How to Shape Attitudes Toward STEM Careers: The Search for the Most Impactful Extracurricular Clubs

It is well known that strong extracurricular STEM programs provide multiple arenas for students to expand on classroom curriculum, complementing STEM skills with creative thinking and open-ended problem solving. It has been shown that there is a relationship between the number of STEM clubs students participated in and their choice of STEM major (Sahin, 2013). Considering financial problems, including budget cuts, it gets really challenging for schools to provide a plethora of clubs. For this reason, it would be very beneficial for K–12 schools to know if certain clubs are more effective in changing attitudes toward STEM majors, and therefore help strengthen the pipeline for STEM careers. A quantitative study was designed to investigate if any specific STEM club amongst the ones offered at the Sonoran Schools (SS), a charter school system, created a significant difference in students’ perception toward STEM fields and majors. The data were collected through an online survey of 1,167 students across six charter schools, serving grades K–12 under the same charter system, at the end of the 2015 school year. Students who were not enrolled in STEM-related extracurricular activities were considered as a baseline. The data have shown that extracurricular STEM club involvement has significantly impacted the attitude toward STEM perception. The analysis of the data also showed that it is possible to close the notorious gender and ethnicity gaps in STEM perception and provide a diverse student population to the STEM pipeline. The hypothesis that ‘‘there is a range of impact from clubs, and some are more impactful than others’’ has been disproved to show that there is no significant difference between the clubs when it comes to their impact on student STEM perception. The findings of this study are expected to help K–12 stakeholders, administrators, club organizers, and mentors to use their resources effectively

Teaching Sustainability: Does Style Matter?

Purpose – This paper aims to analyze how a tangram activity improved students’ abilities to explain sustainability, articulate a positive perception of sustainable design and relate sustainability with innovation in engineering design. Design/methodology/approach – The concept of paradigm shift was introduced in the classroom by using a tangram activity to help students understand that sustainable design requires out-of-the-box thinking. Instructors from three institutions teaching various levels of sustainability courses to engineering majors used the activity to introduce sustainable design, then measured the understanding and appreciation of the concepts introduced through the tangram activity with pre- and post-activity surveys. Findings – Findings from the study indicate that students’ perceptions of sustainability significantly improved due to the activity, without regard to the institution. The activity also significantly improved students understanding of the connection between sustainability and innovation, across all three institutions, across all majors and across all years of study except second-year students. Improving engineering students’ views on sustainability may lead, over time, to changes in the industry, in which environmental performance is incorporated into the engineering design process. Originality/value – Active learning approaches are needed for affective-domain learning objectives in the sustainability field for students to learn the necessary attitudes, values and motivations to implemen

Environmental Engineering Division Panel Discussion: Exploring Career Paths in Academia - Learn, Network, and Thrive

This Environmental Engineering Division Panel Will Provide an Opportunity to Learn from and Connect with Faculty and Leaders in the Environmental Engineering Field. Drawing on Expertise from the Premier Academic Organizations Associated with Environmental Engineering: The American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientists (AAEES), the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP), and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). the Panel is for All Graduate Students, Post-Docs and Early Career Faculty Who Are Interested in Receiving Advice and Networking to Advance their Careers in Environmental Engineering. the Panel Will Focus on Sharing the Experiences and Best Practices for Pursuing Different Academic Paths, Including Securing a Faculty Appointment and Thriving as a New Faculty Member. We Invite All Students and Faculty in Environmental Engineering to Join Us for This Exciting Panel. the Suggested Layout of the Panel Session Is: • 5-Minute Introduction of Panel Topic and Panelists • overview of Each Panelist\u27s Career Journey (5 Minutes Each) • Quick Survey of the Room to Understand Where the Audience is in their Career and Where their Interests Lie. • Whole Group Q&A Session to Engage Audience and Panelists

The Academy, the Association, and the Society Advancing Environmental Engineering Training and Credentialing

As the lead society for environmental engineering and similarly named programs accredited by ABET (formerly the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology, Inc.), the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Scientist (the Academy) welcomes a conversation on the training and credentialing of environmental engineers. Faculty of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (the Association) and the Environmental Engineering Division of the American Society for Engineering Education (the Society) have a vested interest in this conversation. We encourage you to engage in this conversation and contribute your views as we refresh our shared definition of the environmental engineering body of knowledge and explore how our self-regulating process of licensure and credentialing may best protect the safety, health, and welfare of the public