1 IEEE EAB Meeting IEEE Pre-University Education Activities Douglas Gorham 17 February 2007

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

3 The Need l 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.

4 The Need Cont’d l 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.

5 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

6 The Perception: From Collegeboard.com: Law It helps to be…Are you ready to… fascinated by the relationship between law and society engage in intense discussion of thorny legal problems ?

7 From Collegeboard.com: Broadcast Journalism It helps to be…Are you ready to… sharp of mind and quick of tongue learn how to find and interview sources?

8 From Collegeboard.com: Civil Engineering It helps to be…Are you ready to… A problem-solver who’s creative, curious, logical, and a fan of math. Spend hours and hours working on problem sets and design projects?

9 From Collegeboard.com: Mechanical Engineering It helps to be…Are you ready to… A fan of science and math, a creative problem solver, and someone who likes to take things apart to find out how they work. Rely on your math skills? Master difficult scientific concepts? Take on a heavy course load? Spend five years as an undergrad…

10 From Collegeboard.com: Electrical Engineering It helps to be…Are you ready to… A fan of science and math who’s curious about the way things work Spend hours building detailed, complicated systems Try, try, and try again when at first a project doesn’t succeed

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

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

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

14 VolTS Cont’d l IEEE volunteers participated in focus groups in 2006 l Recognition program includes: l IEEE EAB Meritorious Award in Informal Education, approved in November 2006 l Develop a VolTS Award Certificate to be used by volunteer coordinators worldwide l Generate a letter to a Volunteer’s Employer acknowledging their contribution

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

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

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

18 Sample TISP Topics l “Everything You Wanted to Know About Electric Motors But Were Afraid to Ask” l “Rocket Cars and Newton’s Laws” l “Rotational Equilibrium: A Question of Balance” l “Effective Lighting” l “Get Connected with Ohm’s Law” l “Design and Build Your Own Robot Arm” l “Learn to Program and Test Robots for Classroom Use”

19 What did we do in 2006? l 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 l Over 330 people attended these training sessions representing 36 IEEE Sections. l More than 900 teachers have participated in an IEEE volunteer led TISP presentation in 2006

20 What will we do in 2007? l Expand to l Region 2 (Baltimore or Philadelphia) l Region 5 (Dallas)–13-14 July l Region 9 (Peru and Argentina) l Region 10 (Hong Kong/Macau?)

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

22 ASCE/ASME/IEEE/JETS Partnership l In 2000 IEEE and ASME formed a partnership to promote technological literacy, funded by grants from the United Engineering Foundation. l IEEE is the PI and fiscal agent l In 2002 ASCE joined our collaboration l In 2007 JETS joined our collaboration l 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

23 ASCE/ASME/IEEE/JETS Partnership Cont’d l We have formed a partnership with NACAC and ASCA to assist school counselors l We have developed print materials for educators outlining the resources of each society l 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 l In 2007 we will: l develop professional development modules for school counselors focusing on engineering as a career option l Conduct training workshops for volunteers l Conduct professional development workshops for educators l Make presentations and sponsor exhibits at educator conferences

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

26 “Meeting the Growing Demand for Engineers and Their Educators ” l First time event l To be held on 9-11 November 2007 in Munich, Germany l attendees is our goal l Attendees from industry, government, professional societies, pre-university education and academia

27 Objectives and Outcomes l Objectives l bring together representatives of the various organizations with decision making ability; l understand who are the customers and constituents; l understand pre-university education trends in various areas of the world, and l generate an “inventory” of effective activities. l Outcomes l identify and agree on a set of action items; l identify opportunities for collaboration; l develop an action plan to accomplish the purposes of the Summit; l institutionalize identified practices; and l disseminate opportunities for collaboration.

28 Create a Planning Committee Arthur Winston, chairMoshe Kam Fanny KlettDavid Janosz (Pre- University teacher) Rolf RemshardtVolker Schanz (VDE) Victor Fouad Hanna (SEE) Gerald Anleitner Andreas LuxaDouglas Gorham Michael Schanz (VDE)Jessica Czeczuga Charles Turner

29 Tentative Program 10 November l Plenary: What is the status of the engineering workforce: an industry perspective l Plenary: What is the status of the supply and demand of pre- university science, technology, engineering and mathematics educators: a Pre- university education perspective l Paper session l Breakout groups l Poster session 11 November l 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? l Paper sessions l Development of a roadmap (Breakout groups) l Next steps, summary and outlook l Including future gatherings

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

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

33 Major Sections l Life of an Engineer l Become an Engineer l Find a University l Lesson Plans l Ask an Expert l Ask an engineer l Ask an undergraduate student l Play Games

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

35 TryEngineering.org– some stats l As of 29 January 2007: l 17,303 = average # of visitors per month l minutes= average time range a visitor spends on the site l 74,931 = average # of page hits per month l 2,936 = average number of university searches per month l 8,243= average number of lesson plans downloaded per month l 659 = questions submitted to Ask an Expert

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38 TryEngineering.org– summary l Overall a major success story l Biggest advantage: a tangible public service by IEEE to the pre-university community l Biggest surprise: success of “ask an engineer”

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

40 Design Squad l Education Outreach to Introduce Young Students to Engineering l 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. l Two teams of high school students use their problem-solving skills to design, construct, and test an intriguing, fully operational and unique engineering project.

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

42 l Questions? Comments?