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In the twenty-first century, meeting our technological challenges demands educational excellence, a skilled populace that is ready for the critical challenges society faces. There is widespread consensus, however, that education systems are failing to adequately prepare all students with the essential twenty-first century knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in life, career, and citizenship. The purpose of this paper is to understand how twenty-first century knowledge and skills can be appropriately embedded in engineering education finalised to innovative product development by using additive manufacturing (AM). The study designs a learning model by which to achieve effective AM education to address the requirements of twenty-first century and to offer students the occasion to experiment with STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) concepts. The study is conducted using the quality function deployment (QFD) methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a role-playing game developed by faculty and students at Worcester Polytechnic Institute to teach engineering within a rich cultural and historical context. Based on the successful Reacting to the Past series of role-playing games developed for humanities courses, this game differs in that its focus is engineering (a nineteenth-century sewerage project in Worcester, MA) and it is designed to include science experiments (water sampling), original research using nineteenth-century technical and historical/cultural material, data analysis (geospatial mapping of nineteenth-century data on pollutants, populations, and sewerage overflows), arguments from data, and cross-cultural communication. Developed in a humanities department with undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) students and later expanded in collaboration with research librarians and engineering faculty, the course is intended to engage students deeply in engineering issues – including offering a design project – while also immersing them in the cultural, historical, economic, and social conditions that influence engineering decisions. Ultimately, the goal of the game is to allow students to experience the world of engineering as a complicated, challenging, and satisfying enterprise that requires and rewards not only technical expertise, but also sensitivity to human contexts and diverse points of view. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the interest of understanding choices related to achievement, persistence, and performance that inform pursuit of careers in science, technology, engineering, and math, the current research pursued a novel approach to asking young children about their beliefs related to engineering. The Engineering-Related Activities and Skills (ERAS) items were developed to use instead of the term 'engineering' to measure children's achievement-related ability beliefs (competence) and subjective task values (importance, interest). A range of methods across three studies were implemented in the development and assessment of evidence related to the internal structure of the ERAS items across the domains of ability beliefs and subjective task values (N = 949 students). Results suggest initial evidence for the ERAS items being valid in measuring children's perceptions of engineering-related competence, importance, and interest. Theoretical and practical implications related to the factors that influence the academic and career choices in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, as well as future directions are outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Informal science opportunities provide authentic experiences to stimulate students’ interests in science and engineering and foster their curiosity through problem-based investigations. STEMulate Engineering Academy was designed to provide children (Grades 3-5) engineering opportunities and offer teachers a unique professional development experience. The program serves as a practicum experience for teachers seeking a gifted and talented add-on license and the camp also offers free professional development to area teachers. Using a co-teaching approach, students gained firsthand experiences from an engineer in the field, and teachers collaborated with engineers to make the content more relevant. Despite a limited number of contact hours, students and teachers demonstrated growth on pre and post engineering assessments. Informal learning opportunities provided by programs such as STEMulate Engineering Academy could possibly spark student interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)--leading them to a promising career in a STEM field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]