Impact of K-12 Engineering Outreach Programs on

Teaching Fellows 1999-2004

Presenters: Glenda T. Kelly, Ph. D.Research Associate and Program Manager

K-12 Engineering Outreach Initiatives

Neera Desai, M.S. GK-12 Engineering Teaching Fellow

Pratt School of Engineering, Duke University, Durham, NC

Fellows assist partnership teachers with the creation and delivery of lessons and activities that integrate meaningful math, science and engineering exercises into partnership classrooms

Since 1999, Pratt School of Engineering placed 95 undergraduate and 33 graduate Engineering Teaching Fellows in 19 schools in 7 counties in North Carolina serving over 6,500 students

Duke-NCSU Engineering Teaching Fellows in Elementary Education (NSF GK-12 Track 1 Program, 1999-2002)

MUSCLE: Math Understanding through the Science of Life (Sponsor GE Foundation Math Excellence Program 2001-2004)

Techtronics: Hands-on Exploration of Technology in Everyday Life (After school Technology Enrichment Program; Sponsor Burroughs Wellcome Fund Science Enrichment Program) 2001-Present

Math Understanding through Science Integrated with Curriculum (MUSIC) (Track 2 NSF GK-12 Teaching Fellows Program) 2004-Present

Four K-12 Engineering Teaching Fellows Program at Duke:

Graduate and undergraduate Engineering Teaching Fellows develop important skills through participation in K-12 STEM outreach programs

K-12 teaching experience augments the traditional university educational experience of the Fellows in several ways

Fellow Impacts include improved skills in:Communication

Time Management and Organization Patience Leadership

Lesson Planning & Creativity

Data from 63 End of Year Fellow Completed Surveys for 1st three programs above

Questions covered program administration, students, partnership teachers, and self-reported impacts on fellows

Response to question: “Regarding your personal development, what skills that you developed will carry over into your post-school life?”

Response Categories Number of

Responses

Communication 17

Time Management and Organization 6

Patience 6

Leadership 5

Lesson Planning and Creativity 4

Summative Impacts on Engineering Teaching Fellows: 1999- 2004

Communication Improvement Majority of fellows indicated

fellowship helped develop a variety of communications skills

Engineering Teaching Fellows learn a great deal from opportunities they have to practice rethinking complex concepts and explaining them in age-appropriate terms to K-12 students

Skills attained particularly salient for engineers post-grad since real-world jobs require simple communication of complex ideas to laypersons inside & outside companies

Subcategories of Communication Improvement Skills

Number of Responses

General Communication Skills 4

Ability to talk in front of a group 4

Ability to explain complex concepts in simple terms 4

Teamwork 4

Facilitation 1

Improved Classroom Communication Skills for majority of fellows

“My classroom communication skills improved over the course of the year,”

Scale of 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree) X= 4.3, N= 63 fellows

Improved Understanding of Engineering

Teaching K-12 engineering integrated into other curricula requires fellows to study content more thoroughly & rethink/present material at K-12 appropriate level

Fellows report more in-depth learning of content due to teaching it in hands-on inquiry based modality

Track 2 Fellows, receiving benefits of our new intensive inquiry-based training program, request more of their undergraduate classes be taught in an inquiry-based manner

Improved Knowledge Outside Discipline

Track 2 GK-12 Engineering Teaching Fellows Program partnered with Duke Marine Lab Track 1 GK-12 Teaching Fellows Program in coastal NC

Partnership generated over 60 inquiry-based lesson plans published on TeachEngineering.com, a National Science Digital Library mapped to national and NC educational standards

Marine/Engineering lesson plans feature use of technology to solve marine/ecology problems that excite children such as the problem of dolphin entrapment

Surveys of fellows attending joint Marine/Engineering

training workshops: Engineering Fellows reported improved

science content in lesson plans via input from marine fellows

Marine Fellows reported engineers helped them better visualize and form ideas into activities and added expertise to create lessons applying technology to solve marine/ecology problems

Both Engineering and Marine/Ecology viewpoints resulted in more comprehensive lesson plans

Engineers reported more ease in applying engineering concepts to something tangible for kids with input from Marine Biology Fellows

Most meaningful parts of interdisciplinary workshop to fellows: brainstorming, teamwork & getting to listen to other fellows' ideas

Increased Awareness of the Importance of K-12 Education“How did your experience as fellow impact your career outlook/plans?”

Approximately 1/3 Fellows Now Considering Becoming a Teacher One- third Fellows (10 out of 29) plan to stay involved in education in

some capacity (tutoring, volunteering, etc.) One-third felt program taught them something about themselves/helped

them make career decisions beyond teaching, including Fellows who did not want to become teachers,

80% of fellows surveyed reported intent for future involvement with schools, either as a volunteer or advocate

Response Categories Number of Fellows (n=29)

Already thinking about being a teacher when they started and still want to be a teacher 3

Considering being a teacher because of the program 5

Planning on a career that does not involve education but this program has caused them to want to stay involved in education in some other capacity

10

Indicated that the program taught them something about themselves that has led them to a career other than teaching through learning about their leadership abilities, engineering, desire to be a pediatrician, or knowledge that they do not want to be teachers.

7

Indicated that the program has not impacted their career outlook 4

SUMMARY: Positive Impacts for Fellows Across 4 Duke Engineering

Teaching Fellows Programs improved skills in leadership, organization, time management &

communication increased knowledge both within and outside disciplines requests for change in graduate/undergraduate instruction to

inquiry-based, hands-on instruction intent for future involvement with community schools

These positive impacts suggest that STEM Teaching Fellows programs are useful augmentations to university educational experiences for STEM students