Fomento de vocaciones en ingeniería en educación secundaria en Portugal

The main objective of this doctoral thesis is, through actions with secondary students, to try to understand the negative trend of students who opt for a career in Engineering, the impact that engineering activities may have on secondary school students, and on choosing a career in engineering and understanding the phenomenon that leads to these students not finding Engineering attractive as a future professional career

Stephen D. Lee Papers

Harry Swimmer writes announcing his resignation at the end of September to go pursue a career in engineering. January 31, 1894.https://scholarsjunction.msstate.edu/ua-msu-founders-documents/1124/thumbnail.jp

Control Systems and Robotics Outreach to Middle-school Girls: Approach, Results, and Suggestions

We conducted a three-day outreach camp focused on control systems and robotics for 8th grade girls from economically disadvantaged families. The overall objective of the camp was motivating the young girls to consider pursuing a career in engineering and sciences. The main focus of the camp were hands-on labs using LEGO Mindstorms EV3 kit. Students learned about programming, sensors, motors and put their skills to test by creating a mobile robot that took part in three contests: car racing, line following, and parallel parking. A pre- and post-camp survey indicated that although program did not predominantly change the girls’ excitement towards careers in engineering and sciences, it increased the girls’ knowledge and excitement towards robotics and control systems. Our results indicate that short camps help kindle the interests of young girls, but are not able to sway them to take on engineering/science careers. In the latter case, we hypothesize that long-term STEM-based programs (e.g., a quarter or year-long robotics course) might be more effective.Cockrell School of Engineerin

Promoting a career in engineering : an investigation of factors influencing career decision-making in New Zealand

This thesis reports on survey research, conducted on a sample of Year 12 students within New Zealand who attended school in the Greater Auckland region during Autumn 2009. The survey gathered data in order to assess the students’ knowledge, attitudes, and the perceived influences on those attitudes, towards engineering as a career or field of study. The purpose of the research was to better understand factors that may influence Year 12 New Zealanders’ career decisions, especially with respect to careers in engineering, with a view to recommending to stakeholders how enrolment into Bachelor of Engineering programs might be increased.Schools were selected using stratified random sampling, and their Principals were approached through a strategy of emails, telephone calls, and by local personal contact. The students were surveyed via an online questionnaire, administered by school teachers and/or careers personnel, and conducted within school hours. A total of 292 students from 9 schools within the Greater Auckland region took part, and a variety of statistical techniques was used to analyze their responses.The New Zealand students were assessed as having a good knowledge of the benefits and demands of a career in engineering, and a positive attitude towards many of the suggested traits of engineering careers. Contradictions were found between the students’ perceived influences on their career choices, and the patterns of their response choices to a number of the survey questions. Statistically significant relationships were also found between the gender and ethnic background of the survey sample, the students’ attitudes towards careers in general and towards careers specifically in engineering, the influences on those attitudes, and the students’ selection of engineering as a career or field of study.Conclusions were drawn based on the research findings, and recommendations made as to how enrolment into Bachelor of Engineering programs might be increased. The recommendations formulated are directed to practitioners within the engineering profession and also to advisors within the education sector. Recommendations for additional research are then made

Using Experiential and Collaborative Learning to Promote Careers in Engineering

This paper discusses the design of the Girls Accelerating and Learning STEM (G.A.L.S.) one-week residential summer camp designed to encourage young girls to pursue engineering careers. Specifically, the camp exposed participants to the fields of computer science and engineering using experiential learning to develop participant interest and skills. At the end of the program, students participated in team competitions and presented their work. The end-of-program survey data showed that the G.A.L.S. camp had an impact on the enhancement of student interest in engineering as a potential career. The paper will provide details on the program components, and further discuss the impacts of the program and how it can be used as a model for future programs.Cockrell School of Engineerin

Middle school students' perceptions of engineering

This paper focuses on implementing engineering education in middle school classrooms (grade levels 7-9). One of the aims of the study was to foster students’ and teachers’ knowledge and understanding of engineering in society. Given the increasing importance of engineering in shaping our daily lives, it is imperative that we foster in students an interest and drive to participate in engineering education, increase their awareness of engineering as a career path, and inform them of the links between engineering and the enabling subjects, mathematics, science, and technology. Data for the study are drawn from five classes across three schools. Grade 7 students’ responded to initial whole class discussions on what is an engineer, what is engineering, what characteristics engineers require, engineers (family/friends) that they know, and subjects that may facilitate an engineering career. Students generally viewed engineers as creative, future-oriented, and artistic problem finders and solvers; planners and designers; “seekers” and inventors; and builders of constructions. Students also viewed engineers as adventurous, decisive, community-minded, reliable, and “smart.” In addition to a range of mathematics and science topics, students identified business studies, ICT, graphics, art, and history as facilitating careers in engineering. Although students displayed a broadened awareness of engineering than the existing research suggests, there was limited knowledge of various engineering fields and a strong perception of engineering as large construction

An Education 4.0 Pedagogical Approach for Introducing Smart Manufacturing to 5th grade students

Esta investigação é desenvolvida no âmbito do projeto Europeu "ShapiNG" (Shaping the next Generation of Manufacturing Professionals), cujo objetivo principal é atrair estudantes para atividades no campo da indústria. Proporcionar aos estudantes experiências de aprendizagem que os ajudem a compreender as competências necessárias para ser bem sucedido no local de trabalho é uma proposta desafiante no mundo de hoje em rápida mudança e dominado pela tecnologia. O objetivo deste estudo é identificar as tecnologias e abordagens-chave que, combinadas, podem constituir uma arquitetura pedagógica adequada para criar consciência e motivação entre os jovens estudantes, a fim de os inspirar a escolher uma carreira em Engenharia. Com base na teoria de aprendizagem de David Ausubel, foi realizado um estudo de caso para avaliar a eficácia da arquitetura concebida. A população da metodologia de pesquisa consistiu em 60 alunos do 5º ano de escolaridade que frequentavam a aula de "STEM" na "Escola Global". Os tópicos abordados foram modelação e impressão 3D. Após uma revisão minuciosa da literatura e um profundo trabalho de campo envolvendo observação direta e participante, questionários e entrevistas foram feitas com o objetivo de recolher dados relativos a (a) conhecimentos obtidos sobre os tópicos abordados, (b) benefícios de trabalhar colaborativamente e individualmente, (c) eficácia do material instrucional, e (d) motivação para seguir uma carreira em Engenharia. Por fim, através do trabalho realizado conseguimos obter os seguintes resultados principais: não há diferenças significativas no conhecimento adquirido entre o trabalho individual e colaborativo para as atividades propostas; os benefícios do trabalho colaborativo estão associados à possibilidade de negociar conceitos e aprimorar as competências de liderança e organização, enquanto os benefícios do trabalho individual estão relacionados com a possibilidade de auto-superação e de ser criativo; a motivação influenciou a qualidade percebida do material instrucional, sendo que os estudantes motivados classificaram melhor o material instrucional do que os não motivados; os estudantes do sexo masculino estão mais motivados a seguir uma carreira na Engenharia do que os do sexo feminino. Em última análise, os principais resultados deste estudo proporcionam um ponto de partida conceptual e prático para o desenvolvimento de abordagens eficazes em futuros trabalhos de investigação e para atividades que pretendam motivar jovens estudantes para seguir uma carreira na Engenharia.This research is developed within the scope of the European project "ShapiNG" (Shaping the next Generation of Manufacturing Professionals), whose main goal is to attract young students for activities in the field of manufacturing. Providing students with learning experiences that help them to understand the skills they need to succeed in the workplace is a difficult proposition in today's quickly changing world pervaded by technology. The purpose of this study is to identify key technologies and approaches that combined may constitute a suitable pedagogical architecture to create awareness and motivation among young students as to inspire them to pursue a career in Engineering. Drawing on David Ausubel's theory of learning, a case study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the conceived architecture. The research methodology population consisted of 60 students from the 5th grade attending the "STEM" class at "Escola Global". The covered topics were 3D modeling and 3D printing. After a thorough literature review and an in-depth fieldwork involving both direct and participant observation, questionnaires and interviews were done in order to collect data regarding the (a) knowledge obtained on the covered topics, (b) benefits of working collaboratively and individually, (c) effectiveness of the instructional material, and (d) motivation to pursue a career in Engineering. Ultimately, through our research we were able to obtain the following main results: there are no significant differences on the acquired knowledge between individual and collaborative work for the proposed activities; benefits of collaborative work are related to the possibility of negotiating concepts and enhancing leadership and organizational skills, whilst benefits of individual work are related to the possibility of self-overcoming and being creative; motivation influenced the perceived quality of instructional material with motivated students rating better the instructional material than the unmotivated ones; male students are more motivated to pursue a career in Engineering than female. Ultimately, the main results of this study provide a conceptual and practical gateway to bring in effective approaches to future research and activities focused on motivating young students to pursue a career in Engineering

Reasons stated by commencing students for studying engineering and technology

Responses were collected from commencing engineering students and an inventory of reasons stated for electing to study engineering was developed. Commencing engineering students were strongly career oriented; they believed that engineering would be an interesting and rewarding career that would offer enjoyment and career options. No difference was found in the principal reasons stated by respondents based on gender or course of study. On-campus students nominated principally career-related reasons for their choice of study (71 percent). While career-related reasons were still important for off-campus students, the most frequent type of responses were related to career upgrading (43.9 percent).<br /

Luncheon Keynote Address #1: An Engineer\u27s Education and It\u27s Use in Aerospace

A self-professed nerd always imagined that he would work in the computer or information technology industries, but by luck ended up with a career as an aerospace engineer. Despite a lack of formal training in aerospace, the fundamentals of an engineering education laid the path for a successful career. Vu will describe the products that are designed and built at Gulfstream and explain part of the engineering organization. He will then go through an example of the types of problems that he encountered in his work and what aspects of his education were necessary for the workplace. He will discuss what parts of the school experience were most useful to him as an engineer and what aspects could be useful to students who are considering a career in engineering

Jumping onto the Bandwagon: New Librarians Navigating the Science/Technology Librarianship

Abstract The terminology of engineering is daunting to the novice librarian without any science background. Library information school (LIS) students without training in scientific disciplines express concerns about pursuing a career in engineering librarianship. Why don’t they get onto the science/technology (sci/tech) bandwagon? What information and inspiration are necessary to sail toward the science and engineering horizons of our profession? A successful transition from graduate student to practicing engineering librarian requires a complex combination of knowledge and skills. The support and assistance of colleagues is critical and the establishment of support groups for various research needs can provide a mechanism for discussing common concerns. The author will discuss strategies to encourage science, engineering, and library students to pursue careers in science/engineering libraries and highlight ideas on recruitment and retention of new science and technology librarians