Techtronics Ii

Abstract

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.