Engineering Visiting Fellows: A modular, low-cost model for scalable, university-facilitated international K-12 partnerships in engineering education

A grand challenge in the global engineering community is the recruitment and retention of students. Previous research in engineering education has shown that pre-college exposure to engineering plays an integral part in student self-selection of engineering as a course of study at the university level. Presented in this work is an international program which seeks to attract talented students through the use of NSF GK12 Engineering Visiting Fellows and cross-cultural, hands-on problem based design projects. In this two-year study, 5 separate projects are carried out involving 690 students split between urban high schools in the United States and partner secondary schools in Kenya. Quantitative and qualitative analysis is carried out using surveys developed by a third party program evaluator. The outcomes of the program in achieving student engineering self-efficacy, interest in engineering careers, and awareness of global engineering challenges through cross-cultural communication are evaluated in the context of program cost and overall impact. Future expansion plans of this pilot project are also presented.