Undergraduate Experience With Engineering Outreach

Abstract

Tuesday, 9:24 am. No sooner have you sat down at the office computer then a pop up window tells you "You've Got Mail." Throwing off your winter jacket and kicking your backpack beneath the desk, you settle back to see what they've got for you today. Julie wants further information on the Indus River Valley. Pat will be by at 2 to pick up his aquarium. Brian is looking to do an earthquake unit. Do any old activities fit? Closing the email account, you post your freshly jotted notes up on the wall. Turning back towards the room you take a deep breath and look around. Balsa wood trusses are in mid construction on the table. Copies of the Massachusetts and National Technology Standards are piled high on the bookshelves, alongside a few activity notebooks and a bright green Lego kit. A (now dormant) volcano sits in the corner next to Pat's nearly completed ecology aquarium. Sitting back down you can't help but feel content. Surrounded by the accomplishments that represent your impact on the program and the children themselves, you pause for a moment before asking yourself, where do I begin today?The National Science Foundation (NSF) GK-12 program is managed through the Center for Engineering Educational Outreach (CEEO) at Tufts University. The CEEO is a nonprofit organization working with area schools to incorporate engineering into preK-12 classrooms. The CEEO supports roughly fifteen different programs. The programs range from a summer camp for middle school students to workshops for teachers and educators.