Get 'Em While They're Young

19 Jan, 2012 By: Heather Livingston

The latest efforts to shore up the nation's engineering base start with instilling a love for math, science, and technology long before students reach college.

Editor's Note: This article was originally published in the Winter 2012 issue of Cadalyst magazine.

Once a tool that addressed a very specific professional need, CAD today is pervasive, touching just about everything that isn't created by nature. Although most think of CAD and 3D modeling as technology that's taught at the college or professional level, it is now trickling down to high-school and even middle-school classrooms. From software including Autodesk's TinkerBox app to in-school curricula such as Project Lead The Way, CAD increasingly is shaping the education of America's youth in ways that far outstrip its original application as a drafting tool. Its use is helping to shore up the country's supply of engineers by instilling a passion for technology use at a young age — and shoring up students' confidence in their ability to succeed. The latest efforts to shore up the nation's engineering base start with instilling a love for math, science, and technology long before students reach college.

Autodesk's TinkerBox app for the iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch incorporates science and engineering principles into a game. It is one of several ways the company works to support the interest of young people in STEM pursuits. Image courtesy of Business Wire.

CAD for the Young

When it comes to fostering students' interest in a subject — or stated differently, averting a disinterest in it — current wisdom says the window of opportunity is closing by the time students finish middle school. That, together with an emphasis on the importance of teaching process and critical thinking, is what's driving the push to introduce CAD technologies to students in the third through twelfth grades.

For the past couple of decades, the news media has loudly and repeatedly pronounced the decline of U.S. students' literacy in math and science. That lack of training in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) subjects has led to a shortage of qualified workers in numerous science and technology fields that is projected to grow. Last year, President Barack Obama announced the Educate to Innovate initiative, which aims to improve STEM literacy in children. It provides federal funding for STEM teaching but also relies on support from companies, foundations, nonprofit organizations, and science and engineering societies.

Students in the STEM education program at Gulliver Preparatory School in Miami use CAD software to design solutions to the challenges they see in their communities and around the world. Among other humanitarian projects they have completed, students delivered a portable water purification system to a children's hospital in Haiti in July 2010. Image courtesy of Gulliver Preparatory School.

One program that is improving STEM literacy in schools across the United States is Project Lead The Way (PLTW), a nonprofit organization that provides STEM curricula for middle and high schools that incorporates hands-on activities and project- and problem-based learning with an emphasis on developing critical thinking, creativity, innovation, and problem-solving skills. Through its Gateway to Technology program, PLTW introduces sixth through eighth graders to technology in units that explore aerospace, energy, environmental studies, modeling, and robotics. High-school students have two PLTW tracks: Pathway to Engineering and Biomedical Sciences. Pathway to Engineering coursework explores the design process and uses STEM skills to solve real-world issues.

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About the Author: Heather Livingston

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Comments

Re: Get 'Em While They're Young
by: knorth
on: February 2, 2012 - 10:36am

Middle School is too late. This needs to start in elementary school. I have tried CAD lessons in my technology classes, and the kids love it. The problem is that few teachers at this level use CAD to integrate STEM into their daily lessons. To fix this problem requires changing the laws where standardized testing is focused on the natural sciences and engineering is left behind or totally left out. In Texas they eliminated simple machines from the elementary school standards, so not a required priority with limited time. The concepts tested are taught. Time to get the social networks with the students at the lead to change things. Please see www.knorth.edublogs.org for some of my ideas.

Re: Get 'Em While They're Young
by: Nancy_Johnson
on: February 2, 2012 - 1:21pm

Editor's note: Here's an article that offers a different perspective on this topic.
What Scientist Shortage?
http://www.cjr.org/reports/what_scientist_shortage.php

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Re: Get 'Em While They're Young	by: knorth on: February 2, 2012 - 10:36am
Middle School is too late. This needs to start in elementary school. I have tried CAD lessons in my technology classes, and the kids love it. The problem is that few teachers at this level use CAD to integrate STEM into their daily lessons. To fix this problem requires changing the laws where standardized testing is focused on the natural sciences and engineering is left behind or totally left out. In Texas they eliminated simple machines from the elementary school standards, so not a required priority with limited time. The concepts tested are taught. Time to get the social networks with the students at the lead to change things. Please see www.knorth.edublogs.org for some of my ideas.