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| The Latest
in K–12 Engineering Education
ASEE ANNOUNCES SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES FOR 2ND EDITION
OF ENGINEERING GUIDEBOOK
Opportunities to sponsor the second edition of Engineering,
Go For It!, ASEE’s engineering and technology
guidebook for high school students, are now available.
The new edition, coming out this fall, will be more
up–to–date with today’s rapidly changing
technologies, and will give a fuller picture of how
engineering and technology shape our lives, along with
more tips on how to get started and succeed in engineering
and technology. Sponsorship can take one of two forms.
Institutions may purchase at least 5,000 custom copies
of the guidebook featuring their own, four–color
promotional content on the back covers, or at least
1,000 standard copies of the guidebook featuring ASEE’s
artwork promoting engineering and engineering technology
education.
For more details on how to become a sponsor for the
second edition of Engineering, Go For It!, visit
https://www.engineering–goforit.com/2nd_edition/index.cfm.
DEPARTMENT
OF EDUCATION RELEASES NATIONAL EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY
PLAN
The U.S. Department of Education has unveiled its
new national education technology plan, detailing the
current status of technology use in public schools and
how educational technology can be used to increase student
achievement.
The report, entitled,
Toward a New Golden Age in American Education: How
the Internet, the Law, and Today’s Students are
Revolutionizing Expectations, is a requirement
of the No Child Left Behind Act, and includes seven
major recommendations: strengthen leadership for systemic
change; consider innovative budgeting; improve teacher
training; support e–learning and virtual schools;
encourage broadband access; move toward digital content;
and integrate data systems.
Learn more about the report at www.nationaledtechplan.org.
DEPARTMENT
OF EDUCATION DISCONTINUES ENC FUNDING
The Eisenhower National Clearinghouse (ENC)
will no longer receive funding from the U.S. Department
of Education beyond ENC’s current contract year
ending September 30, 2005. The ENC is a national mathematics
and science education clearinghouse that has provided
a valuable service to the nation’s K–12
mathematics and science teachers over the past 13 years.
Plans to deliver ENC’s products and services through
subscriptions to schools, organizations, and individuals
beginning in October 2005 are currently being developed.
Send an email to
info@enc21.com if you would like to be kept informed
about ENC’s future directions, or if you have
comments or suggestions for the staff. Visit the Eisenhower
National Clearinghouse online at
www.enc.org.
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| The
need for improving K–12 engineering and engineering
technology education:
The latest ASEE survey indicates that out of the 5,936
students who graduated with bachelor’s degrees
in engineering technology during the 2002–2003
academic year, only 11.7% were women.
To see more engineering technology trends, visit
www.asee.org/colleges.
Fun facts for the classroom:
The Science Teacher, NSTA’s journal for
secondary science teachers, is looking for good questions
from students and teachers for the journal’s "Ask
the Experts" department. Previous questions have
included, "Why does the Moon appear larger in winter?"
or "Why doesn’t glue stick to the inside
of its container?" Teachers who submit questions
that are published will receive a gift certificate to
the NSTA Science Store!
E–mail department editor Marc Rosner at
MARosner@aol.com with your questions!
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VOICES FROM THE CLASSROOM
This new feature allows undergraduate and graduate engineering
students’ to relate their first–hand experiences
working in K–12 engineering outreach. Read
the entire articles at the EngineeringK12
Center website.
This month’s voices come from students
in Duke University’s K–PhD programs:
"Leaving the laboratory for a few hours once
a week has provided me with the opportunity to be a
role model for 80 middle school students over four years.
The students generally refer to me as ‘Paul’
or ‘Mr. Paul’ as they are not used to referring
to their teachers by first name. They do not see us
as teachers in the traditional sense, though, but as
instructors or counselors. The slightly less formal
setting, though still in the classroom, allows students
to be creative and explore the projects in ways that
develop different types of learning opportunities than
are generally available in a classroom setting."
––Paul Klenk, Ph.D. Candidate in Mechanical
Engineering, Engineering Teaching Fellow, Techtronics
"There is something so much more gratifying
about watching young people discover little science
phenomena compared to learning it in a textbook. I remember
one student the other day saying, ‘I could do
experiments with electricity all day!"—I know
we’ve got at least one more future electrical
engineer."
––Daniel Choi, Senior in Biomedical and
Electrical Engineering, Engineering Teaching Fellow,
MUSIC, Lakewood Elementary
"The most redeeming memories I have of my past
three years of involvement with the program are not
of the most capable science students but instead of
those who had the most personal growth. Many students
automatically consider themselves a failure at science
at a surprisingly early age and do not allow the potential
to grow within them. By creating the time, space, and
resources for mentor–based engineering programs
we yield a result that is more than just the sum of
its parts and indeed of more value to the students’
lives."
––Rahmin Sarabi, Senior in Biomedical
and Electrical Engineering, Engineering Teaching Fellow,
Techtronics
Read more about these engineering students’
experiences working with K–12 students at the
EngineeringK12
Center website.
If you would like to contribute to "Voices
from the Classroom," email c.kalyandurg@asee.org
for details.
NASA
TRAVELS ABROAD WITH STEM OUTREACH
The NASA Explorer Schools Program (NES), an
education initiative designed to bring science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and activities
to U.S. teachers and students, is serving as a template
for a similar outreach effort in the Netherlands. Patterned
after NES, the new Delta Researchers Schools (DRS) Program
was established through a formal negotiation among NASA,
the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Dutch Ministry
of Education, Culture and Science.
The DRS Program is intended to identify and develop
inventive methods to inspire Dutch primary school students
to pursue careers in mathematics and science. The program
focuses on exciting the interest of children between
the ages of 9 and 12, with particular attention placed
on girls. Dutch schools will be selected to participate
for three–year periods by the Dutch Ministry of
Education, which will launch, manage, and fund the schools’
activities. Additionally, NASA will make available opportunities
for Dutch teachers to participate in NES summer workshops
at NASA centers.
The NES Program is a three–year partnership
between NASA and selected U.S. schools that assists
teachers in cultivating student interest in math, science,
engineering, and technology. Each spring, partnerships
are established between NASA and 50 new NASA Explorer
School teams, consisting of teachers and education administrators
from diverse communities across the country.
The NES Program is currently accepting applications
from U.S. schools for 2005; the application deadline
is January 31, 2005. For more information, visit
http://explorerschools.nasa.gov .
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ENGINEERING RELIEF
The trail of devastation left by the tsunami
in South Asia and East Africa has elicited unprecedented
response by relief agencies, governments, and private
citizens around the world, who continue to donate money,
food, fresh water, and medicine to help the thousands
of people displaced by last month’s tragedy. Among
these vital necessities is shelter, and a number of
nonprofit organizations, made up of engineers and architects,
are volunteering their expertise not only for the long–term
reconstruction effort, but for building temporary relief
as well.
One of these organizations, Architects
Without Borders, will send volunteers and housing
experts to these devastated areas over the next few
months, areas where hundreds of tsunami survivors are
left homeless.
Shelter
for Life, a Wisconsin–based nonprofit
relief and development organization hopes to build 1,000
houses in Sri Lanka. The group is already building homes
in Sri Lanka for people displaced by the civil war,
and plans to erect one–and two–room structures
made from cement block or brick, with pitched roofs.
Cameron Sinclair, the founder and executive director
of Architecture
for Humanity, wants to raise enough money to
build about a dozen houses. He has been working with
a design company in Connecticut called Global
Village Shelters that has created a temporary
structure that is cheap yet sturdy. The housing unit
costs $370, is made of three–quarter–inch
laminated cardboard–like material, and is waterproof,
fireproof, and biodegradable. The shelters could be
bought and distributed by the International Red Cross,
according to Daniel Ferrara, the president of Global
Village Shelters.
To learn more about these organizations,
visit the links below:
Architects Without Borders www.awb.iohome.net
Shelter for Life www.shelter.org
Architecture for Humanity www.architectureforhumanity.org
Global Village Shelters www.gvshelters.com
STATE MATH STANDARDS FAIL TO MAKE THE GRADE
The Thomas B. Fordham Foundation, part of
the Washington, D.C.–based Institute of the same
name, has come out with its third review and grading
of state math standards, entitled, The
State of State Math Standards 2005.
In it, the foundation presented only three states—California,
Indiana, and Massachusetts—with an A, citing the
clarity, content, and sound mathematical reasoning of
their standards as well as the lack of negative features.
29 other states did not fare as well, and were given
Ds or Fs. The national average grade is a D.
The reason for these failing grades? The foundation
points to some key problems, among them: overuse of
calculators and manipulatives; overemphasis on patterns
and statistics; too little emphasis on knowledge of
basic number facts and the standard algorithms; and
too little attention to fraction development.
To help states address these shortcomings, the foundation
recommends appointing math professors and other mathematicians
to standards–writing panels, developing coherent
arithmetic standards, and borrowing high–quality
standards from the three states that earned As.
The Foundation’s grades come as part of a recent
wave of bleak reviews given to U.S. K–12 student
performance in international math and science achievement
studies, including the 2003 Program for International
Student Assessment (PISA) study, and the Trends in International
Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2003. Both studies,
released last month, highlight the growing gap between
the number of advanced math and science students in
other countries and the United States.
Some teachers believe the best method for attracting
more students to math and science is through interactive
lessons and experiments demonstrating real–world
applications. Using engineering principles can be a
hands–on way to increase math and science learning.
The Fordham Foundation supports research, publications,
and projects in K–12 school reform. To learn more
about the foundation, and to view The
State of State Math Standards 2005, visit
www.edexcellence.net/foundation.
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A KNIGHT
IN NYLON ARMOR
By Thomas K. Grose
This article is taken from the Jan. 2005 issue
of Prism,
ASEE’s award–winning magazine.
University of Delaware chemical engineering professor
Norman Wagner spent 10 years conducting government–funded
research into liquids whose viscosity increased when
they were agitated. For many manufacturing processes,
like paper coating, the stiffening of fluids was a major
headache because it gummed up machines. After devising
ways to solve those problems, Wagner then wondered if
there was some “good" use for these “shear–thickening
fluids."
Meanwhile, after the infamous Black Hawk Down episode
in Somalia, in which U.S. military personnel were ambushed
by urban guerrilla fighters, the Pentagon began looking
for ways to improve body armor. One of the most popular
fabrics for stopping bullets is Kevlar, but it’s
costly, bulky, and not easy to wear. Moreover, because
it’s used to make vests, it doesn’t protect
arms and legs.
Wagner became convinced the thickening fluids might
provide a solution. He started working with former Delaware
mechanical engineering graduate student Eric Wetzel,
now a researcher at the Army Research Lab at the Aberdeen
Proving Ground in Maryland. They developed a fluid that’s
a mix of superfine particles of silica glass floating
in a liquid polymer. Dip a piece of cloth in it, dry
it, and the material seems no different than before,
just slightly oilier to the touch. But strike it with
a knife or shoot it with a gun, and it instantly stiffens
on impact and can’t be penetrated. Talk about
faster than a speeding bullet!
“The [treated] material is smart," Wagner
says. Initially, his team worked with Kevlar, which
can stop bullets but not knives. Sure enough, the treated
Kevlar warded off knife stabs, too. And they’ve
since shown that the treatment works with nylon and
other materials that are much less expensive than Kevlar,
more comfortable to wear, and could be used to make
clothes that protect more parts of the body. Police
officers and prison guards, for instance, often need
stab protection more than bullet protection.
Other civilian uses are in the works, too, Wagner
says, including outfits to protect people in cars or
motorcycle riders, and to toughen sports apparel. Perhaps
someday we’ll all routinely be wearing clothes
that keep us covered in every sense of the word.—Thomas
K. Grose
The Jan. 2005 issue of Prism
is now available online to ASEE Members only (password
required). You can also view back issues of
Prism
online at www.asee.org/about/publications/prism.
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SCIENCE
DISCOVERIES OF 2004––THE TOP 10 LIST:
www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2004
The journal Science has compiled their list of the top
ten scientific discoveries for 2004. Heading up the
list in the top three spots are: 1) Evidence for water
on Mars; 2) fossil records of a previously unknown species
of tiny humans; and 3) the cloning of human embryos
in South Korea.
To get the complete top ten, visit
www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2004
THE
COSMOS ON YOUR COMPUTER SCREEN:
http://amazing–space.stsci.edu
Set up by the Space Telescope Science Institute
(STSI) in Baltimore, which is responsible for the operation
of the remarkable Hubble Space Telescope, this stimulating
Website is bursting with information and images of everything
cosmological and astronomical. The site is aimed squarely
at the elementary level and is structured around a number
of fully interactive online lessons covering topics
such as galaxies, solar systems, comets, black holes
and much more.
Visit Amazing Space at
http://amazing–space.stsci.edu.
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| Go Engineering!
is brought to you by
the American Society for Engineering Education
Over 12,000 engineering and engineering technology
faculty members and administrators enjoy the many benefits
and services that ASEE offers. The Society’s award–winning
magazine ASEE Prism and academic publications
(Journal of Engineering Education and Profiles
of Engineering Colleges) keep members up to date
with the best and latest in engineering education, engineering
research trends, and academic issues, while 47 professional
interest groups and a varied selection of meetings provide
professional development and networking opportunities
that no other society can offer within the engineering
education community. Members also receive reduced rates
at local and national conferences, discounts on ASEE
products, money–saving members–only discounts
on financial, insurance, and travel programs, plus an
ever growing variety of online services. Our goal is
to focus on issues that matter the most to you in our
publications, meetings, and on–line services,
and to enable you to interact with others who share
your specific engineering and educational interests.
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| Introducing The Autodesk®
DesignKids™ Tailor–made for elementary
and middle schools, this program takes students through
fun, project–based modules and helps them communicate
their ideas through design and visualization. The program
incorporates key learning objectives in math, science,
technology, and art, while introducing students to the
processes of engineering and architecture. It engages
educators and students in real–life projects while
reinforcing critical thinking, comprehension skills,
and teamwork. The curriculum meets national standards
and includes lesson plans, test questions, student projects,
online learning resources, and teacher resources.
Learn more at www.autodesk.com/designkids
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| For over 70 years
ABET, Inc., has been the recognized U.S.
accreditor of college and university programs in engineering
and technology. Now accrediting applied science and
computing programs as well, ABET ensures the quality
of the postsecondary education your students will pursue.
Many employers, graduate schools, government agencies
and contractors, and licensure and certification boards
view graduation from an ABET–accredited program
as a requirement for entry into the profession. To help
your students choose wisely, click
www.abet.org/accredited_prgs.html.
To order brochures about ABET accreditation, e–mail
info@abet.org.
Orders of 10 or less are FREE!
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| Free Classroom Engineering
Poster! Get a free SolidWorks® “Ride
the Learning Curve” poster for your CAD lab or
machine shop and SolidWorks stick–on tattoos when
you send us success stories from your pre–engineering
and tech–ed classes. We’re looking for examples
of student work, image files, favorite exercises, project
summaries and results, SolidWorks course content that
you’ve created, 3D analysis lessons, and helpful
tips for fellow educators.
Whether you’re studying motion kinematics
with COSMOSMotion®, designing a robot with SolidWorks
3D CAD, or testing factors of safety with COSMOSXpress®,
SolidWorks’ “Ride the Learning Curve”
poster will inspire your students to push the boundaries
of 3D creativity.
Send your submissions through December 30, via email,
to:
TLC@solidworks.com
Be sure to include your name, your school name, street
address (no Post Office Boxes, please), and telephone
number. One submission per school, please. For more
information on the SolidWorks Education Program, please
visit
www.solidworks.com/education.
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| Time Engineers PC Game
Time Engineers™ is an award–winning
engineering PC game, which has students traveling back
in time to different historic periods to solve engineering
problems through the use of math, science and physics.
Made in conjunction with the University of Valparaiso’s
College of Engineering, this terrific program lets students
grades 6th – 10th travel back in time to build
pyramids, irrigate farmland, command a WWII submarine,
setup a radar defense system, engineer medieval drawbridges,
and design and operate a catapult.
For more information and pricing, please contact
Ray Shingler, Software Kids, LLC at 219–476–1462
or visit our web site at www.timeengineers.com.
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Engineering, Go For It!
2nd Edition – Coming Fall 2005! ASEE is
thrilled to announce the production of the second edition
of Engineering, Go For It! The new edition is
shaping up to be even bolder, fresher, and more up–to–date
with today’s rapidly changing technologies. It
gives a fuller picture of how engineering and technology
shape our lives and more tips on how to get started
and succeed in engineering and technology.
Opportunities to sponsor custom copies of the second
edition featuring your institution’s own, four–color
promotional content on the back covers, are now available.
Visit www.engineering–goforit.com
for sponsorship details for the second edition of Engineering,
Go For It! |
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| The Show–Me
Curriculum Showcase and Conference will be held
Fri. and Sat., April 29–30, 2005. This NSF–sponsored
event will focus on improving middle school mathematics
and making connections to science and technology education.
For more information, visit www.hofstra.edu/mstp. |
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| 2005 ROV
Competition for high school and college students
will be held June 17–19, 2005. The MATE
Center’s regional and national remotely operated
vehicle (ROV or "underwater robot") competition
promotes engineering and teamwork skills, and also connects
students with industry mentors. Visit www.marinetech.org
and click on ROV Competition to learn how to
compete. |
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| Take the ASEE K–12
Teacher Survey
ASEE has embarked on a project to learn what makes K–12
teachers tick—and specifically, to learn what
they think of engineering as an academic and career
pathway for their students. The survey will take about
10 minutes and will help ASEE complete a report on the
best practices in engineering education. All teachers
of students in grades K–12 are encouraged to take
the survey, which is available online
here. To view
the current results of the survey, click here.
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| ASEE K–12 Membership
Members of the K–12 community can join ASEE
for the low annual fee of $35. Members receive
many benefits, including a free subscription to ASEE’s
award–winning magazine, Prism, reduced
rates at ASEE’s conferences, and an opportunity
to form regional networks of educators with common interests
and goals. To join online, click here.
If you have any questions about membership, please
contact our member services department at 202–331–3520.
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To unsubscribe from this newsletter, please email
minimalist@asee.org
with “unsubscribe go–engineering”
in the subject line.
Go Engineering! is written and produced
by Eric Iversen (e.iversen@asee.org),
and Chitra Kalyandurg (c.kalyandurg@asee.org).
This message comes
from ASEE at:
1818 N St., N.W.
Suite 600
Washington, D.C. 20036–2479
Main (202) 331–3500
Fax (202) 265–8504
www.asee.org
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