Pre-University Education Coordinating Committee (PECC) Educational Activities Board 16 February, 2008 Arthur Winston, Chair

Pre-University Education Coordinating Committee

(PECC)

Educational Activities Board16 February, 2008

Arthur Winston, Chair

Tasks

Currently there are 4 functions assigned to the PECC:

TryEngineering.org Teacher-in Service Program (TISP) International Pre-University

Conference Liaison with USA

TryEngineering.org

I should state that Moshe, and the staff including Doug and Yvonne have been very much involved and contributing to all the PECC tasks

Yvonne will provide a short demonstration of TryEngineering.org but first an overview

TryEngineering.org (cont.)

IEEE and IBM have created a new Web site that combines information on engineering careers with interactive activities

Intended for pre-university students, parents, teachers, school counselors, TryEngineering.org lets the visitor explore how to prepare for an engineering career, ask experts engineering-related questions, find schools and programs, and play interactive games


Sections: Find a University – Search for accredited

engineering and engineering technology degree programs

Life of an Engineer – Profiles of real-life engineers highlight what an average work day can be like

Become an Engineer – Students can learn how to prepare for a career in engineering


Ask an Expert – Visitors can send an engineering-related question to either an engineering undergraduate student or an engineer

Lesson Plans – Teachers can download free lesson plans that are aligned with national US education standards on a variety of topics

Play Games – participants can try their hand at virtual activities that introduce them to basic engineering concepts


Statistics (as of 31 December 2007) 2.5 Million total page hits in 2007 33,575 = average # of visitors per month 156,807 = average # of page hits per month 5,581 = average number of university

searches per month 2818 = questions submitted to Ask an Expert Visitors come from the US, India, China,

Canada, UK and scores of other countries

TISP

Piloted by the Florida West Coast Section in 2001

Purpose To enhance the level of technological

literacy of pre-university educators To establish engineer/educator partnerships

to promote applied inquiry-based learning To expose teachers to career options for

their students in engineering and other technical fields

TISP (cont.)

Sample Presentation Topics: “Everything You Wanted to Know About Electric

Motors But Were Afraid to Ask” “Build Your Own Robot Arm” “Effective Lighting” “Light Waves and Spectroscopes” “Get Connected with Ohm’s Law” “Build Working Models Using Household Items” “Rotational Equilibrium: A Question of Balance” “Cracking the Code”

TISP (cont.) Sixty six + presentations to date Over 1570 pre-university educators have

participated Science, technology and mathematics disciplines Elementary teachers account for 17% of the

attendees 180,000+ students represented Over 90% of the respondents agreed that they

would use the concepts presented in their classroom instruction, and that doing so would enhance the level of technological literacy of their students

Volunteers tell us that ~40% of the teachers attending a TISP session use the concepts presented in their classrooms within 60 days

International Pre-University Conference

An international conference, “Meeting the Growing Demand for Engineers and Their Educators 2010-2020” was held in Munich Germany from the 9 – 11 November 2007

Purpose: Discuss the growing demand for engineers and their educators, and actions required to meet that demand for engineers and their educators in the period 2010-2020.

International Pre-University Conference (cont.)

Arthur Winston was the Conference Chair assisted by Bill Sparkman, Program Committee Chair and Moshe Kam and Doug Gorham and a team made up of US and European members including representatives from IEEE Germany, VDE, and the Fraunhofer Institute


Objectives: Establish and expand partnerships and

open channels of communication among the constituent organizations

Make recommendations to the relevant organizations based on best practices identified and agreed upon

Develop action plans that help those countries and educational sectors most in need of solutions to implement the recommendations


Outcome: 135 attendees from industry, academia,

engineering societies, and pre-university educators 61 papers focused on attracting students,

collaborations, educators, pedagogical approaches, or national systems.

Breakout session recommendations/suggestions Address the image/perception of engineers and

engineering Develop resources (hands-on and informational)

for pre-university teachers and counselors


Other suggestions: engineers in the classroom program teacher in-service training best practices in collaborations between

industry, academia, government Internships for high school teachers holistic engineering degree program establishing innovation think tanks at

universities establishing curriculum standards for

engineering

USA Precollege Education Committee (PEC)

The chair of PEC is invited to our PECC Meetings and we are invited to PEC Meetings

There is a PEC Meeting in Salt Lake City on the weekend of 7 March, however this time conflicts with a meeting of the Foundation Board, where I am a VP

Rob Reilly, PECC member will attend

Documents

Pre-University Education Coordinating Committee (PECC) Educational Activities Board 16 February, 2008 Arthur Winston, Chair