An Education and Engineering Partnership for Development of an Institutional Model for Bridges to Student Success in Science and Engineering at an HBCU

North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, Greensboro NC

Investigators

Abstract

PROPOSAL NO.: 0230645 PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Schimmel, Keith INSTITUTION NAME: North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University TITLE: An Education and Engineering Partnership for Development of an Institutional Model for Bridges to Student Success in Science and Engineering at an HBCU NSF RECEIVED DATE: 06/04/2002 ABSTRACT The need for a larger pool of African-American students prepared for careers in engineering has been documented in many reports. An additional need that has been well documented is the need for K-12 teachers who can provide students with interesting, real-world applications of math, science, and engineering. The need for faculty who apply the latest advances in pedagogy, assessment, and learning theory to engineering curricula has also been clearly demonstrated. This planning grant proposal addresses these needs through a comprehensive plan to be implemented initially through a partnership between the College of Engineering and the School of Education at North Carolina A&T State University. In this planning grant, education and engineering faculty will work together to develop a comprehensive plan that will enhance the role of education pedagogy in the engineering college and establish a presence of engineering material in the education curriculum. Current A&T linkages with K-12 schools in North Carolina will be exploited to help them develop effective strategies for meeting newly established State guidelines in science. Interactive workshops with nationally recognized experts on integration of engineering into K-12 and cognitive science will be used to develop effective partnerships. The long-term vision is a novel coordinated effort between the A&T College of Engineering, A&T School of Education, A&T College of Arts and Sciences, K-12 partner schools, industrial partners, and nationally known centers of cognitive science to train A&T faculty in pedagogy that is effective with HBCU students, train School of Education students in math, science, and engineering applications that can be used to excite K-12 students about careers in these areas, train engineering students in education topics that will allow them to excite K-12 students about engineering, and provide resources to current K-12 math and science teachers. The ultimate goal is to couple A&T experience with teaching minority scientists and engineers with state-of-the- art pedagogy to increase the quality and quantity of African-American engineering graduates. The successes of this institutional model would then be shared with other HBCU as well as other universities with engineering programs.