The data analyzed in section 5.2 were conducted in part by Dr. Buping Bao and were published in 2010. All other work conducted for the thesis was completed by the student independently.

Over the years, various programs have been created to entice students to the STEM disciplines at early stages of their education. This paper gives insight to STEM education pedagogy through a model STEM program — named “Future Engineers”. Future Engineers was developed and implemented at Texas A&M University at Qatar with the aim of developing and channeling students’ critical thinking skills to apply science and engineering approaches to a real-life problem. The theme of the program was aeronautical engineering and it enabled the students to apply what they have learned in hands-on activities and competitions that challenged the students into performing an objective analysis approach to their designs. Throughout the program, students learned about the advancements of flight instrumentation and how aviation evolved into today’s specialized career field. In addition, the program topics included the standard atmosphere, airplane flight principles, structural concepts, airplane stability, material selection, aerodynamics, and wing airfoil selection. The program encapsulates concepts related to physics, mathematics, engineering, 3D CAD modeling, and 3D printing. This paper identifies the different phases of the program development and the program outcomes in terms of projects created. Future Engineers displayed a significant impact toward the students’ motivation to explore and learn more about science and engineering.

In recent years, pre-college educational programs have been introduced to increase the interest and supply of skillful people to work in STEM fields. While the emphasis has previously been primarily focused on the content of project-based learning programs, another factor that needs to be accounted for is the accessibility of the said programs. Unprecedented issues such as the sudden closure of educational facilities, as was experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, should not hinder the learning opportunities that the students are after. Therefore, the shift from hosting conventional STEM programs to online platforms has become a crucial element in the expansion of STEM education. Delivering engineering-based projects through online STEM programs to school students includes wide expansion of the participating audience — which is not confined by the capacity limit of in-person programs — as well as ease of access. This has value not only on the individual level but also at the social level. Three successful e-STEM (electronic STEM) programs are presented in this paper that are designed to support and enhance students’ learning of engineering concepts while also increasing students’ understanding of real-life applications. This has a close connection to the desire to increase online education in developing countries over recent years. The first program is called Innovate, Design and Engineer an App (IDEA). In this program, the students explore the fundamentals of programming and mobile app development. This provides the students with the foundation of coding, algorithms, and refining their ideas to produce a working mobile phone app that is created to meet a specified challenge. The second program is called Creative Fusion and Innovation (CFI). In this program, the students learned the basics of creating, editing, and analyzing their 3D designs; recognize the importance of creating 3D models in engineering; and understand how 3D printing works as they create their own 3D models. The third program is called Virtual Robotics Games (VRG). In this program, the students learn the fundamentals of designing, building, programming, and testing robots in a virtual environment. Through this program, the students learn the basics of robot design in addition to coding and simulation, which are all necessary tools for aspiring engineers. These programs aim to provide STEM education access to build communities specifically in engineering, which is in high demand. Throughout these programs, the students are able to learn important computer skills and the concepts of the engineering design process. The programs also equip them with the required knowledge and problem-solving skills to tackle challenges. At the end of each program, the students will have created successful designs as solutions to the real-life problems that they were tasked with. In this paper, the details behind the planning, formation and production, and implementation of the three online programs are presented.

Pre-college project-based learning programs are essential means to increase the students’ interest toward STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) disciplines and careers. Engineering-based projects have shown significant impact on the students’ interests. Therefore, developing countries are investing strategically in their emphasis to attract students to careers in STEM fields, specifically engineering and medicine. That resulted in a steady expansion of their educational pipeline in STEM; and while that emphasis remains, there is a new and urgent need for expertise in agriculture, environmental science, life sciences and sustainability to support the agriculture industry, which is working to secure independent sources of food for their population. New interventions must be devised to stimulate broader interest in STEM fields while also increasing students’ academic readiness for advanced studies in those areas. To target the requirement of increasing people’s competencies in STEM fields, various programs have been created and designed to inspire and broaden students’ inquisitiveness toward STEM. This paper presents an integrated science-engineering program, called Qatar Invents, designed to support and enhance students’ learning of science concepts while also increasing students’ understanding of global challenges in food and water security. This goes with close connection to the desire to increase in the domestic production of agricultural resources in developing countries in recent years. Qatar Invents would engage students into learning and applying fundamental engineering skills onto relatable real-world issues: namely, in the design of hydroponics systems. Qatar Invents challenges students to develop critical thinking and problem solving skills in solving modern problems through the use of the engineering design process. With hands-on challenges, modeling, and communication training, students are motivated to tackle problems related to food security where they create hydroponics projects. Qatar Invents’ learning objectives included: teamwork, using proper toolbox skills, understanding what is engineering, the process of brainstorming, creating successful innovative designs, building prototypes, and developing presentation skills. Throughout this program, the participants were equipped with hands-on knowledge and critical thinking skills that helped them achieve their objectives. Utilizing the engineering design process, the students worked in small teams to brainstorm ideas and create inventions. The topics covered during the program included the importance of an engineering notebook and documentation, principals of engineering graphics, basics of agricultural science, foundations of hydroponics, the brainstorming practice, generating a decision matrix, proof of concept, and pitching ideas. At the end of the program, the students came up with novel solutions to serious problems wherein unique hydroponics projects were produced and presented to a panel of experts. This program attempts to build bridges between developing countries’ STEM education pipeline and the new demand of talent in the agriculture sector. All pertinent details including the preparation, instructional materials, prototyping materials, and case studies are presented in this paper.

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