The scope and versatile nature of Career and Technical Education (CTE) discipline areas provide a platform for the integration of STEM subject areas, accomplishing the goal of providing all students a STEM-geared curriculum as well as preparing them for the world of work. Today, it is commonplace to say that relationships between science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines are becoming increasingly stronger, permeating the workplace and creating new demands for solving daily work-related problems. This article discusses the integration of STEM practices into the curriculum and highlights ways to think about a conceptual framework that may facilitate the teaching and integration of STEM concepts. The intent of this article is to contribute to ongoing discussions among educators, employers, parents, and all those concerned in order to seek coherence in STEM instruction.

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Engineering design activities offer the promise of enhanced learning and teaching in pre-college science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) settings. The wide variation and lack of coherence in research and practice concerning pre-college engineering design challenges necessitates an investigation of the literature. The overarching research question guiding this search and review of literature was, ''How are engineering design challenges conceptualized in pre-college environments?'' A search and review coupled with iterative thematic analysis was employed to understand and conceptualize the current body of literature on pre-college engineering design challenges. It is anticipated that this review will provide a general picture of the salient features surrounding engineering design challenges, including: authenticity to the learner and to engineering practices, open-ended problems, modeling, optimization to continuously improve, and the promotion of engineering habits of mind such as balancing trade-offs and satisficing. It is also expected that the results will contribute toward ongoing discussions of the role of design challenges in STEM educational settings, future research directions, and implications for practice.

Despite the presence of the Standards for Technological Literacy (STL) in engineering and technology curricula and in scholarly research (e.g.) that are recognized and critiqued by organizations such as the American Society for Engineering Education. This study utilized an analytical content review of scholarly literature published during a recent 6-year period (2011-2016) to identify how engineering and technology researchers, including STEM professionals, position the T and E in the context of the STL in engineering and technology and STEM instruction. Findings revealed that the domains of Design, The Nature of Technology, and The Designed World of the STL provide a rich platform from which researchers and educators can employ evidence-based strategies to promote successful STEM learning.