This paper describes an engineering outreach programme designed to increase the interest of under-represented youth in engineering and to disseminate pre-engineering design challenge materials to K-12 educators and volunteers. Given university students' critical role as facilitators of the outreach programme, researchers conducted a two-year…

Critical to many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) career paths is mathematical modeling--specifically, the creation and adaptation of mathematical models to solve problems in complex settings. Conventional standardized measures of mathematics achievement are not structured to directly assess this type of mathematical…

Science teacher educators in the United States are currently preparing future science teachers to effectively implement the "Next Generation Science Standards" (NGSS) and, in thirteen states, to successfully pass a content-specific high stakes teacher performance assessment, the edTPA. Science education and teacher performance assessment…

The new science education reform documents call for integration of engineering into K-12 science classes. Engineering design and practices are new to most science teachers, meaning that implementing effective engineering instruction is likely to be challenging. This quasi-experimental study explored the influence of teacher-developed, engineering…

Java Virtual Machine (JVM) education has become essential in training embedded software engineers as well as virtual machine researchers and practitioners. However, due to the lack of suitable instructional tools, it is difficult for students to obtain any kind of hands-on experience and to attain any deep understanding of JVM design. To address…

The United States holds a preeminent position in science and engineering (S&E) in the world, derived in large part from its long history of public and private investment in S&E research and development (R&D) and education. Investment in R&D, science, technology, and education correlate strongly with economic growth, as well the development of a…

The Lifelong Learning Imperative (LLI) project was initiated to assess current practices in lifelong learning for engineering professionals, reexamine the underlying assumptions behind those practices, and outline strategies for addressing unmet needs. The LLI project brought together leaders of U.S. industry, academia, government, and…

With the recent addition of engineering to most K-12 testable state standards, efficient and comprehensive instruments are needed to assess changes in student knowledge and perceptions of engineering. In this study, I developed the Students' Awareness and Perceptions of Learning Engineering (STAPLE) instrument to quantitatively measure fourth…

The 21st Century's information economy has been creating more jobs that require not only a college education but also a fair amount of expertise in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math--collectively known as STEM. The last several decades have seen the industrial- and manufacturing-based economy shift to a service economy fueled…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the knowledge, skills, abilities and traits environmental engineers need. Two questions were asked: what skills are considered important, and where are they learned? Dreyfus and Dreyfus' novice-to-expert model, which describes a progressive, five-step process of skill development that occurs over time…

This dissertation presents research that investigated how first grade students' ability to construct solutions and to plan through drawing for engineering design problems is related to their participation in a LEGO-based engineering curriculum with two variations on the instruction for planning. The quasi-experimental design engaged two first…

Contemporary engineers and entrepreneurs need to become more cognizant and responsive to the emerging needs of the market for engineering, enterprise and technology services. Enterprise 2.0 which penetrates our society more thoroughly with the availability of broadband services has the potential to contribute decisively to the sustainable…

This paper summarizes the findings of a five year study aimed at improving both recruitment and retention of female students pursuing careers in engineering. The study analyzed a series of five programs implemented at the College of Engineering at The University of Toledo in Ohio, USA. The effectiveness of the programs over time is measured from…

Although the number of women majoring in engineering and engineering technology has increased in the last few decades, percentages lag behind those in other STEM disciplines. Young women often have misperceptions about the nature of engineering, and that leads to lack of interest. Engineering is often seen as men's work. They do not understand how…

This paper presents the results of a one-year experiment in incorporating active methodologies in a Queueing Systems course as part of the Telecommunication Engineering degree at the University of Zaragoza, Spain, during the period of adaptation to the European Higher Education Area. A problem-based learning methodology has been introduced, and…