Multimedia teaching modules in the engineering K-Ph.D. program at Duke University

Gustafson, Michael; Ybarra, Gary; Chancey, Valeta Carol; Merdes, C.L.

doi:10.1109/fie.2001.963655

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…The Techtronics after school program, funded by a three year grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, places undergraduate and graduate engineering students in the classroom teaching engineering to students at Rogers-Herr Middle School in Durham, North Carolina. The program is an extension of the K-PhD program at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering 1 . Initiated in the fall of 2001, Techtronics utilizes college engineering students as instructors and mentors for middle school students in an after school program that teaches engineering through small group projects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Techtronics: Hands On Exploration Of Technology In Everyday Life

Klenk¹,

Ybarra²,

Dalton³

2004 Annual Conference Proceedings

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Techtronics is an after school science enrichment program that encourages at-risk middle school students to pursue careers in engineering and technical fields. A joint venture between the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University and Rogers-Herr Middle School in Durham, North Carolina, Techtronics seeks to stimulate intellectual curiosity in engineering through exposure to four engineering disciplines: civil, mechanical, electrical/computer, and biomedical engineering. The mature program now includes fully developed lesson plans for two sections of students, Techtronics I for 6 th grade and Techtronics II for 7 th grade, each led by a graduate student coordinator and five undergraduate teaching Fellows. Emphasis is placed on learning through hands-on experience and creating an environment that encourages inquiry. Students first study applicable scientific theory and are introduced to instrumentation and software tools that will be needed later. Each unit then culminates in the construction of a related project such as balsa wood bridges, Lego robotics, AM radios, or heart monitors. With a student return rate of over 70% for 2003-2004, the program is achieving its goal to provide a stimulating creative outlet for students with interest in science and engineering. Techtronics is funded by a three-year grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Student Science Enrichment Program whose goals are to improve students' competence in science, to nurture their enthusiasm for science and engineering, and to stimulate interest in pursuing careers in engineering and the sciences. This paper gives a brief overview of the Techtronics program and discusses methods of motivating students in an after school setting

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Techtronics: Hands On Exploration Of Technology In Everyday Life

Klenk¹,

Ybarra²,

Dalton³

2004 Annual Conference Proceedings

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The Techtronics program, funded by a three year grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, places undergraduate and graduate level engineering students into the classroom teaching engineering education to students at Rogers Herr Middle School in Durham, North Carolina. The program is a part of the K-PhD program at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering 1 . Techtronics began as a pilot program during the 2001-2002 academic year with one class of approximately 20 middle school students that met once a week.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Techtronics Ii

Wang¹,

Klenk²,

Ybarra³

2003 Annual Conference Proceedings

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Techtronics: Hands-On Exploration in Everyday Life, is an after school program in engineering education designed for middle school students. A joint venture between the Pratt School of Engineering at Duke University and Rogers-Herr Middle School in Durham, North Carolina, and funded by a three year grant from the Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Techtronics seeks to stimulate intellectual curiosity in engineering through exposure to four engineering disciplines: civil, mechanical, electrical and computer, and biomedical engineering. For each unit, students typically work in groups of three to five to complete a project under the guidance of one of five undergraduate Pratt Engineering student teachers. A graduate student coordinates each team of undergraduate teaching fellows. In Techtronics I, students build balsa wood bridges, programmable robots, heart monitors, and solar powered devices. In Techtronics II, returning and new students are participating in an entirely new curriculum during the 2002-2003 academic year. Techtronics II is comprised of approximately half returning students and half new students. Though some students have been lost, the 50% return rate of students from last year's program suggests that the program is meeting its goals to provide a stimulating creative outlet for students with interest in science and engineering. In Techtronics II, returning and new students use computer-aided design (CAD) to test their civil engineering designs before building them in groups, compete in a group setting on the Lego Robotics Mars Rover project, and build AM radio kits. This paper provides an overview of the new structure of the Techtronics program and details the new hands-on, group-oriented modules used in Techtronics II.

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“…Three such programs have been implemented by the Duke University Pratt School of Engineering's K-Ph.D. Program: Duke-NCSU Engineering Teaching Fellows in Elementary Education sponsored by an NSF GK-12 Track 1 grant [6] , MUSCLE: Math Understanding through the Science of Life sponsored by the GE Foundation Math Excellence Program [7,8] , and Techtronics: Hands-on Exploration of Technology in Everyday Life sponsored by the Burroughs Wellcome Fund's Student Science Enrichment Program [9][10][11] . This paper examines the impacts on Engineering Teaching Fellows of participating in these three programs.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

K 12 Engineering Outreach Impact On University Teaching Fellows

Klenk¹,

Ybarra²,

Kelly³

2005 Annual Conference Proceedings

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Graduate and undergraduate Engineering Teaching Fellows develop important skills through participation in K-12 engineering outreach programs. The K-12 teaching experience augments the traditional university educational experience of the Fellows in several ways including improvement of communication skills through oral exp lanations of complex subjects to K-12 students and improvement of their ability to function on multidisciplinary teams through teamteaching content with Fellows from other engineering disciplines. These value-added impacts are affected significantly by the amount and type of training provided for the Fellows and their partnership teachers. Training in teaching methodologies including inquiry-based instruction and classroom management are necessary for effective classroom intervention. This paper examines self-reported evidence that demonstrates significant positive impact of participation in engineering outreach on Fellows' ability to communicate effectively and function on multidisciplinary teams.

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Multimedia teaching modules in the engineering K-Ph.D. program at Duke University

Cited by 4 publications

References 1 publication

Techtronics: Hands On Exploration Of Technology In Everyday Life

Techtronics: Hands On Exploration Of Technology In Everyday Life

Techtronics Ii

K 12 Engineering Outreach Impact On University Teaching Fellows

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