RET Site: Teaching Engineering & Design Innovation

Stanford University, Stanford CA

Investigators

Abstract

The need for a more robust and diverse engineering pipeline in the U.S. is incontrovertible. Many studies over time indicate that when K-12 students have the opportunity to study engineering, their engagement in and understanding of math and science increases. Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) teachers want and are required by the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) to incorporate engineering concepts and capabilities into their curriculum, regardless of the subjects they teach. Yet, only a fraction have completed engineering coursework. The challenge, then, is to expose STEM teachers to engineering research and its potential applications and provide a process for infusing their curriculum with innovative engineering and design concepts and practices. Stanford's new Teaching Engineering Design & Innovation (TEDI) program addresses this challenge head on. TEDI will expose 38 teachers and 10,000 students from school districts in the San Francisco Bay Area to the ways science and math content knowledge and Design Thinking (DT) provide solutions to difficult engineering design challenges. TEDI's primary goal is to promote interest in engineering and proficiency in STEM among Bay Area high school students by having teachers practice engineering and use DT to create innovative and exciting curriculum for their students. The major elements of the TEDI model include 8-week teacher placements into Stanford engineering research laboratories; weekly workshops exposing them to a range of engineering disciplines and DT exercises; paid industry placements for teachers before or after a summer at Stanford; and assistance in developing and disseminating new curriculum for use with their own students and others. At a time when over 60% of all California K-12 students are Hispanic, African American, Native American or Pacific Islander groups historically under-represented in STEM and 62% are eligible for free and reduced-price meals, TEDI educates and supports diverse students from some of California's most under-resourced schools to enter and thrive in the STEM pipeline, becoming the scientific and technical workforce of tomorrow and contributing to our nation's economy and global competitiveness. The RET Site: Teaching Engineering Design & Innovation (TEDI) creates enduring partnerships between San Francisco Bay Area high school STEM teachers, Stanford faculty and graduate students, and industry to focus on critical engineering and design skills that drive U.S. innovation and global competitiveness. TEDI creates a revitalized and retooled teaching "infrastructure" that prepares and invigorates high school educators to effectively guide their students toward engineering- and design-related post-secondary study and careers. TEDI's primary goal is to promote interest in engineering and proficiency in STEM among high school students in the San Francisco Bay Area. This integrated center of excellence will build capacity in 38 teachers and, through them, more than 10,000 students over three years, introducing them to engineering disciplines, the design thinking process, and the ways science and math curricula relate to and support key engineering concepts. TEDI will provide: 1) 8-week authentic summer research experiences in Stanford engineering labs; 2) Extensive workshops in Design Thinking and exposure to a range of engineering disciplines and applications; 3) Industry placements before or after a summer at Stanford for selected participants; 4) Assistance in developing curriculum that incorporates a design challenge; 5) Assessment of the program's effectiveness through a rigorous formative and summative study that measures the intermediate- and long-term effects of TEDI on teachers and their students; and 6) Dissemination of new lessons and teaching materials via various community websites, professional development, and teacher attendance at a prestigious national conference. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.