The GTECH project, funded through a grant from the GTE Foundation, prepared school teams of science, mathematics and technology teachers and an administrator to set goals for their local schools regarding implementation of electronic technology and integration of content across curricular areas. A variety of teacher‐centered staff development strategies were used to enable participants to achieve local school objectives, model and encourage active learning environments involving technology, develop integrated curriculum and provide training to their peers. GTECH staff provided workshops and summer institutes based on teacher feedback and classroom observations. Data from the Stages of Concerns Questionnaire assisted the staff in designing effective staff development activities. Over the 2‐year period, teacher teams developed and implemented integrated instructional materials and developed skills in using HyperStudio, PowerPoint, telecommunications applications, and instructional resources from the Internet. They also linked instruction to new state and national standards in science, mathematics, and technology. GTECH teachers reported that their students have expanded their knowledge and skill in problem solving, teamwork, technical expertise, and creativity.

This comparative case study describes the literacy practices of two groups of adolescents as they sought to solve authentic problems through engineering design processes. Three types of data were collected as the groups addressed these problems: video-and audio-recordings of their conversations; adolescent-generated products; and pre-and post-challenge interviews. The authors used existing coding schemes of engineering design activity to identify when the adolescents enacted different stages of engineering design, as well as a modified form of constant comparative analysis to identify the literacy practices that corresponded with each stage.The analysis indicates that applications of literacy practices at each stage of the engineering design process enhanced the adolescents' overall design activity, whereas the absence of literacy practices often impeded the viability of their final designs. The authors suggest implications for high school engineering and science teachers who seek to enhance their students' design activity through literacy instruction.Keywords: disciplinary literacy, engineering literacy, engineering design, adolescent literacy Teaser Text: Engineering and literacy? Yes! Although science, mathematics, and technology are usually cited as partners to engineering, this article describes ways that literacy can enhance adolescents' engineering activity as well. 3 Using Disciplinary Literacies to Enhance Adolescents' Engineering Design ActivityOver 56 million K-12 students are currently enrolled in some type of engineering coursework (Katehi, Pearson, & Feder, 2009), a number that is only expected to increase due to the publication of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS Lead States, 2013), which require engineering principles to be integrated into K-12 science instruction. Moreover, within the United States, over 41 states include standards that address principles of engineering (Carr, Bennett, & Strobel, 2012).Despite this current and growing emphasis on K-12 engineering instruction, very little research has been conducted on how fundamental literacy-or the interpretation and production of texts (Norris & Phillips, 2003)-can enhance adolescents' understanding and practice of engineering. The purpose of this comparative case study was therefore to examine the ways in which two groups of adolescents used reading and writing to solve authentic problems through engineering design processes. Disciplinary Literacy in EngineeringA large and growing body of empirical and theoretical literature has argued that text interpretation and production are profoundly embedded within disciplinary activity (Moje, 2008).Within the discipline of engineering, one defining activity is design (Dym et al., 2005), described as "a systematic, intelligent process in which designers generate, evaluate, and specify concepts for devices, systems, or processes whose form and function achieve clients' objectives or users' needs while satisfying a specified set of constraints" (p. 104).Although scores of engineering p...

worked in industry as a Materials Engineer and Project Engineer. His current research focuses on how Latino adolescents use engineering design processes to solve community-based projects, and how their household bodies of knowledge and social practices with their peers may connect to these design processes. Alex is particularly interested in the use of comprehension strategy instruction in linguistically and culturally diverse classrooms, physical and digital manipulatives and their application in engineering courses, and education and outreach for minorities in STEM.

Education describes a wide range of research and development activities in its fifty-six chapters. The rich descriptions provided in the volume make it abundantly clear that the technology education enterprise varies widely across national settings around the globe. The chapters represent the work of fifty-three authors representing fourteen national settings. Fourteen authors are from England; eight from Australia; eight from USA; six from New Zealand; six from Canada; two from France; two from India; and one each from China, Finland, Israel, The Netherlands, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. The authors are currently engaged in research, teacher preparation, educational administration, consultation, curriculum development, and organizational leadership in technology education.In addition to the Preface and the Conclusion provided by the Alister Jones and Marc de Vries as editors of the volume, the body of the book is made up of eight sections, each comprised of five to eleven chapters. The development of each section was guided by one or two editors: International Developments, Alister Jones;

In 2008, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) announced 14 Grand Challenges for Engineering in the 21st Century, a set of exceptionally complex problems associated with national security, quality of life, and a sustainable future. Understanding the extent to which engineering students are interested in these complex problems and the extent to which they feel confident that they can contribute to the solution of these problems could serve as a starting point to foster engagement with the Grand Challenges. This paper presents results from a survey of mechanical engineering (ME) students’ interest in the NAE Grand Challenges and their confidence in their ability to contribute to resolutions of the Challenges. Seventy-six sophomore mechanical engineering majors completed the survey composed of 36 examples of problems described within the NAE Challenge report. Survey results show a strong relationship between students’ interest and their confidence in meeting a challenge. Six students participated in a semi-structured interview regarding their experience with and knowledge of the Challenges. Interview results indicated the students had few course-related experiences that exposed them to the Challenges. Results of this study can contribute to a broader conversation among ME educators about ways to integrate the NAE Grand Challenges in undergraduate engineering education.