This “Engineering the Future” class is one of several efforts across the country to introduce engineering to elementary- and secondary-school pupils. The programs, which are growing in number and in some cases being established on a statewide basis, come in response to countless studies over the years that show if students encounter engineering early on in school, they are more likely to choose it as a career.
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While 37 states include some form of engineering or technology education in their curriculum standards, only Massachusetts has designed a statewide assessment in technology/engineering similar to exams now administered in biology, chemistry and introductory physics.
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Early returns suggest that K-12 engineering programs like those offered by the Museum of Science seem to be having the desired effect of boosting interest in engineering careers. Take the results from Project Lead the Way, a nonprofit group that has developed an engineering curriculum for more than 1,700 middle and high schools in 46 states and the District of Columbia. A survey of 3,700 students in the program in 20 states found that 80 percent intend to enroll in college (10 percent higher than the national average). And 60 percent of them plan to study engineering, technology, math or science (about double the national average).Indeed, an analysis of 100 college transcripts from Project Lead the Way participants who graduated from high school in 2005 or before showed that about 75 are studying engineering or technology. Moreover, they averaged a B or better in calculus, physics and chemistry.
Additional resources on k-12 engineering education: ASEE EngineeringK12 Center – Project Lead The Way – Engineering is Elementary – Education Resources for Science and Engineering – TeachEngineering – podcast by Ioannis Miaoulis, President and Director of the Museum of Science