Content provided in partnership with

Early to engineering

ASEE Prism, Oct 2001 by Mathias-Riegel, Barbara

ON CAMPUS

It's one thing to recognize the need for a pre-engineering curriculum at the high school level, but who is going to teach such courses without special training? And how will schools keep up with the latest developments in engineering technology, which can be costly and complex to learn?

Richard Blais has the answers. Through the generosity of the Charitable Venture Foundation of Albany, N.Y., Blais and an exemplary group of educators have designed a pre-engineering curriculum for public schools that is affordable and highly professional. They call it Project Lead the Way (PLTW), and it's like no other plan around.

Most Popular Articles in Reference: The importance of understanding organizational culture; Credit card attitudes and behaviors of college students; What factors attract foreign direct investment?; Libraries Need Relationship Marketing - mutual interest marketing concept, ...; How to set performance goals: employee reviews are more than annual critiques; More »

"We have basic quality standards that we insist upon," says Blais, who is the executive director of PLTW and has been working on this since 1985.

According to Blais, when a school signs a contract with PLTW there is no exchange of money. Instead, the school agrees that their teachers will be trained and PLTW is obliged to provide that training, as well as a curriculum. PLTW also provides a computer software leasing program and ongoing, on-site training with visiting trainers and interactive CDs.

Most important, the school agrees to form a partnership team, drawn from members of local industries and colleges, who will actively assist teachers with instruction in specialized areas and mentor the students.

"The content of the courses is advancing with events in modern technology," says Guy Johnson, the director of the PLTW's National Training Center at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). "We have a group of master teachers and professors who do revisions constantly."

That curriculum is a four-year, five-- course set for high schools and a one-year introductory course at the middle school level; students interested in engineering can take design, digital electronics, principles of engineering, and computer integrated manufacturing.

"There's a strong commitment within the organization to make the curriculum documents be living documents," says Ken McDermith, a technology teacher at Mohonasen High School in Schnectedy, N.Y., where the hands-on, team-oriented PLTW courses have been enthusiastically received by the students for the past three years.

After taking the PLTW training, McDermith used it in his classroom for one year, qualifying him to be a "master teacher," meaning he now teaches at RIT's training center along with a college professor. The summer training is a 75-hour, two-week session for each course. "There is so much talent at (RIT) in the summer time. It's amazing," says McDermith. "Everybody has a niche, and you learn so much from them."

According to Johnson, "These courses are more than just content. Thirty to 50 percent is on methods and that's where the master teachers are crucial. They know what it is like to teach at the high school level."

Before registration, teachers must take a pre-assessment test available on the Internet. Once on board, the teachers pay nothing. Their training, lodging, transportation, and stipend is covered by their state and/or school.

In 1998, 79 teachers trained at RIT; two years later, there were 249 teachers. Currently, more than 300 schools in 26 states offer PLTW courses taught by trained teachers. Due to this rapid growth, several training centers are now affiliated with RIT: The New Hampshire Institute of Technology, Ferris State in Michigan, the University of Houston, the Rocky Mountain Regional PLTW training center in Denver, and soon, Purdue University.

"Purdue has agreed to be an affiliate in cooperation with the State of Indiana Department of Public Instruction. We have only a few administrative details to work out," says Don K. Gentry, Dean of Purdue University's School of Technology. "We are major supporters of the ideals of PLTW."

Jerry Foster, a professor of electrical engineering at Purdue, notes how often he has met high school teachers who were excited about the idea of teaching pre-engineering but then felt restrained for lack of support and guidance. No more excuses with PLTW around, says Foster. "When the schools buy into it, they buy into training and equipment." For more information, go to www.pltw.org.

Barbara Mathias-Riegel is a freelance writer based in Washington, D.C.

Early to engineering

ASEE Prism, Oct 2001 by Mathias-Riegel, Barbara

Find Research Guides for:

Find Featured Titles for: Home & Garden

Most Popular Articles in Reference

Most Popular Publications in Reference