TeachEngineering (TeachEngineering.org) is a free, NSF-funded digital library of over 1500 hands-on K-12 engineering lessons and activities. As the disseminator of original, standards-aligned K-12 engineering curricula from more than 40 different NSF engineering grantees, the collection was accessed by over 3.2M unique users last year, realizing >19% annual growth. TeachEngineering also provides professional development opportunities to NSF-funded Research Experience for Teachers (RET) programs through interactive online seminars. The seminars introduce the K-12 RET teachers to the collection of engineering curricular resources and prepare them for the submission-to-publication process for their own classroom-tested engineering curricula. Seeking to ascertain the impact of the TeachEngineering digital library and outreach initiatives, in Fall 2016 survey results from three teacher populations were sought and analyzed. The surveys probed self-reported differentials in 1) teachers’ confidence in teaching engineering concepts and 2) changes in their teaching practices as a result of exposure to (and experiences with) K-12 engineering education resources and outreach opportunities. The survey results suggest that the TeachEngineering resources and outreach boost teachers’ confidence in their own use of engineering thinking and pedagogy in K-12 classrooms. Additionally, the TeachEngineering resources both impact their subsequent teaching practices, and increase teachers’ likelihood of teaching engineering in their classroom in the future. The results also point out the need for broader exposure to the curricular resources dozens of NSF grantees have created over the past decade, thereby capitalizing on NSF’s sunk investment and on the authors wide-ranging applications of engineering pertinent to K-12 learning. The results suggest that broadening teachers’ exposure is a critical element to broadening classroom impact of K-12 design thinking and pedagogy.
Marissa Forbes is a research associate in the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Colorado Boulder and lead editor of the TeachEngineering digital library. She previously taught middle school science and engineering and wrote K-12 STEM curricula while an NSF GK-12 graduate engineering fellow at CU. With a master’s degree in civil engineering she went on to teach advanced placement and algebra-based physics for the Denver School of Science and Technology, where she also created and taught a year-long, design-based engineering course for seniors. Forbes earned her PhD in civil engineering, with an engineering education research focus.
Jacquelyn Sullivan has led the multi-university TeachEngineering digital library project, now serving over 3.3M unique users (mostly teachers) annually, since its inception. She is founding co-director of the design-focused Engineering Plus degree program and CU Teach Engineering initiative in the University of Colorado Boulder’s College of Engineering and Applied Science. With the intent of transforming engineering to broaden participation, Sullivan spearheaded design and launch of the Engineering GoldShirt Program at CU to provide a unique access pathway to engineering for high potential, next tier students not admitted through the standard admissions process; findings are very encouraging, and the program is being adapted at several other engineering colleges. Dr. Sullivan led the 2004 launch of ASEE's Pre-College Division, was conferred as an ASEE Fellow in 2011 and was awarded NAE’s 2008 Gordon Prize for Innovation in Engineering and Technology Education.
Carlson is involved with a broad range of program implementation initiatives through the Integrated Teaching and Learning Program at the University of Colorado Boulder’s College of Engineering and Applied Science, including the TeachEngineering Digital Library. She holds a BA in economics from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. She serves as a contributing author and editor of many publications, proposals, presentations and curricula.
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