Board 422: What Does It Take to Implement a Semiconductor Curriculum in High School? True Challenges and The Teachers’ Perspectives

Andrew J. Ash; James E Stine; Erin Dyke; John Hu

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: NSF Grantees Poster Session
Tagged Topic: NSF Grantees Poster Session
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/47012

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Paper Authors

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Andrew J. Ash Oklahoma State University orcid.org/0000-0003-0705-3925

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Andrew J. Ash is a PhD student in Electrical Engineering in the school of Electrical and Computer Engineering at OSU and he is a research assistant in Dr. John Hu's Analog VLSI Laboratory. He received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Oklahoma Christian University. Andrew's research interests include hardware security of data converters and engineering curriculum development.

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James E Stine Oklahoma State University

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I am a Professor at Oklahoma State University interested in pushing the frontiers of computation within digital logic for general-purpose and application-specific computer architectures. I have interests in logic design for high-speed and low-power arithmetic, VLSI, FPGA, memory architectures, divide and square root implementations, computer architectures, cryptographic implementations, and graphics applications.

I have also developed several design flows for use with Electronic Design Automation (EDA) tools, including the FreePDK with my colleagues Rhett Davis from NC State University and those at the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), several Cadence Design Systems (CDS) flows including the GPDK and MOSIS flows for use with CDS, National Science Foundation-funded OpenRAM, and Mentor Graphics and Synopsys EDA flows. I have also developed design flows for Google, Skywater Technology, IBM, trusted foundry, and the US Air Force. I am committed to use my experience to help others learn these tools and help develop them to further research endeavors for everyone involved.

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Erin Dyke Oklahoma State University

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John Hu Oklahoma State University orcid.org/0000-0002-6174-8392

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John Hu received his B.S. in Electronics and Information Engineering from Beihang University, Beijing, China, in 2006 and his M.S. and Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, in 2007 and 2010, respectively. He worked as an analog IC designer at Texas Instruments, Dallas, between 2011 and 2012. He was a Member of Technical Staff, IC Design at Maxim Integrated, San Diego, CA, between 2012 and 2016, and a Staff Engineer at Qualcomm, Tempe, AZ, between 2016 and 2019. In 2019, he joined the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Oklahoma State University, where he is currently an assistant professor and Jack H. Graham Endowed Fellow of Engineering. His research interests include power management IC design, hardware security, and energy-efficient computing.

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Abstract

In 2022, the US Congress passed the Chips and Science Act, which aimed to bring more advanced semiconductor manufacturing back to the US while mitigating supply chain risks and maintaining US technological and economic leadership. With $52 billion in Federal and $210 billion in private investments committed to date, the US is facing a new problem: not enough workers. The shortage of STEM students was just one of many causes. A more important one may be that most high school curricula today do not have any materials related to semiconductors, even though transistors were invented in the 1940s. To address the problem, we proposed a Research Experience for Teachers (RET) site on chip design funded by the National Science Foundation. Ten high school and community college teachers were recruited around the State to learn about chip design basics for six weeks. As part of the RET, teachers were also required to translate their experience into new curriculum modules suitable for their students. At the end of the RET, we asked how teachers felt about implementing the new modules they developed in the next academic year. This paper summarizes the results of this evaluation. First, teachers still require a lot of hand-holding after their RET training. This is probably because the learning of semiconductors is not a one-time deal but a continuous learning process. Teachers reported the desire for continual access to training videos, industry engineers, faculty, and graduate students for Q&A. Second, peer-to-peer support is essential to sustain the momentum. Teachers enjoyed learning semiconductors as a cohort and needed to feel that they were not alone in teaching semiconductors to their students. Many teachers proposed multiple ways to stay connected and share their lessons learned once they implement their modules in the classroom. Third, the curriculum needs to be student-centric and tailored to their students’ interests. For some teachers, semiconductor careers may be a hard sell because their students don’t see any jobs within our State. For others, hands-on activities are what their students like the most. For others, career statistics will persuade students, and they continue looking for ways and materials to hit that message home. The data in this paper was collected using qualitative methods, such as exit interviews and one-on-one feedback. The pedagogical approach used during our RET training includes two workshops on a tri-part framework for curriculum design: cultural relevance, concept-based understanding, and backward design. The takeaway message of this paper is that the end of RET teacher training is not the end. It is only the start. A complete understanding of the teacher’s perspective and the challenges they face implementing these new modules are critical to the success of any similar semiconductor workforce training and curriculum development effort.

Citation
Format

Ash, A. J., & Stine, J. E., & Dyke, E., & Hu, J. (2024, June), Board 422: What Does It Take to Implement a Semiconductor Curriculum in High School? True Challenges and The Teachers’ Perspectives Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://strategy.asee.org/47012

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - In 2022, the US Congress passed the Chips and Science Act, which aimed to bring more advanced semiconductor manufacturing back to the US while mitigating supply chain risks and maintaining US technological and economic leadership. With $52 billion in Federal and $210 billion in private investments committed to date, the US is facing a new problem: not enough workers. The shortage of STEM students was just one of many causes. A more important one may be that most high school curricula today do not have any materials related to semiconductors, even though transistors were invented in the 1940s. 
 
To address the problem, we proposed a Research Experience for Teachers (RET) site on chip design funded by the National Science Foundation. Ten high school and community college teachers were recruited around the State to learn about chip design basics for six weeks. As part of the RET, teachers were also required to translate their experience into new curriculum modules suitable for their students. At the end of the RET, we asked how teachers felt about implementing the new modules they developed in the next academic year. This paper summarizes the results of this evaluation.
 
First, teachers still require a lot of hand-holding after their RET training. This is probably because the learning of semiconductors is not a one-time deal but a continuous learning process. Teachers reported the desire for continual access to training videos, industry engineers, faculty, and graduate students for Q&amp;amp;A.
 
Second, peer-to-peer support is essential to sustain the momentum. Teachers enjoyed learning semiconductors as a cohort and needed to feel that they were not alone in teaching semiconductors to their students. Many teachers proposed multiple ways to stay connected and share their lessons learned once they implement their modules in the classroom.
 
Third, the curriculum needs to be student-centric and tailored to their students’ interests. For some teachers, semiconductor careers may be a hard sell because their students don’t see any jobs within our State. For others, hands-on activities are what their students like the most. For others, career statistics will persuade students, and they continue looking for ways and materials to hit that message home.
 
The data in this paper was collected using qualitative methods, such as exit interviews and one-on-one feedback. The pedagogical approach used during our RET training includes two workshops on a tri-part framework for curriculum design: cultural relevance, concept-based understanding, and backward design. 
 
The takeaway message of this paper is that the end of RET teacher training is not the end. It is only the start. A complete understanding of the teacher’s perspective and the challenges they face implementing these new modules are critical to the success of any similar semiconductor workforce training and curriculum development effort. 

AU  - Andrew J. Ash
AU  - James E Stine
AU  - Erin Dyke
AU  - John Hu
CY  - Portland, Oregon
DA  - 2024/06/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Board 422: What Does It Take to Implement a Semiconductor Curriculum in High School? True Challenges and The Teachers’ Perspectives
UR  - https://strategy.asee.org/47012
ER  -