A Engineering Discipline Awareness Workshop for Pre-Service STEM Teachers

The Engineering Discipline Awareness Workshop for Pre-Service STEM Teachers was designed for future high school teachers in STEM fields to provide awareness of the different engineering disciplines. The goal is to create engineering interest among the students graduating from high school and entering higher education. The strategy is to create engineering awareness in the local high school STEM teachers so that they in turn pass that interest onto their own students. This workshop is part of the Texas A&M University Engineering Experiment Stations (TEES) Outreach Strategy Team’s Pilot Program. Situated on the border with Mexico, Texas A&M International University (TAMIU), a Member of the Texas A&M University System, serves predominantly Hispanic population by providing academic services to a high number of economically disadvantaged and first-generation students. The majority of the teachers in Laredo, Texas received their education from TAMIU, targeting the pre-service teachers at TAMIU will expand our future teachers’ knowledge of the different engineering disciplines, and aid in TAMIU’s Engineering recruitment program. Three professors from different engineering disciplines each provided an entire day curriculum dedicated to their particular discipline. Each presentation was divided into three modules, an introduction to the particular engineering field, some basic engineering theory and a hands-on engineering exercise. In this paper we present details of the three engineering disciplines presented to the participants which include chemical, electrical and systems engineering.