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Classroom Success
CSU program prepares next generation of engineering technology teachers
The university’s new degree program is designed to increase science, technology, engineering and mathematics enrollment and give future teachers better tools for succeeding in the classroom.
Colorado State University’s new engineering education bachelor’s degree trains engineers to be junior high and high school engineering and technology teachers in an effort to improve the nation’s technological literacy and global competitiveness.
 The program, co-sponsored by CSU’s College of Engineering and the School of Education in the College of Applied Human Sciences, requires students to earn an engineering bachelor’s degree with a concentration in engineering education before they can obtain their nationally accredited technology education teaching license.
An engineering degree provides an all-around understanding of math, science and technology for teaching engineering, but it also adds design to the mix, which encourages critical and creative thinking to solve problems, says Michael de Miranda, an engineering education professor in the CSU School of Education.
The college is already a leader in teaching science, technology, engineering and mathematics, known as STEM disciplines, which yield higher-quality, higher-income jobs that return significant benefit to the state. CSU provides 30% of all credit hours taken in these disciplines statewide—more than any other university in the state.
STEM Enrollment
Struggling Still, studies show a decrease in enrollment in STEM degree programs, particularly among women and minorities.
“One of the great obstacles to bringing more engineering into the K-12 classroom has always been the dearth of teachers with the expertise to actually teach the subject—and yet engineering is one of the best ways to teach students about the highly designed and technology-saturated world that they live in and will work in after leaving school,” says Eric Iversen, manager for Outreach at the American Society for Engineering Education. “A program like this one, connecting the natural enthusiasm of engineers to the increasing number of opportunities to teach the subject in the K-12 classroom, will play a fundamental role in helping us meet the citizenship and work-force requirements that a globalizing, highly competitive, rapidly changing world creates.”
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“We are losing ground to other countries that are doing a better job of educating engineers,” says Tom Siller, associate dean for academic and student affairs in the College of Engineering, who created the program with de Miranda. “People need technical literacy that is broader and deeper. We want teachers of technology in the K-12 system—where they’ve received teacher education but they also have a strong engineering background.”
Ordinary citizens need to understand technology to make responsible decisions every day, whether it’s how to buy genetically engineered food or use the Internet, according to “Technically Speaking: Why All Americans Need to Know More About Technology,” a report of the Committee on Technological Literacy driven by the National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council.
“If you want to teach integrated science and math and technology, you have to have someone who knows the engineering science and engineering design principles to make it all come alive in the classroom,” de Miranda says. “Have you ever heard kids say, ‘When are we ever going to use this?’ The engineering and technology teacher challenges students to use math and science to predict, analyze and model problem solutions.”
Major Switch
The degree is ideal for Kate McDonnell, who got all the way through her bachelor’s degree in computer engineering and decided she didn’t want to go into the field. She wanted to teach. At CSU, McDonnell was able to move into the engineering education program as its first licensure student.
She obtained her teaching certificate in May after spending the spring semester student teaching under the tutelage of John Thayer, technology teacher at Fossil Ridge High School, which offers several pre-engineering courses.
“This is a pre-engineering lab where every field of engineering is represented,” Thayer says. “Kate’s background in education is definitely a plus—she understands practice in the field.”
“I love it. The things I’m learning are very cool,” says McDonnell, who is also working on her master’s in education, which she expects to finish in 2008. “I'm learning how to teach lessons, where to get all my materials and how to interact with students. I really like the engineering design process—that’s what’s missing in STEM education.”
When McDonnell finishes her education, de Miranda says she’ll be “head and shoulders” above counterparts around the country who have technology education degrees that don’t include strong science, mathematics and engineering training
“Think what influence she’ll have on those young girls who don’t have many role models,” he says. “Boys have a lot more role models in this field. We’re excited about the program, that we’re attracting students like Kate.”
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