IEEE EAB Meeting IEEE PreUniversity Education Activities

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IEEE EAB MeetingIEEE Pre-University Education
Activities

• Douglas Gorham
• 17 February 2007

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Pre-University Education Focus

• Objectives
• Increase the propensity of young people worldwide
  to select Engineering as a career path
• Build a sustained public awareness program, led
  by IEEE, with broad support of corporations and
  professional associations
• Emphasis on programs for the adults who influence
  students, e.g., school counselors and teachers

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The Need

• Industry representatives contacted by IEEE
  expressed serious worries about the decreasing
  propensity of young students to choose education
  programs that would enable future engineering
  studies and subsequent engineering careers.

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The Need Contd

• The perception of young people and those who
  influence them is critical to the future of the
  engineering profession. According to the National
  Academy of Engineering, there are misconceptions
  that obscure both the contributions of engineers
  and the skills and competencies that define the
  engineering discipline. These misconceptions
  discourage many talented young people, especially
  women and other under-represented groups, from
  considering an engineering career.

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Percentage of Undergraduate Science Degrees
Awarded
Science degrees include life sciences, physical
sciences, mathematics, statistics, computer
sciences, engineering, manufacturing, and building
Source Organization of Economic Cooperation and
Development
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The PerceptionFrom Collegeboard.com Law
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From Collegeboard.com Broadcast Journalism
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From Collegeboard.com Civil Engineering
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From Collegeboard.com Mechanical Engineering
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From Collegeboard.com Electrical Engineering
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IEEE Pre-University Education Activities Include

• VolTS project with the NY Hall of Science
• Teacher In-Service Program (TISP)
• Joint collaboration efforts with ASCE, ASME and
  JETS
• An International Pre-University Engineering
  Education Summit
• TryEngineering.org
• Design Squad

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IEEE Pre-University Education Activities Include

• VolTS project with the NY Hall of Science
• Teacher In-Service Program (TISP)
• Joint collaboration efforts with ASCE, ASME and
  JETS
• An International Pre-University Engineering
  Education Summit
• TryEngineering.org
• Design Squad

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Volunteers TryScience (VolTS)

• VolTS addresses the need for content experts to
  volunteer in informal education settings
• Working with the NY Hall of Science and the
  Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC)
• Goals include
• Increasing knowledge and skills of volunteer
  coordinators in museums
• Support scientists and engineers
• Increase the quantity and quality of volunteer
  commitments
• Develop a recognition program for volunteers

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VolTS Contd

• IEEE volunteers participated in focus groups in
  2006
• Recognition program includes
• IEEE EAB Meritorious Award in Informal Education,
  approved in November 2006
• Develop a VolTS Award Certificate to be used by
  volunteer coordinators worldwide
• Generate a letter to a Volunteers Employer
  acknowledging their contribution

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IEEE Pre-University Education Activities Include

• VolTS project with the NY Hall of Science
• Teacher In-Service Program (TISP)
• Joint collaboration efforts with ASCE, ASME and
  JETS
• An International Pre-University Engineering
  Education Summit
• TryEngineering.org
• Design Squad

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TISP Basics

• IEEE Section engineers develop and present
  technology-oriented concepts and projects to
  local pre-university educators
• Started at the Florida West Coast Section in
  2001 
• Lesson plans in English and Spanish for teachers
  and engineers
• Lesson plans matched to educational standards

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Summary of TISP 2001-2006

• 52 TISP presentations have taken place, led by
  IEEE volunteers, in Malaysia, South Africa and
  the US
• Over 1250 pre-university educators have
  participated, representing more than 135,000
  students
• More than 90 of the attendees indicated that
  they would use the concepts presented in their
  classroom instruction

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Sample TISP Topics

• Everything You Wanted to Know About Electric
  Motors But Were Afraid to Ask
• Rocket Cars and Newtons Laws
• Rotational Equilibrium A Question of Balance
• Effective Lighting
• Get Connected with Ohms Law
• Design and Build Your Own Robot Arm
• Learn to Program and Test Robots for Classroom
  Use

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What did we do in 2006?

• 5 TISP training workshops were held in 2006 for
  Sections in Region 1 (Boston), Region 3
  (Memphis), Region 4 (Indianapolis), Cape Town,
  South Africa and Putrajaya, Malaysia
• Over 330 people attended these training sessions
  representing 36 IEEE Sections.
• More than 900 teachers have participated in an
  IEEE volunteer led TISP presentation in 2006

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What will we do in 2007?

• Expand to
• Region 2 (Baltimore or Philadelphia)
• Region 5 (Dallas)13-14 July
• Region 9 (Peru and Argentina)
• Region 10 (Hong Kong/Macau?)

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IEEE Pre-University Education Activities Include

• VolTS project with the NY Hall of Science
• Teacher In-Service Program (TISP)
• Joint collaboration efforts with ASCE, ASME and
  JETS
• An International Pre-University Engineering
  Education Summit
• TryEngineering.org
• Design Squad

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ASCE/ASME/IEEE/JETS Partnership

• In 2000 IEEE and ASME formed a partnership to
  promote technological literacy, funded by grants
  from the United Engineering Foundation.
• IEEE is the PI and fiscal agent
• In 2002 ASCE joined our collaboration
• In 2007 JETS joined our collaboration
• This collaboration is designed to help
  pre-university teachers, school counselors,
  students and engineers in the field use the
  materials from all organizations to strengthen
  science, mathematics and technology education

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ASCE/ASME/IEEE/JETS Partnership Contd

• We have formed a partnership with NACAC and ASCA
  to assist school counselors
• We have developed print materials for educators
  outlining the resources of each society
• Since 2000 we have directly impacted over 13,000
  engineers and more than 7000 educators in
  workshops, exhibits, webinars and presentation
  sessions at engineering and educator meetings
• In 2007 we will
• develop professional development modules for
  school counselors focusing on engineering as a
  career option
• Conduct training workshops for volunteers
• Conduct professional development workshops for
  educators
• Make presentations and sponsor exhibits at
  educator conferences

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IEEE Pre-University Education Activities Include

• VolTS project with the NY Hall of Science
• Teacher In-Service Program (TISP)
• Joint collaboration efforts with ASCE, ASME and
  JETS
• An International Pre-University Engineering
  Education Summit
• TryEngineering.org
• Design Squad

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Meeting the Growing Demand for Engineers and
Their Educators 2010-2020

• First time event
• To be held on 9-11 November 2007 in Munich,
  Germany
• 100-125 attendees is our goal
• Attendees from industry, government, professional
  societies, pre-university education and academia

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Objectives and Outcomes

• Objectives
• bring together representatives of the various
  organizations with decision making ability
• understand who are the customers and
  constituents
• understand pre-university education trends in
  various areas of the world, and
• generate an inventory of effective activities.

• Outcomes
• identify and agree on a set of action items
• identify opportunities for collaboration
• develop an action plan to accomplish the purposes
  of the Summit
• institutionalize identified practices and
• disseminate opportunities for collaboration.

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Create a Planning Committee
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Tentative Program

• 10 November
• Plenary What is the status of the engineering
  workforce an industry perspective
• Plenary What is the status of the supply and
  demand of pre-university science, technology,
  engineering and mathematics educators a
  Pre-university education perspective
• Paper session
• Breakout groups
• Poster session

• 11 November
• Plenary What is the role of academia and
  professional societies in addressing the issues
  associated with developing future engineers and
  pre-university educators in science, technology,
  engineering and mathematics?
• Paper sessions
• Development of a roadmap (Breakout groups)
• Next steps, summary and outlook
• Including future gatherings

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IEEE Pre-University Education Activities Include

• VolTS project with the NY Hall of Science
• Teacher In-Service Program (TISP)
• Joint collaboration efforts with ASCE, ASME and
  JETS
• An International Pre-University Engineering
  Education Summit
• TryEngineering.org
• Design Squad

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TryEngineering.org

• Launched on 5 June 2006
• Full scale version for the US and Canada is on
  line
• Including a very active ask an engineer section
• Newsletters in English and Spanish
• Our portal has become the premier resource for
  pre-university education on the web
• Visitors come from the US, India, China, Canada,
  Austria, UK and scores of other countries

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Major Sections

• Life of an Engineer
• Become an Engineer
• Find a University
• Lesson Plans
• Ask an Expert
• Ask an engineer
• Ask an undergraduate
• student
• Play Games

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Major Plans

• University Search feature expanded Australia,
  France, Germany, Korea, Pakistan, New Zealand,
  South Africa, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Brazil,
  United Kingdom and Japan
• Non-English versions Spanish, French, Japanese,
  Russian, German, and Chinese
• Usability study
• A new original game
• A newsletter in French

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TryEngineering.org some stats

• As of 29 January 2007
• 17,303 average of visitors per month
• 25- 47 minutes average time range a visitor
  spends on the site
• 74,931 average of page hits per month
• 2,936 average number of university searches
  per month
• 8,243 average number of lesson plans downloaded
  per month
• 659 questions submitted to Ask an Expert

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TryEngineering.org summary

• Overall a major success story
• Biggest advantage a tangible public service by
  IEEE to the pre-university community
• Biggest surprise success of ask an engineer

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IEEE Pre-University Education Activities Include

• VolTS project with the NY Hall of Science
• Teacher In-Service Program (TISP)
• Joint collaboration efforts with ASCE, ASME and
  JETS
• An International Pre-University Engineering
  Education Summit
• TryEngineering.org
• Design Squad

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Design Squad

• Education Outreach to Introduce Young Students to
  Engineering
• a new, live-action reality TV series that debuts
  nationwide on PBS stations during Engineers Week
  2007, aims to introduce nine- to 13-year-olds and
  their families to the engineering design process.
• Two teams of high school students use their
  problem-solving skills to design, construct, and
  test an intriguing, fully operational and unique
  engineering project.

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Design Squad Contd

• Hands-on activities that work in conjunction with
  each episode will play an integral role in the
  outreach campaign.
• EA is working with IEEE USA to organize train
  the trainer workshops
• Major funding provided by IEEE, Intel and the
  National Science Foundation

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• Questions? Comments?