Thank a Teacher Before It is Too Late

Have you thanked a teacher that made a difference in your life recently? Three months ago, I had an incredible opportunity to do just that, and it seems it was just in time.  This past February, one of my clients needed me to teach at a conference in Houston. Houston is only a couple of […]

If I had a $1,000,000…. for “STEM” Education.

If I had $1M for STEM education?

Lockheed Martin has granted $1 million to implement and sustain Project Lead the Way programs across the U.S. If I had a million dollars, (as I start humming Barenaked Ladies) How would I improve STEM education?

STEM, STEAM, STREAM…. SCREAM?!

STEM vs. the Arts?

Is it STEM or STEAM? Why not STREAM? This battle of acronyms makes me want to SCREAM! I am not sure how long the acronym STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math) has been around, but the new buzzword is STEAM (sprinkle in the Arts), and it seems to be gaining steam in popularity. Why not […]

Women in STEM: Wanda Gass

Wanda Gass

A renowned leader, both technically and civically, Wanda Gass has worked diligently to improve the workplace environment for women engineers and to empower girls to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math. Wanda worked at Texas Instruments (TI) for the last thirty years, where she became one of the highest ranking female technical leaders […]

Women in STEM: Erna Schneider Hoover

A pioneer in her field, Erna Schneider Hoover overcame countless challenges in a man’s world. If not for women like Erna who have worked to improve the landscape for women in technical fields, people like myself, a young female engineer, would not have the opportunities we are frequently afforded today. Read Mrs. Hoover’s biography…

Model Eliciting Activity: Green Roof

Green Roof MEA

This is a model eliciting activity for high school students who have had algebra, examining rooftop gardens for commercial buildings. Model-eliciting activities (MEAs) are activities that encourage students to invent and test models. They are posed as open-ended problems that are designed to challenge students to build models in order to solve complex, real-world problems.

Key Engineering Education Reports

Key NAE reports

Here are eight key reports from The National Academies Press by The National Academy of Engineering related to engineering education. These reports guide future research and inform policy. Each of these can be read in full online, or you can simply view the executive summaries for a brief overview. Changing the Conversation: Messages for Improving Public […]

Top 4 Attributes: <br> University Engineering Education Programs

Four Key attributes of University Engineering Education Programs

With the current direction of education reform, and the national priority to improve STEM education, a focus on engineering education will become vital for universities in order to produce engineering graduates that meet industry needs, and educators equipped to teach the next generation of engineers. Read for four key attributes for a university engineering education program.

Evaluation Framework for Engineering Education Curriculum

Evaluation Framework for Engineering Education Curriculum

This paper introduces a framework and rubric for evaluation of K-12 engineering education curriculum, based on engineering education literature and the Wiggins & McTighe process known as Backwards Design. This process is an alignment of content, assessment, and pedagogy, the three components used as the measure of quality programmatic elements. The rubric defined in this paper will be useful to teachers, administrators, and curriculum developers of engineering education curriculum.