ASME Sponsors Capitol Hill Briefing on the Value of Engineering Education in K-12 Schools

ASME Sponsors Capitol Hill Briefing on the Value of Engineering Education in K-12 Schools ASME Sponsors Capitol Hill Briefing on the Value of Engineering Education in K-12 Schools During the June 12 briefing, Christine Cunningham, founder and director of Engineering is Elementary (EiE) program, discussed EiE's NSF-funded work for elementary school education. Engineering concepts and the design process are an integral part of the recently released state-led next generation science standards (NGSS), a state-led effort to improve science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education in many states and local districts across the country. But many K-12 teachers are not aware of how engineering can be used to inspire and improve student performance. On June 12, ASME, the National Science Foundation (NSF) and DISCOVER magazine co-sponsored a Capitol Hill Briefing in an effort to share the characteristics of effective K-12 science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education - described in an NSF-funded National Research Council (NRC) report entitled Success in K-12 Education - and to provide examples of innovative research-based tools for engineering education at the K-12 level, developed with NSF funding through NSF's Education and Human Resources directorate. Leigh Abts, research associate professor at the University of Maryland, spoke about his NSF-funded work at the high school level. Mo Hosni, Ph.D., vice president of ASME Education, provided opening remarks for the briefing, while Steve George, DISCOVER magazine's new editor-in-chief served as moderator. Joan Ferrini-Mundy, Ph.D., the assistant director of NSF Directorate for Education and Human Resources, next presented an overview of the aforementioned NRC report, and also described NSF's proposed priorities for the Fiscal Year 20014 budget. Christine Cunningham, Ph.D., who is the founder and director of Engineering is Elementary (EiE) program at the Museum of Science, Boston, discussed EiE's NSF-funded work at the elementary school level, and presented some of EiEs findings and upcoming comprehensive program evaluation work. Finally, Leigh Abts, Ph.D., research associate professor, A. James Clark School of Engineering, and the College of Education at the University of Maryland, spoke about his NSF-funded work at the high school level. He highlighted his work on a proposed advanced placement (AP) engineering course, as well as the universitys work on a high school math course entitled, Introductory Mathematics for Engineering Application. For more information about this event, or to watch a video of the briefing, please visit: http://discovermagazine.com/events/stem-education. - Melissa Carl, ASME Government Relations