Family Engineering for Parents & Elementary-Aged Children

May 15th, 2008 - April 30th, 2012 | PROJECT

Michigan Technological University will collaborate with David Heil and Associates to implement the Family Engineering Program, working in conjunction with student chapters of engineering societies such as the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), the Society of Hispanic Professionals (SHP) and a host of youth and community organizations. The Family Engineering Program is designed to increase technological literacy by introducing children ages 5-12 and their parents/caregivers to the field of engineering using the principles of design. The project will reach socio-economically diverse audiences in the upper peninsula of Michigan including Native American, Hispanic, Asian, and African American families. The secondary audience includes university STEM majors, informal science educators, and STEM professionals that are trained to deliver the program to families. A well-researched five step engineering design process utilized in the school-based Engineering is Elementary curriculum will be incorporated into mini design challenges and activities based in a variety of fields such as agricultural, chemical, environmental, and biomedical engineering. Deliverables include the Family Engineering event model, Family Engineering Activity Guide, Family Engineering Nights, project website, and facilitator training workshops. The activity guide will be pilot tested, field tested, and disseminated for use in urban, suburban, and rural settings. Strategic impact will result from the development of content-rich engineering activities for families and the dissemination of a project model that incorporates the expertise of engineering and educational professionals at multiple levels of implementation. It is anticipated that 300 facilitators and 7,000-10,000 parents and children will be directly impacted by this effort, while facilitator training may result in more than 27,000 program participants.

Project Website(s)

(no project website provided)

Team Members

Neil Hutzler, Principal Investigator, Michigan Technological University
Eric Iversen, Co-Principal Investigator, American Society for Engineering Education
Christine Cunningham, Co-Principal Investigator, Museum of Science
Joan Chadde, Co-Principal Investigator, Michigan Technological University
David Heil, Co-Principal Investigator, David Heil & Associates, Inc.

Funders

Funding Source: NSF
Funding Program: ISE/AISL
Award Number: 0741709
Funding Amount: 1697484

Tags

Access and Inclusion: Asian Communities | Black | African American Communities | Ethnic | Racial | Hispanic | Latinx Communities | Indigenous and Tribal Communities | Low Socioeconomic Status | Rural | Urban
Audience: Educators | Teachers | Elementary School Children (6-10) | Families | Middle School Children (11-13) | Museum | ISE Professionals | Parents | Caregivers | Pre-K Children (0-5) | Scientists
Discipline: Engineering | Technology
Resource Type: Project Descriptions
Environment Type: Community Outreach Programs | Professional Development | Conferences | Networks | Professional Development and Workshops | Public Programs