Saturday's Boston Globe had an article about how a third of the state's 316 high schools are offering an engineering course to "woo more students into science and math, prepare them to pass a new state MCAS science test, and funnel them into engineering careers." Most started the courses this fall, courses that typically combine elements of civil, mechanical and electrical engineering.

"Kids spend a month learning how volcanoes work and no time learning how cars work. How often do you find yourself in a volcano versus a car?" Ioannis Miaoulis, director and president of the Museum of Science, which developed the engineering program most frequently taught in Massachusetts high schools, told the newspaper.

Massachusetts is bringing engineering classes into primary and secondary schools in response to "a national need for more engineers." In doing so, it was first state to recommend that engineering be taught at all grade levels and, further, it is the only state to have an engineering exam as part of statewide testing, Miaoulis told the Boston Globe. Starting with the class of 2010, high school students will have to pass a science test to graduate and can pick a test in one of four subjects, including engineering.

High school students in particular, renowned for often being dispassionate for such difficult and in-their-minds "uninteresting" subjects, are being appealed to and swayed toward these engineering courses' accessibility; as in, they learn how their cell phones, iPods and stereo speakers work — projects and knowledge that can be applied to their daily lives — while others get to design robots, toy cars and remote-controlled submarines, the paper notes. "They might design a deck that can support a hot tub or build a steam-powered boat."

These students learn basic and sophisticated skills such as computer-aided drafting, measurement and problem solving.

Now all that these young adults — the males at least — need to learn is to pull up their pants. (Do they know the rest of us can see their boxers?)

"The challenge now, according to the American Society for Engineering Education, is finding qualified engineering teachers," reports the Boston newspaper. "Some schools ask science teachers to teach engineering; and others hire engineers who have never been teachers or retrain former shop teachers."

Similarly, the University of Colorado at Boulder, College of Engineering and Applied Science, offers weeklong summer classes "where children in grades K-12 can study machines and discover what makes them work, then design and build an electro-mechanical robot or toy of your their creation."

Also during this past weekend, News 8 Austin reported a robot competition between 20 high schools in Texas. "The Capitol BEST (Boosting Engineering Science and Technology) Robotics provided the students with supplies to design and build their own robots in just six weeks. They learned about the development process, from concept to production, and also how to work with others."

These students had to build "a specialized robot that can perform designated tasks." Local professional engineers volunteer as coaches. The student teams, however, do all of the work.

The goal, similar to the aforementioned engineering courses, is to "inspire and motivate students to pursue careers in engineering, science and technology."

As well, the Society of Mexican American Engineers and Scientists this past Friday sponsored "fun science lessons" as part of the "Science Extravaganza" fair at Cal State Fullerton, reported the Orange County Register. The Science Extravaganza began in Texas five years ago; it rotates from campus to campus each year.

According to the OC Register's reporting, "Organizers hope that by introducing Hispanic students to science early, they will encourage more of those students to pursue higher education and, particularly, careers in science and engineering." ("State testing indicates Hispanic students typically lag behind non-Hispanics in standardized tests. California Standardized Testing and Reporting showed last year in Orange County, 15 percent of Hispanic fifth-graders test at 'proficient' or above in science. That's compared with 58 percent of non-Hispanic white students at the same grade level.")

Organizers told the Orange County publication that they know one day likely won't make the difference. But, "hopefully, we can plant the seeds today," said Jose Sanchez, society president. "And with a little more encouragement, some nourishment, they'll see they can become scientists too."

In all, 300 students from Santa Ana, Long Beach and Boyle Heights attended the Society of Mexican American Engineers and Scientists' fair on Friday, including eighth-graders and a student named Julio Castro. Did the fair have an impact, provoking interest among the young students? According to a statement by Castro, it did: "I want to know more about what chemists do. I could totally gross out my sister."

Out of genuine curiosity, I wonder at what age our engineering and science readers were first formally taught of their future craft/career...

References:

Engineering gains a younger following; High schools offer hands-on classes
Tracy Jan
Boston Globe, Oct. 15, 2005
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2005/10/15/engineering_gains_a_younger_following/

High school students compete in robot engineering contest
News 8 Austin Staff
News 8 Austin, Oct. 15, 2005 (5:57:15 PM)
http://www.news8austin.com/content/your_news/default.asp?ArID=147682\

Engineering hope
Eric Carpenter
Orange County Register, Oct. 15, 2005
http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/life/education/article_716799.php

University of Colorado at Boulder College of Engineering and Applied
http://engineering.colorado.edu/k12/kids_parents.htm

Additional Story/Source (found after blog post was published):

Engineering students head to competition
Tracy Simmons
Victoria Advocate, Oct. 17, 2005
http://www.thevictoriaadvocate.com/local/local/story/3099243p-3595212c.html