Teaching the Teachers
University Hosts National Program to
Promote Engineering Education
Junior high
and high school
teachers learn
about methods and
hands-on activities
to promote
engineering
education in their
schools.Brian Engstrom wants to build a better mousetrap, but he’s not out to catch mice. Rather, the second-year math instructor at Don Lugo High School in Chino hopes to capture his students’ interest in engineering by showing them the discipline’s real-world applications.
The hands-on assignment is one of several that 60 junior high and high school teachers from throughout San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties are learning about this summer in Project Lead the Way, an intensive two-week program at Cal Poly Pomona designed to promote engineering education.
This is the first time the university has hosted the national program, joining San Diego State University as the only institutions in California to provide such training. Four courses are offered—Introduction to Engineering Design, Computer Integrated Manufacturing, Principles of Engineering and Gateway to Technology—and each condenses a year’s worth of instruction into two weeks. The Project Lead the Way curriculum was introduced in 12 New York high schools in 1997. Today, the programs are offered in more than 3,000 schools in 50 states.
Engstrom says Project Lead the Way demonstrates how to show students ways that math and science apply in everyday life. The mousetrap exercise, for example, involves taking the device apart and then reconstructing it on a computer using 3-D animation software.
Upland High School teacher Doug Hutchings believes a solid grounding in engineering is critical for some students who might otherwise get overlooked in college admissions.
“There’s a whole group of kids who struggle in English but shine in math,” he says. “I’d love to help make their transcripts sing.”
The classrooms in the College of Engineering where the program is being taught look like a cross between a computer lab and a high-end yard sale. Up front, master teachers show their aspiring colleagues the software applications and digital tricks of the trade involved in Project Lead the Way’s curriculum. In the back, numerous plastic bins containing the ingredients for the hands-on exercises line the wall and rest on desks. Some are as simple as mousetraps. Others involve robotic arms. The teachers will take those ingredients back to their schools, along with a deeper understanding of how best to ignite their students’ interest in engineering.
“These instructors and their schools have made a thoughtful, serious commitment that will reap benefits down the road,” says Ed Hohmann, dean of the College of Engineering, who notes that the nation will soon face an engineering crisis when Baby Boomers, the backbone of the profession, start retiring in large numbers.
Without younger engineers to fill the void, the
economy could suffer. Students who develop an
early interest in engineering are not only better
prepared to succeed at college, they are also
better prepared to launch their careers. And by
introducing younger people to engineering in a
hands-on fashion, more females are likely to enter
the traditionally male-dominated profession.
“It’s a win-win for everyone,” Hohmann says.