Thoughts from the Chair
The new school year is starting up. It always seems to bring joy and trepidation… The Pre-College Engineering Education division is a place where you will find like minded people who care about quality PreK-12 Engineering Education for all and a willingness to share ideas. I hope that you take a few minutes to read through the requests for ideas, opportunities for collaboration with other divisions and a publication, updates on what is relevant to our division, as well as job opportunities. We are a vibrant community, and I am glad that you are part of it.
2018 ASEE Annual Conference – Submissions open September 4th
Have you started crafting your submission for the annual conference? The great work that you are doing needs to be shared at our annual conference!! Pull your thoughts together and get your abstract ready for submission.
As a reminder:
Monday September 4th – Abstract submission open for Papers, Workshops, Panels, and Special Sessions.
Monday October 16th – Abstract submissions close.
SPECIAL NOTE: The PCEE Division has a new requirement associated with submissions. If you submit an abstract, you will also be expected to review at least one abstract and paper. Failure to complete the assigned abstract and paper reviews will jeopardize the author’s ability to have future submissions to the PCEE Division accepted.
Scouting and STEM Initiatives
As part of the annual conference, the Two College division is planning to offer a panel discussion on STEM initiative in scouting. They would like to know if any of us are involved in the new STEM initiatives in scouting and would be will to share their experiences with the larger engineering education community. If so, please contact Philip Regalbuto (Philip.Regalbuto@tridenttech.edu)
Member seeking input
High School Engineering Course
This member posted a question that our division certainly has knowledge about. Please email Bruce directly with your thoughts on his request for information.
“I recently joined your organization as I am teaching an introduction to Engineering Course at our HS this fall for the first time. Do you have any online projects and curriculum suggestions for a high school engineering course? Thank you”
Bruce Nebens ( bruce.nebens@simivalleyusd.
Changes to PreK-12 Teacher Workshop
The PreK-12 Teacher Workshop is taking a one year hiatus; returning in 2019
In an effort to create an ASEE PCEE Division PreK-12 Workshop that is more impactful for PreK-12 teachers and sustainable for ASEE and the PCEE Division, we will not be offering the workshop at the 2018 annual conference. This will allow for the appropriate time and planning required to implement a new win-win financial and organizational model for teachers, the PCEE Division and ASEE beginning at the 2019 ASEE Annual Conference. Although not offering the workshop in 2018 is not ideal, this transition will create a much more effective program in the future. Please feel free to email Bradley Bowen at bowenb@vt.edu if you have any questions or concerns.
Opportunities
Call for Chapters – The Literacies of Design: Studies of Equity and Imagination with Engineering and Making
Design. Though defined in different ways, it’s often recognized as a productive process that can be used to improve or transform existing conditions. As such, design can be a powerful and active tool for moving toward equity and social justice. In the context of engineering and making, people of all ages and backgrounds can use design to make life better on personal, local, and societal levels: from implementing household modifications that bring comfort to a family member; to envisioning new infrastructures that bring clean water to regions devastated by disaster; to evaluating, critiquing, and re-imagining technologies and systems that contribute to societal inequities.
For this book, we are interested in studies that illuminate communication practices or literacies of design as it relates to the material world. Under recognition that the products and methods of engineering have been deployed in ways that perpetuate marginalization, we are especially interested in studies that explore relationships between literacies, equity, and engineering/making/tinkering.
We are calling for chapters that use original empirical (qualitative or quantitative) studies to offer insights, challenges, or extensions to current conceptions of literacies of design or design communication. These chapters may (or may not) address one or more of the following questions:
-What are the communication practices of design? What are the literacies of design?
-How can literacy-related pedagogies promote equity in or with engineering and making?
-What is engineering/making for equity, and what role do literacies or communication practices play in this vision?
-What research methodologies can illuminate relationships between literacies, communication practices, equity, and/or engineering/making/tinkering?
We welcome studies conducted with different participants in different spaces: pre-K children in home settings, engineers in the workforce, children and adults in makerspaces and museums, undergraduate engineering students engaged in service learning, or K-12 students in NGSS-aligned science classrooms, to name a few. We also welcome empirically-grounded theoretical papers.
We plan to market and disseminate this book to the following audiences:
– Teacher educators and pre-service or in-service teachers in science education methods courses, technology/engineering education methods courses, and content area literacy methods courses;
– Researchers in engineering education, technology education, science education, and disciplinary literacy;
– Leaders in maker-spaces, museums, and other informal learning spaces in STEM.
If you are interested in contributing a chapter, we request that a summary of around 750-1000 words be sent to Amy Wilson-Lopez, at amy.wilson-lopez@usu.edu, by October 31, 2017. Please also feel free to contact Amy if you have further questions about the nature or scope of the book.
The Editorial team of this project is comprised of: Amy Wilson-Lopez, Utah State University; Joel Alejandro Mejia, University of San Diego; Eli Tucker-Raymond, TERC; Alberto Esquinca, University of Texas at El Paso
Events to Watch and Know About
High School Engineering Education Symposium
Press Release: 40 participants from across the country meet to engage in P-12 Engineering Education conversation at prestigious Engineers Club.
Baltimore, MD – August 16th – 18th, 2017
The Advancing Excellence in P-12 Engineering Education (AEEE) Project and the High School Engineering Education Symposium was held August 16th to 18th, 2017, at the prestigious Engineer’s Club of Baltimore. The purpose of the symposium, and ongoing project, is to promote collaboration across the engineering and education communities, to pursue a vision and direction for P-12 Engineering Education; and second, to develop a coherent content framework for scaffolding the teaching and learning of engineering at the high school level. The project was initiated by Drs. Michael Grubbs, Greg Strimel, and Tanner Huffman, has continued through a series of webinars, and is an ongoing research study. AEEE leadership purposefully identified and selected a wide range of individuals to gain equitable perspectives on how best to address engineering at the P-12 level. Dr. Tanner Huffman, stated, “with nearly 40 participants, and a number of sponsors, this event has been well received, and will provide the foundation for future work. Moreover, P-12 Engineering Education has the potential to fulfill the forgotten promise of STEM education.” Outcomes of the Symposium, include review and improvements to three dimensions of engineering literacy at the P-12 level. Participants provided feedback to the Dimensions of Engineering Literacy, around Skills, Habits of Mind, and Knowledge. This work led to committees deliberating over the core concepts, sub-concepts, and Progressions of Learning, for high school content areas (e.g. Mechanical, Civil, Engineering Design, Quantitative Analysis). The project will continue through webinars, work sessions, and meetings at ITEEA and ASEE. A final report and Framework for P-12 Engineering will also be published. Additional information can be found on the ITEEA website, at https://www.iteea.org/Activities/2142/AEEE_P12.aspx, and through the Pre-College Division, as well as by contacting Michael Grubbs (mgrubbs@bcps.org) or Tanner Huffman (huffmant@tcnj.edu).
Job Postings
Assistant Professor, Science Education – Towson University
Tenure-track, 10-month Assistant Professor of Science Education position in the Department of Physics, Astronomy and Geosciences beginning August 2018. Doctorate in science education, curriculum and instruction (or an equivalent degree) or physical, earth or space sciences and extensive experience in science education. ABD applicants considered, but appointment will be at the Instructor rank and all degree requirements must be completed by February 1, 2019. Faculty assigned an instructional workload of six (6) course units per academic year for the first year. Beginning the second year the workload reverts back to the standard instructional workload of seven to eight (7-8) course units per academic year. Teach science content, field experience and methods courses for elementary and early childhood education majors, be involved in significant scholarly activity and provide service to the department. Review of application begins October 20, 2017 and continues until the position is filled. FCSM-N-3102. Follow this link for the full ad: http://www.towson.edu/provostbudgetoffice/documents/3102a_fcsm_pags_asst_prof_science_education.pdf
Assistant/Associate Professor of Integrative STEM Education – The College of New Jersey
The School of Engineering at The College of New Jersey invites applications for a tenure-track faculty position starting August 2018. The position is at the Assistant Professor or Associate Professor level in the Department of Integrative STEM Education. The department offers two undergraduate pre-service teacher preparation programs and a Masters of Education degree in integrative STEM Education. More details are available here.
Postdoctoral Position – Tufts University
Postdoctoral researcher sought for project on interdisciplinary biomimicry and engineering design curricula for middle school. Candidates must have a PhD or EdD in science, engineering, math or STEM education fields or equivalent, have experience working with K12 students and teachers, and exhibit potential for conducting STEM education research independently. Knowledge of and experience implementing project based curricula are required along with strong oral and written communication and organizational skills. Preference will be given to candidates with a PhD/EdD in STEM education with training in a STEM discipline (or a PhD in a STEM discipline with training in STEM education). Preference will also be given to candidates with qualitative and mixed methods education research experience and demonstrated success with scholarly publications. Experience with K12 robotics experience desired but not required. More at https://tufts.box.com/s/
Get Involved!
We invite you to join us in our efforts to ensure that every child engages in high-quality pre-college engineering education facilitated by effective educators. http://precollege.asee.org/get-involved
Contribute to the Newsletter
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Show off your PCEE Style
Order t-shirts, totes, mugs, thermoses, bags, buttons and more! Proceeds go to support scholarships to the annual conference. http://www.zazzle.com/asee_pcee?rf=238925686759147007