STEM Education Institute Tuesday Seminar
“Pre-College Engineering for Teachers (PCET): Connecting Engineering to the Middle and High School Curriculum”
Sarina J. Ergas, Kathleen Rubin and Bree Carlson, College of Engineering, University of Massachusetts
Claire Huttlinger, Holyoke High School
All people should have some knowledge of engineering design. For this to happen, teachers need to incorporate engineering design into their curricula. During the summer of 2004 approximately 30 teachers from middle and high schools throughout Western Massachusetts participated in interdisciplinary teams to learn innovative ways to integrate engineering design into their classrooms. During the two weeks of Pre-College Engineering for Teachers (PCET) workshops at UMass Amherst, teachers learned about the engineering design process through four major themes: 1) Assistive technologies - design of drinking straws, ramps and other devices for use by disabled people, 2) Alternative energy - design of wind generators and energy efficient buildings, 3) Water Quality - design of water treatment facilities and 4) Personal project – development of an engineering design projects for individual classrooms or schools. In this seminar, we will share our experiences with the PCET workshops and discuss the integration of these activities into the Massachusetts frameworks.