Engineers help make the world go round, they solve problems
and even sometimes devise new ones, just so they can ultimately solve them by
creating something us humans can find useful. Some of which we can’t live
without. The problem of communicating with people over long distances was
solved by engineers, most notably Alexander Graham Bell. One can only imagine how gut-wrenching waiting
on important letters to be delivered by the postal service must have been prior
to telephones, however engineers at heart saw that tormenting wait time as a
unique problem waiting to be solved. The answer was the telephone.
Out of this
monumental breakthrough though came the invention of the “electron tube” , an
electric amplifier, in 1906 by Lee De Forest, which revolutionized long
distance calling. Between 1910 and 1920 telephone ownership ballooned from 7
million to 16 million people. The majority of those phones, however, belonged to
businesses. Eventually the demands of people increased (what’s new) and caused
engineers to redesign those old, cumbersome and sometimes downright tedious
telephones into the devices we’ve grown to love (and sometimes hate) but are
ultimately committed to…cellular phones. Pew Research Center reported in 2013 that 91%
of American adults own cell phones. Even more alarming is the fact that a U.N
report says that 6 of the world’s 7 billion people own cell phones, while only
4.5 billion of them own toilets…right. Regardless, the invention of the
telephone gave way to what we have today and engineers made it possible.
Engineers relate their knowledge of mathematics and the
sciences to create and improve existing technologies. The term engineering
refers to “the application of science and mathematics by which the properties
of matter and the sources of energy in nature are made useful to people by
designing and manufacturing complex products”.
Mechanical Engineers have a unique set of talents, since they work on making machines work, and making them work well might I add, their labors of love include an array of different fields including amusement park rides, robotics (yes, like R2D2), toys, medical devices and cars!!! We rely on their expertise in almost all facets of life, that is unless of course, you live under a rock.
When Engineers develop new technologies and
enhance others they rely on their knowledge of all four of these subject
matters, fairly consistently, in order to complete the task they set before
themselves. When children are educated in STEM disciplines they should be
exercising the same skills engineers do every day, like utilizing the Engineering Design Process whenever applicable (beyond STEM as well), engaging in multiple critical thinking and problem solving opportunities.
We have national standards for Mathematics, Science and Technology but there aren’t any for Engineering. This
of course presents somewhat of a dispute as to what to teach students about
engineering and how. If we teach Engineering as its definition defines it, as
the application of science and math skills in order to develop or upgrade existing
technologies, I believe it could be quite beneficial.
Perhaps Engineering standards should urge educators to
create relevant and forward thinking lessons that mirror the effective engineering instructional practices in the chart below and should therefore refrain from creating lessons that mimic the practices in the ineffective engineering instructional practices.
|
Effective
Engineering Instructional Practices
|
Ineffective
Engineering Instructional Practices
|
Encourage student’s innovation and
creativity
|
Teacher centered |
Stimulate application of problem
solving and critical thinking skills
|
Lessons allow for little deviation
from norms
|
Allow students to work collaboratively
towards a common goal
|
Challenges have one outcome to a
solution
|
Expect students to use the
Engineering Design Process while solving technological problems
|
Lessons are taught in solitude
(with no attention paid to their relationships)
|
Promote tactile exploration
|
Lessons aren’t relevant
|
Are open-ended
|
Lessons don’t encourage healthy
collaboration
|
Are engaging to the whole child
|
Lessons give exact outcome
examples or scaffolds
|
As educators, we are tasked with developing tomorrow's Engineers...how will you equip your young minds???
Resources
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