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Following up on Engineers of the Future (EoF) Workshop Momentum

Introduction

Buffalo State College’s Technology Education faculty and Engineering Technology faculty were brought together this summer through a New York State Engineers of the Future (EoF) grant awarded to the Technology Education program. The summer event gathered over 200 New York middle and high school and middle school technology instructors at Buffalo State College (BSC) to participate in teacher-training workshops incorporating United Kingdom (UK) engineering education strategies. Workshop participants were immersed a design and engineering curricula, based on the UK “Design and Make” pedagogy, which coordinates and fortifies students’ technology and design experience at early points in their education. As faculty members of the Technology Education and the Electrical Engineering Technology programs, we were extremely impressed by both the level of sophistication and the accessibility of the workshop activities. We remain excited by the possibilities and potential of our incoming students participating in these wonderful activities, preparing them for their technical college experiences at institutions such as BSC.

The workshops offered through the EoF grant featured 3D Solid Modeling, Biotechnology, Product Design Engineering, and Digital Electronics and Control Systems. Our paper will focus on the Digital Electronics and Controls System workshop (DECS) which was held in BSC’s Engineering Technology Analog and Digital Circuits Laboratory. The DECS course was developed and presented by UK design and instruction system experts. The aim was to support in-service teachers with the incorporation of digital electronics activities in their classrooms. The recent availability of programmable systems providing low cost “computers on a chip” served as the key process block in the students’ coursework structure. Students can make design decisions and test the ideas on a computer in a classroom setting prior to prototyping a working model.

The students’ decision-making process of product design is not isolated within an electromechanical universe, however. The design-based instruction allows students to integrate electronics and mechanical means while addressing issues of social and environmental concern related to the impacts of technology. Math, science and other interrelated curricular areas are addressed through the problem solving product design process, resulting in sound multidisciplinary instruction while engaging student interest.

The EoF program strategy was to bring the UK expertise to the workshop participants. We will examine the impetus and trajectory of the UK Design and Technology pedagogy and how this pedagogical structure is relevant in our students’ general education experiences. In addition to providing an overview of the unique experience of the EoF summer program and DECS lab exercises, our paper will examine issues encountered by DECS participants as they attempted to integrate these activities. We will address comfort levels and cost issues of participants as they incorporated these technical exercises within their schools. Survey results will be provided in order to highlight the impact and popularity of the overall EoF experience. A summary of

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Goldberg, S., & Siciliano, P., & Greene, C., & Macho, S. (2008, June), Following Up On Engineers Of The Future (Eof) Workshop Momentum Paper presented at 2008 Annual Conference & Exposition, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 10.18260/1-2--4246