Resumen de Bridging engineering education to high school science teachers using TIME kits

G. L. Win, D. Lewis, R. Curtis

• The United States clearly needs more technically qualified undergraduates, particularly engineers. Even though high school students are already heavy users of technology, as often are their teachers, there is a gap in understanding how the technologies are derived, developed, prototyped, tested and evaluated. A National Science Foundation STEP project (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Talent Expansion Program) at West Virginia University's College of Engineering and Mineral Resources currently employs a carefully crafted intervention, the TIME kit, as an attempt to cross the divide between high school students and math or science teachers by providing an integrated curriculum using real-life engineering problems with web-based delivery. TIME Kits also employ mandated 21st Century Skills and No Child Left Behind state teacher standards to make them more attractive for teachers to use. Statistical treatment of teacher self-reports are favorable and statistically significant on effectiveness of TIME Kits in the field after two years of teacher training; longer term evaluation of student skill and knowledge change is underway. An exemplary TIME Kit that explores the engineering aspects of Acid Mine Drainage is included in our review.