Executive SummaryA model curriculum, such as that developed by the ACM/SIGITE Curriculum Committee (2005), has two important functions. First, it provides a base structure for newly developing programs that can use it as a platform for articulating a curriculum. Second, it offers an existing curriculum framework that can be used for validation by existing programs. The model does not, however, reflect many of the characteristics and considerations necessary to build a fully-functional, effective and dynamic curriculum. Necessary components for a comprehensive curriculum that are discussed in this paper include adaptation to the institution's mission and other program goals, responsiveness to local and regional needs, sensitivity to the availability of expertise and other technical resources, and a mechanism for response to a continuously changing environment. This paper proposes a continuous improvement process framework for developing a comprehensive curriculum. The model consists of four phases: 1) Collect; 2) Evaluate; 3) Design; and 4) Implement. The Collect phase involves investigating current curricular standards, such as the SIGITE model curriculum, gathering data about the needs and desires of a program's stakeholders, and understanding the professional, technical and educational environment in which the curriculum will operate. The Evaluate phase integrates this data to develop a mission and set goals for the curriculum, define the outcomes expected of students, identify current and needed competencies, and specify other parameters that establish the foundation for an effective curriculum. The Design phase articulates the curriculum and assures that it is aligned with the goals, needs and resources identified. The Implement phase involves the establishment of the curriculum and a structure for governance and continuous evaluation and improvement. The cyclic nature of this model supports continuous improvement of the curriculum.Any established curriculum must be dynamic enough to adapt to the constantly changing information technology environment. Educators and curriculum administrators who are charged with effective curriculum design and delivery must be aware of new technologies and develop strategies for incorporating them as needed. Collecting data about the curriculum's effectiveness, especially the satisfaction with stakeholders, begins another iteration of the cyclic process, with the objective of continuous improvement. The model curriculum provides a valuable starting point, but program developers need to use the process model to define and build an effective, dynamic curriculum that is responsive to their stakeholders' needs initially and throughout the life of the program.

Background: Expanding opportunities to experience engaging STEM educational programs is an important pathway to increasing students' interest and competencies in STEM and, ultimately, motivation to pursue STEM careers. After-school programs offer one means to achieve this aim, but barriers such as a lack of transportation or available teachers may limit participation for some students in this context. Transitioning after-school STEM programs to in-school can provide opportunities to increase reach by removing these and other barriers. However, it is likely that this change in the learning context, from after-school to in-school, impacts student experiences and, ultimately, program efficacy by altering how students and teachers interact; as teachers and students adjust their behaviors and expectations to a more traditional learning context. To examine this potential effect, self-determination theory was used to frame how the learning context influences the social and motivational outcomes of a STEM program for underserved youth. In-school (N = 244; 39% girls, M age = 13, 63% Caucasian, 18% African American, 6% Multiracial) and after-school (N = 70, 33% girls, M age = 12, 55% Caucasian, 16% Multiracial, 13% Latino/a) program students completed surveys that assessed teacher-student interactions, and student psychological needs and motivation. In a structural equation model, student perceptions of teachers were entered as predictors of motivation for the program directly and mediated by psychological need satisfaction. Learning context (0 = in-school, 1 = after-school) was entered as a ubiquitous predictor. Results: Findings support the theorized model where perceptions of teachers positively predicted psychological need satisfaction (R 2 = .20), and both variables positively predicted more self-determined motivation (R 2 = .30-.35). Findings also demonstrate an effect of learning context where learning context negatively predicted the less self-determined motivations only (R 2 = .06-.10) (i.e., in-school contexts are associated with less desirable motivational outcomes). Conclusion: Findings reinforce the instrumental role of students' positive perceptions of teachers in fostering a more desirable self-determined motivation for STEM program participation. Additionally, in-school programs must consider and integrate novel approaches that mitigate the negative impact of established in-school structures and processes (e.g., grades and mandatory participation) on student motivation for these programs and, potentially, interest in STEM careers.

Alka Harriger joined the faculty of the Computer and Information Technology Department (CIT) in 1982 and is currently a Professor of CIT. For the majority of that time, she has been actively involved in teaching software development courses. From 2008From -2014, she led the NSF-ITEST funded SPIRIT (Surprising Possibilities Imagined and Realized through Information Technology) project. Since October 2013, she has been co-leading with Prof. Brad Harriger the NSF-ITEST funded TECHFIT (Teaching Engineering Concepts to Harness Future Innovators and Technologists) project. Professor Harriger's current interests include application development, outreach to K-12 to interest more students to pursue computing careers, applying IT skills to innovating fitness tools, and wearable computing.Prof. Bradley C. Harriger, Purdue University, West Lafayette Brad Harriger has over 30 years of experience teaching automated manufacturing and has authored/coauthored several related articles. Professor Harriger has served in several leadership roles with Society of Manufacturing Engineers and the American Society for Engineering Education, and is a founding member of an international Aerospace Automation Consortium, serving on its steering committee for several years. He has invested over twenty-five years in the development and maintenance of a multimillion dollar manufacturing laboratory facility complete with a full scale, fully integrated manufacturing system. Professor Harriger has been a Co-PI on two NSF funded grants focused on aerospace manufacturing education and is currently a Co-PI on the NSF funded TECHFIT project, a middle school afterschool program that teaches students how to use programmable controllers and other technologies to design exercise games. Additionally, he co-organizes multiple regional automation competitions for an international controls company. Attracting Minorities to ET through TECHFIT Abstract:Attracting any group to a particular discipline requires providing opportunities for that group to participate as well as making the experience engaging enough that the participants are eager to learn more. TECHFIT (Teaching Engineering Concepts to Harness Future Innovators and Technologists) is a three-year project designed to spark interest in engineering technology in middle school students, especially minority students. TECHFIT teaches participants about electricity, wiring, safety, programming, and fitness. Each participant team creates their own functional, prototype exergame using a provided technology toolkit. The primary goal of this intervention is to increase student interest in pursuing science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) study, but a related secondary goal is to encourage a healthy lifestyle related to physical activity. This paper will share the design of the TECHFIT program and provide recommendations regarding the approach used to attract all groups, including minorities, to engineering technology.

No abstract

No abstract