1 The Teacher In-Service Program in South Africa 5 August 2006 Cape Town, South Africa Moshe Kam Educational Activities

2 A Few Words about IEEE l IEEE is the largest professional engineering association in the world l 367,000 members in 150 countries l A 501(c)3 organization in incorporated in New York l Originally concentrating on power engineering and communications IEEE at present spans technical interests across the spectrum of technology l From nanotechnology to oceanic engineering l In many respects IEEE has become “the steward of Engineering”

3 It all starts in Philadelphia… AIEE In 1884 the Franklin Institute organized the International Electrical Exhibition in Philadelphia The Operator, 15 April 1884 “The…exhibition would be attended by foreign electrical savants, engineers, and manufacturers...it would be a lasting disgrace to American electricians if no American electrical national society was in existence to receive them with the honors due them from their co-laborers in the United States." Thomas Edison, Elihu Thomson, Edwin Houston, and Edward Weston AIEE’s First Technical Meeting 7-8 October 1884, the Franklin Institute

4 Early Presidents Alexander G. BellElihu ThomsonCharles SteinmetzFrank Sprague

5 A few more recent Presidents Leah Jamieson Joseph Bordogna Michael Lightner Wallace Read

6 AIEE IRE l Established 1884 l An American Organization l Representing the establishment l Rooted in Power Engineering l First computers working group l Now the Computer Society l Established 1908 l An international Organization l Open to students, young professionals l Quick to adopt advances in radar, radio, TV, electronics, computers l Proceedings of the Institute of Radio Engineers (January 1913) 1963: Merger of AIEE and IRE to create IEEE

7 What is IEEE? l A membership organization l A major creator and guardian of technical IP l A mechanism to bring people of common technical interests together l both geographically and disciplinarily l A guardian of the future of Engineering l An implementer of technology-related public Imperatives

8 What is IEEE? l A membership organization l A major creator and guardian of technical IP l A mechanism to bring people of common technical interests together l both geographically and disciplinarily l A guardian of the future of Engineering l An implementer of technology-related public Imperatives

9 What does IEEE do? l Publishes literature in engineering, technology and computing l Organizes conferences l Develops standards l Gets engineers and technologists from different locales together l Organizes professional activities among engineering students l Educates the public about Engineering

10 What does IEEE do? l Publishes literature in engineering, technology and computing l Organizes conferences l Develops standards l Gets engineers and technologists from different locales together l Organizes professional activities among engineering students l Educates the public about Engineering

11 Why is IEEE interested in pre- university engineering education l Because it is in our stated and un-stated mission l Because in many IEEE Sections there is marked decline in the interest of young people in Engineering l This is bad for the future of these communities and would have a negative impact on their standard of living l Because we do not believe the problem is going to be tackled effectively without us l Industry does not appear to be able to address the problem directly l Governments do not appear sufficiently concerned (yet) l Other engineering associations look up to us

12 What is the Problem? l Flat or declining engineering enrollments in most developed nations l Coupled with disappointing performance of youth in Mathematics l E.g., “free fall” in Scandinavia l Insufficient number of engineers and engineering educational programs in most developing countries l Asia is far behind Europe and the US in number of engineers per capita

13 What is the Problem? l Women & minority students conspicuously under-represented l Public perception of engineers/ engineering/ technology is largely misinformed l Resulting in early decisions that block the path of children to Engineering

14 Percentage of 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

15 BS Degrees Awarded (US) Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics

16 Selected education statistics in South Africa

17 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, 1998 l 12 th grade l Mathematics general knowledge (21 nations) l Average score:500 ; SA last with 356 l Science general knowledge (21 nations) l Average score:500 ; SA last with 349

18 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, 2003 l Average mathematics scale scores of eighth- grade students (46 nations) l Top 5: Singapore, Korea, HK, Taiwan, Japan l Average score 466, SA last with 264 l Dropped 11 from 1999 l Average science scale scores of eighth-grade students (46 nations) l Top 5: Singapore, Taiwan, Korea, HK, Estonia l Average score 473, SA last with 244 l Gained 1 from 1999

19 SA – enrollment and graduation in engineering disciplines Enrollment is small Enrollment trends appear positive Source: ECSA

20 SA – number of graduating students in engineering disciplines Absolute numbers are small Technikons are up, universities are down Source: ECSA

21 Another way to analyze the numbers: number of new baccalaureate engineering degrees per year per million citizens (2004) CountryNumber of degrees per million citizens USA468.3 China271.1 India103.7 SA105.1 (w/ technikons); 36.5 w/o technikons Assume 500 CS/IT graduates in 2004

22 Sources l Gary Gereffi and Vivek Wadhwa: “Framing the Engineering Outsourcing Debate: Placing the United States on a Level Playing Field with China and India,” Duke School of Engineering pdf l Education statistics: l SAITIS: A Survey of the IT Industry and Related Jobs and Skills in South Africa January 2000,

23 SA – graduation/enrollment ratios Graduation/enrollment ratios are low Technikon graduation/enrollment ratios are stable University graduation/enrollment ratios are falling Source: ECSA

24 SA: distribution among engineering disciplines Technikons Source: ECSA

25 SA: distribution among engineering disciplines Universities Source: ECSA

26 Pre-university activities in IEEE

27 Who inside IEEE is active in this area? l The IEEE Educational Activities Board (EAB) l The IEEE Regional Activities Board (RAB) l IEEE-USA

28 IEEE’s Pre-University Initiative l New Initiative l “Launching Our Children’s Path to Engineering” 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

29 Objective 1: Engineering in the pre-university classroom l Institutionalization of IEEE Teacher In Service Program l IEEE Section engineers develop and present technology- oriented projects to local pre-university educators l Emphasis on volunteer-teacher interaction as opposed to volunteer-student interaction l Ideally: a sustained program involving several thousand schools every year

30 Objective 2: Engineering Associations, Unite! l Center for Pre-University Engineering Education l Ideally, the resource of choice for pre-university cooperation with Engineering Associations l Ideally, a multi-association organization l With partners such as ASCE, ASME, IEE, SEE l It is about ENGINEERING, not Electrical Engineering

31 Objective 3: Strong On-line presence l New on-line portals for students, teachers, school counselors, and parents l Educational and entertaining l Focused on the audience l From lesson plans for teachers to games for children l Ideally, the premier on-line resource on engineering for pre- university students

32 On Line Portal Tryengineering.org “Strong On-line presence”

33 The Web provides us with high potential for reachability l A successful portal can become a major resource for students, parents, school counselors, and teachers l But success is difficult in an ever-crowded medium l Effort needs to be coupled with more modern tools l Instant messaging, podcasts

34 What information is needed on line? l We met with school counselors and Engineering Associations l Need on line tools for identifying formal and informal engineering education opportunities l Engineering associations that participated in our discussions l ACM, AIChE, AIAA, ASME, ASCE, IEE, JETS, SAE, SEE, Sloane Career Cornerstone Center

35 What information is available on line? l We conducted a comprehensive review of engineering education resources l By EAB and consultants l Conclusions: l Many “Engineering Resources” are actually focusing on Science and Mathematics l Resources for teachers are largely inadequate l Wrong message is sent about the nature of engineering and the life of engineers

36 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 ?

37 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?

38 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?

39 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?

40 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?

41 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…

42 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

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44 Good existing model l Tryscience.org l “Your gateway to experience the excitement of contemporary science and technology through on and offline interactivity with science and technology centers worldwide.” l Science is exciting, and it's for everyone! l Partnership between l IBM l the New York Hall of Science l the Association of Science-Technology Centers l Science centers worldwide

45 Next step – tryengineering.org l Companion site to tryscience.org l Comprehensive l Ultimate Audience: young people ages 9-18 l Designed to convey excitement about engineering and design l Can-do attitude l Hands-on experience l Positive image of the engineering process and engineering l “Discover the creative engineer in you”

46 Tryengineering.org A portal for students, parents, school counselors and teachers School search By location, program, environment Day in the life of an engineer Hands-on and virtual projects Class plans for teaching engineering design Ask an engineer Brought to you by SAE Ask a student Brought to you by JETS GamesSummer camps, internship opportunities

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49 Unique features l School search l Ask an Engineer l To be managed by SAE l Ask a Student l To be managed by JETS

50 Current status l TryEngineering.org is on line l Please visit and provide us with feedback l We are having a “quiet launch” between now and late August l We already had several thousand visitors in the first week l Advertising campaign in late August – early September

51 How SA students can benefit from TryEngineering.org… l It should be a relatively simple matter to… l Augment the TryEngineering University Search with South African school information l Create a page on university accreditation in South Africa

52 The Teacher in Service Program “Engineering in the classroom”

53 Basics l IEEE Section engineers develop and present technology-oriented 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

54 Basics (2) l IEEE Section engineers develop and present technology-oriented 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

55 Activity Sample ity/tispt/lessons.html ity/tispt/slessons.html

56 Rotational Equilibrium: A Question of Balance Demonstrate the concept of rotational equilibrium, by building and testing a Mobile

57 Build working models with household items

58 Design and Build a Better Candy Bag Lesson Focus l Demonstrate how product design differences can affect the success of a final product l in this case a bag for holding candy. l Students work in pairs to evaluate, design, and build a better candy bag

59 More on the Program

60 What have we done in 2005? l Pilot study in Region 3 (Southeastern US) l 65 participants, from 23 Sections, in Atlanta, GA l Whole day workshop on lessons, association with educational standards and working with schools l Plus half a day of a simulated TISP session l Feedback: multiple groups organizing training sessions in Southeastern US and Jamaica

61 What are we doing in 2006? l A Region 3 refresher l Expand to l Region 1 (Boston, MA) l Region 4 (Indianapolis, IN) l Region 8 (South Africa) l Region 10 (Malaysia)

62 What will we do in 2007? l Expand to l Region 2 (Baltimore) l Region 5 (Dallas) l Region 9 (Peru and Argentina) l Region 10 (Hong Kong, India, Israel)

63 What do we want to achieve in South Africa ? l Create a sustainable pre-university engineering education program l TISP program l Participation in TryEngineering.org l Reach 250 pre-university teachers in one year l All over the country l 600 teachers in the next two years l Make TryEngineering a popular resource among teachers and students in the pre-university and university communities in SA

64 Questions and comments