IEEE Teacher In- Service Program in Australia Liz Burd, Chair, EAB Pre-University Education Coordinating Committee Yvonne Pelham, EAD Manager, Educational Outreach September 2012

Outline Our Organization: IEEE Why is IEEE interested in promoting engineering, computing and technology to pre-university educators and students? What do we plan to do in this workshop? What are the expectations? 2

Our Organization – IEEE An international professional association dedicated to the theory and practice of electrical, electronics, communications and computer engineering –as well as computer science, the allied branches of engineering, and related arts and sciences Established 128 years ago Operating in 160+ countries Has approximately 400,000 members –The largest technical professional association in the world –$350M annual budget –Headquarters in New York City, NY, USA Employs professional staff 3

IEEE Today 4 MEMBERS 400,000 COUNTRIES 160 CONFERENCES per year SOCIETIES/COUNCILS 38/7 World’s largest technical professional society STANDARDS 1,300 Active Standards Advancing Technology for Humanity

IEEE’s Organizational Chart 5 IEEE Members IEEE Board of Directors IEEE Assembly Chaired by the President and CEO Publication Services and Products Technical Activities Educational Activities Member and Geographical Activities Standards Association IEEE USA Technical Societies Local Sections IEEE Major Boards

Reflecting the global nature of IEEE, R8 and R10 are now the two largest IEEE Regions R9 – 18,635 R8 – 78,094 R10 102,451 R1 to 6 – 210,367 R7 – 17,225 R1 – 35,862 R2 – 32,186 R3 – 31,247 R4 – 23,606 R5 – 29,823 R6 – 57,643 IEEE Membership By Region January 2012

Total IEEE Membership ,883

Today's IEEE is not just about Electrical and Computer Engineering The IEEE-designated fields include: Engineering Computer sciences and information technology Biological and medical sciences Mathematics Physical sciences Technical communications, education, management, law and policy 8

IEEE Volunteers Key to IEEE success –About 40,000 individuals who give at least 4 hours a week to the organization  Local Section Chair  Associate editor of a Journal  Member of the Financial Committee of the Technical Activities Board  Chair of a committee that develops a Standard The organization is guided by volunteers –From the President and CEO to the local Section Chair major decisions are made by volunteers –An attempt to quantify the work done by volunteers was estimated between $2bn-$3bn 9

IEEE’s principal activities (1) Organizing the professional community –Based on geographic distribution and areas of interest Publishing technical and scientific literature on the State of the Art Organizing conferences on relevant technical and scientific matters 10

IEEE’s principal activities (2) Developing technical standards –Approximately 900 standards at present Developing educational activities for professionals and for the public –Including students and teachers in the pre- university system Improving the understanding of engineering, technology and computing by the public Recognizing the leaders of the profession –Awards and membership grades 11

What are we trying to do… …advance global prosperity by –Fostering technological innovation –Enabling members' careers –Promoting community worldwide  for the benefit of humanity and the profession Key to success: early recognition of new fields In 1884 – power engineering In 1912 – communications In 1942 – computing In 1962 – digital communications In 1972 – networking In 1982 – clean energy In 1992 – nanotechnology In 2002 – engineering and the life sciences 12

Sample Activities: Regional Organizations IEEE organizes professionals in its fields of interest into local Sections There are 333 local Sections worldwide in 10 Regions In Region 10 – Australia consists of 7,846 members: 64 Fellows 87 Life Members 536 Senior Members and 37 Life Seniors 4,982 Members 602 Student and 1,023 Graduate Student Members 515 Associate/Affiliate Members 13

Sample Activities: Standards IEEE develop standards in several areas, including: Power and Energy Transportation Biomedical and Healthcare Nanotechnology Information Technology Information Assurance 14

More Specific Standardization Areas Intelligent highway systems and vehicular technology Distributed generation renewable energy Voting Equipment Electronic Data Interchange Rechargeable Batteries for PCs Motor Vehicle Event Data Recorder Public Key Infrastructure Certificate Issuing and Management Components Architecture for Encrypted Shared Media Organic Field Effect Technology 15

WHY IS IEEE INTERESTED IN PRE-UNIVERSITY EDUCATION? 16

Why is IEEE interested in pre- university engineering education (1) Because it is in our stated and un-stated mission Because in many IEEE Sections there is a marked decline in the interest of young people in Engineering, Computing and Technology –This is a concern for the future of these communities and would have a negative impact on their standard of living Because we do not believe the problem is going to be tackled effectively without us 17

Why is IEEE interested in pre- university engineering education (2) The demands of the 21st century will require technological innovation to deliver advanced technologies in developed countries infrastructure solutions in developing countries Flat or declining engineering enrollments in most developed nations 18

Objectives of OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) Are students well prepared for future challenges? Can they analyze, reason and communicate effectively? Do they have the capacity to continue learning throughout life? Surveys of 15-year-olds in the principal industrialized countries. Every three years, it assesses how far students near the end of compulsory education have acquired some of the knowledge and skills essential for full participation in society Australia is an OECD member and participated in PISA 2000, 2003, 2006, 2009, 2012

A few observations on the state of pre- engineering and engineering education in Australia Review of OECD Statistics (PISA 2009) –Australia’s mean science score in the OECD table was 527 (not significantly different than PISA 2006)  Six countries scored significantly higher than Australia: Shanghai-China, Finland, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, and Korea. –Australia was…  Above OECD average in the scales of reading, mathematics and science  However, the average mathematics score was 514 points, ten points lower than it was in 2003 – representing a statistically significant decline in mathematical literacy.

Mathematical and Scientific Literacy Achievement by Country (2009) 21

Commencing Students 22 *Bachelor's Graduate Entry Bachelor's Honours Bachelor's Pass

Higher Education Statistics 23

WHAT IS IEEE DOING? 24

Pre-University Education Overall objective: –To increase the propensity of young people to select engineering, computing and technology as a program of study and career path –Increase the level of technological literacy 25

The Challenge and Approach Challenge: –Public perception of engineers/engineering/ technology is often misinformed resulting in early decisions that block the path of children to engineering Approach: –Reach major groups of influencers who impact students and their decision  Teachers, counselors, parents, media,.. –Online Presence – TryEngineering.org, TryComputing.org, TryNano.org –Engineering in the Classroom – Teacher In- Service Program 26

Discover the Creative Engineer In You! 27

Available in English Chinese French Spanish German Russian Japanese Portuguese Arabic 28

IEEE’s pre-university education portal –For teachers, school counselors, parents and students ages Visitors learn –about careers in engineering, –understand how engineers impact our daily lives, –discover the variety of engineering, technology and computing programs, –find free classroom activities that demonstrate engineering principles –and more. A joint project of IEEE, IBM, and the New York Hall of Science –Non-IEEE investment of approximately $2.5M US/Canada version was launched on June

Unique Features of TryEngineering.org Robust search engine for accredited programs –side by side comparisons, interactive maps, links to university web site Lesson Plans focused on engineering and engineering design –Reviewed by IEEE volunteers and teachers Discipline descriptions –40 engineering, computing and technology disciplines Engineering Games –2 nd site listed in Google search results for “engineering games” 30

Most Requested Lesson Plans Build your own robot arm Series and Parallel Circuits Pulleys and Force Cracking the Code (bar codes) Electric Messages Adaptive Devices 31

TryEngineering Progress –7.0 million page hits in 2011, 5.6 million hits for Jan – July 2012 –Currently averages 77,000 unique visitors per month –About 8.1 million lesson plan downloads since launch in all languages –Visitors average about 25 minutes on the site –Visitors come from the US, China, India, Canada, Japan and scores of other countries 32

IEEE TryComputing.org

TryComputing.org Overview TryComputing.org is a soon-to-be- launched online pre-university computing education portal Collaboration between IEEE Computer Society and IEEE Educational Activities Board Funded by a two year IEEE New Initiative 10/4/201534

TryComputing.org Overview Goal - Increase awareness about computing disciplines and generate excitement about computing careers within the global pre- university community Audience - pre-university teachers, school counselors, parents, and students Launched August !!! 10/4/201535

TryComputing.org 10/4/ Discover Find information on exciting computing careers and explore careers using the visual cloud tool. Study Explore computing majors and search for accredited computing degree programs around the world Work Browse computing professional career profiles & computing hero profiles Champion Educator lesson plans and tools Resources External computing resources

10/4/201537

The Teacher In Service Program (TISP) A program that trains IEEE volunteers to work with pre- university teachers Based on approved Lesson Plans  Prepared/reviewed by IEEE volunteers  Tested in classrooms  Designed to highlight engineering design principles 38

The Teacher In Service Program Train volunteers –IEEE Section Members –IEEE Student Members –Teachers and Instructors …using approved lesson plans on engineering and engineering design IEEE members will develop and conduct TISP training sessions with Teachers Teachers will conduct training sessions with Students 39 IEEE Volunteers Teachers Students

Our Overall TISP Goals Empower IEEE “champions” to develop collaborations with local pre-university education community to promote applied learning Enhance the level of technological literacy of pre-university educators Increase the general level of technological literacy of pre-university students Increase the level of understanding of the needs of educators among the engineering community Identify ways that engineers can assist schools and school systems 40

Why TISP in Australia? The program has the potential to become a new resource for many teachers who have limited exposure or experience with engineering, computing or technology TISP introduces teachers to hands-on inquiry- based activities that support the teaching of science, technology and mathematics IEEE members represent an important repository of knowledge and experience, otherwise unavailable to the pre-university education system –A bridge between the technical community and the school system can be built 41

How does it work? Volunteers gather for a day and a half of training –With teachers and school administrators Volunteers spread the program in their school districts Volunteers work with the Department of Education to organize TISP professional development/in-service presentations 42

Volunteer Training Key questions to be discussed in training: –How to conduct a training sessions for teachers using the TISP lesson plans? –How to approach the school system to engage teachers? –How to align a lesson plan with local education criteria? Teachers and officials from the education establishment participate in the training sessions 43

After The Training… IEEE volunteers work with the school system to conduct training sessions for teachers Teachers use the training sessions and the lesson plans to educate their students IEEE participates in supporting the program –In the first year, EAB will cover the costs for materials and supplies for TISP sessions lead by IEEE volunteers for teachers –In subsequent years, funding is the responsibility of the local IEEE Section/sub- Section 44

Training Workshops: 2005-Present Workshops Participants 45

A Decade of Success In 2001, the first event was held by the Florida West Coast Section in conjunction with the University of South Florida College of Engineering In 2005, the program was institutionalized as part of EAB’s budget In 2007, a pilot Student Branch Workshop was held in Peru (105 attendees) In 2009, the largest TISP event was held with 185 teachers in Uruguay By 2009, at least one training workshop was held in every IEEE region 46

Teacher In-Service Program Presentations Over 210 TISP presentations have been conducted by IEEE volunteers TISP presentations have reached over 5182 pre-university educators –This reach represents more than 564,000 students each year 47

Teacher Feedback 91.6% of the teachers polled responded positively to the statement: “This presentation has increased my level of technological literacy.” 1948 Respondents (25% Primary Teachers) 48

Teacher Feedback 94.6% of the teachers polled responded positively to the statement: “Today's topic will increase my student's level of technological literacy.” 1948 Respondents (25% Primary Teachers) 49

Sample Outcomes Houston Section, Texas cooperating with the Harris County Department of Education to do the alignment matrix for the Texas Education Agency curriculum requirements for students ages 5-18 for the TryEngineering.org lesson plans. Region 7, Canada approved the formation of a TISP committee to oversee the activities; 13 Sections currently participate The South Africa Section partnered with the South African National Department of Education to develop lesson plans relating to the South African Technology General Education and Training (GET) curriculum. 50

Meeting the Goals Empower IEEE “champions” Technological literacy of pre- university educators Technological literacy of pre- university students Understanding of the needs of educators School systems assisted by IEEE 1792 Trained Volunteers 92% agreed that program enhanced technological literacy 95% believe that student’s technological literacy would increase Sustained programs in several sections 210 presentations reported 51

What do we expect after the meeting? We hope that participants will get organized to provide TISP training to pre-university educators –A team of 3-5 volunteers can be very effective IEEE-EAB will support such activities by paying for materials and supplies for documented TISP activities lead by IEEE volunteers for one year after this session 52

Expectations for IEEE Volunteers Organize TISP sessions throughout the pre- university education system Communicate with EAB for guidance, information exchange, and support Organize a task force to make TISP a permanent program Arrange for budgeting through the Section, Region, and IEEE Boards (MGAB, EAB) 53

Expectations for Teachers Use the TISP approach in your classroom Work with the IEEE volunteers to organize TISP training sessions for teachers –Report to IEEE volunteers what lessons have been learned from the program –Indicate what lesson plans were or were not successful, and what additional lesson plans would be required 54

55

56 Next up: Demonstration of a TISP Activity