Engineering Student Outcomes for Infusion into Technological Literacy Programs: Grades 9-12

Overview & Synopsis

In 2004, the National Center for Engineering and Technology Education (NCETE) secured funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to infuse engineering design into the schools through technology education. In order to reach this goal the researchers, in cooperation with NCETE, conducted a two phase study to identify outcomes for high-school students studying engineering. The first study (referred to as a Phase I) focused on students who intended to enter an engineering program after high school, answering the question: "What are the engineering student outcomes that prospective engineering students in grades 9 through 12 should know and be able to do and prior to entering into a post-secondary engineering program?" The second study (Phase II) focused on students who were enrolled in technology education for general education purposes and sought input from technology education teachers, teacher educators, and supervisors regarding the following question: "What are those engineering outcomes that should be taught in a high school technology education program in which the focus is general technological literacy and not pre-engineering?" (Contains 10 tables.)