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS"), teachers have been called to find meaningful and engaging ways to teach science content while incorporating engineering practices and, to a lesser extent, computing and computational thinking. The task becomes even more complex when they also have to…

When the "Next Generation Science Standards" ("NGSS") document, (NRC, 2013) was released in April 2013, teachers in the profession had mixed emotions. Many viewed the standards as invasive to their classrooms, while others found them a refreshing take on what technology and engineering educators have been doing for years.…