Bachelor of Science in Engineering Education: Differentiating from Traditional Education and Engineering Disciplines

Ohio Northern University is in its second year of an innovative and unique Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Engineering Education. This program will provide graduates with a foundation in engineering, mathematics, and education, qualifying the graduate for licensure as a secondary math teacher in the state of Ohio. The degree is similar to a General Engineering degree, expanding potential career opportunities. Further opportunities are expected to be among venues such as science and technology museums. This degree program offers the introduction of math teachers into middle and high school environments with an inherent appreciation of engineering, producing graduates who are capable of truly integrating math, science, engineering analysis, and design into the classroom. The objectives of establishing this degree program include those that are directed toward our students as well as the profession: • Assure graduates of a truly integrated education equipping them for success as engineers and/or educators, and • Work toward changing the K-12 paradigm: effectively introduce engineering into K-12 by influencing the teaching profession. One of the difficulties of establishing and completing a truly interdisciplinary engineering degree is addressing requirements from programs, departments and colleges different than typically found in engineering. For example, graduates must complete not only an engineering capstone project, but meet state requirements for student teaching. Challenges include incorporating effective classroom experiences, curriculum development and extracurricular opportunities available as students in an education program with more typical requirements from engineering disciplines such as required laboratories and opportunities for undergraduate research. Seeking accreditation for the program from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) as well as ABET affords additional challenge. This paper will describe the unique challenges of establishing this interdisciplinary and innovative program, including issues related to accreditation of the program from two perspectives: education and engineering. Further, the paper will present issues and opportunities from the perspective of students from the initial cohort, who have had an exceptional number and breadth of opportunities as the first students in the program. Background: Establishing the Need In the 2006 National Academies study entitled Rising above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future , the authors noted that: “Education in science, mathematics, and technology has become a focus of intense concern within the business and academic communities. The domestic and world P ge 23238.2 economies depend more and more on science and engineering. But our primary and secondary schools do not seem able to produce enough students with the interest, motivation, knowledge, and skills they will need to compete and prosper in such a world.” The American Society for Quality commissioned a market research firm to study teacher knowledge and passion for math and science. The results show that students feel their teachers do a poor job of discussing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) careers and/or encouraging students toward the STEM disciplines, even though they consider their teachers to be knowledgeable about math and science: “Although 85 percent of students said their teachers deserve at least a ‘B’ when it comes to knowledge about science topics, 63 percent of high school students said their teachers are not doing a good job of talking to them about engineering careers (‘C’ or lower), and 42 percent of high school students said their teachers don’t ably demonstrate how science can be used in a career (‘C’ or lower).” The National Academies has issued reports on introducing engineering standards into K-12 . The report Standards for K-12 Engineering Education? discusses the difficulty in effectively implementing engineering standards: 1. There is relatively limited experience with K-12 engineering education in U.S. elementary and secondary schools, and 2. There is not at present a critical mass of teachers qualified to deliver engineering instruction. The effectiveness of working with individual teachers and students through workshops and classroom activities is debatable, but reliance on these methods certainly does not lead to sustainable change. A new paradigm, introducing teachers trained with an engineering framework, is a necessary step for systemic changes such as the introduction of engineering standards.