UGA Partners in $10 Million NSF Grant to Promote Engineering Education

The University of Georgia will partner in a $10 million multi-institution grant from the National Science Foundation to start a National Science Foundation Center for Learning and Teaching that focuses on engineering and technology education.

The center will develop a community of university and K-12 educators who can engage significant numbers of students effectively in learning engineering and technology concepts. The National Center for Engineering and Technology Education (NCETE) will link four research universities with five technology education institutions, fifteen K-12 school districts and three education-related societies, said Robert Wicklein, co-principal investigator and professor in the College of Education and Faculty of Engineering, the UGA entities involved in the grant.

“The University of Georgia is increasingly recognized as an important partner in research that seeks to improve the quality of education in America ,” said UGA President Michael F. Adams. “I am pleased that the Faculty of Engineering and the College of Education are partners in the creation of this important national center.”

“This grant is further evidence of the increasing ability of UGA to have national impact by the commitment of the College of Education and the Faculty of Engineering to bring research and teaching together in a way that facilitates the success of our students and faculty,” said Dale Threadgill, UGA Faculty of Engineering director.

The nation is losing a number of its experienced school teachers to retirement each year, many being replaced by a number of inadequately prepared educators. “Those particularly in the areas of science, technology, engineering and mathematics are in high demand, and with many planning to retire over the next decade, there is growing national concern about how to reverse this trend,” said Wicklein.

Utah State University , the lead institution on the grant, will be the fiscal and management home of the center and will partner with UGA; the University of Minnesota; the University of Illinois; Brigham Young University; California State University, Los Angeles; Illinois State University; North Carolina A&T University and the University of Wisconsin, Stout. The group will also work with the International Technology Education Association, the Council on Technology Teacher Education and the American Society of Engineering Education.

According to Wicklein, there is a national trend of declining numbers of students pursuing engineering and scientific careers. The center hopes to correct that problem by linking technology educators with engineering educators in a symbiotic alliance that will infuse engineering content, design and analytical skills into K-12 schools. The NCETE brings together a powerful coalition of universities and K-12 schools to address these issues and concerns.

“The new center is a wonderful opportunity to conduct important research in how students learn engineering and technology concepts and to prepare doctoral students to become the next generation of leaders in education,” said Louis Castenell, dean of the College of Education at UGA.

UGA participants will work with the undergraduate partners in the grant from North Carolina A&T. “Over the last several years the field of industrial arts has come to be known as technology education, though maintaining some traditional elements of what was traditionally called ‘shop' class. We plan to use this existing platform to further technological literacy, and establish in students' mind that technology is here because of the engineering design process,” said David Gattie, co-P.I. and assistant professor in the Faculty of Engineering. “The engineering sciences create a vehicle for bringing math and science together at the secondary level and earlier.”

“The unique fusion between engineering and technology education will bring a wide range of opportunities to all levels of education,” said Sidney Thompson, UGA engineering professor and NCETE team member. “A key outcome will be to involve K-12 students in creatively solving problems like engineers, in effect having students think like engineers.”

NCETE will increase the number of doctorate-level professionals and improve the national capability to conduct research in emerging engineering and technology education areas. It will also support 20 doctoral students and 50 master's students and prepare more than 150 new technology education teachers, while also providing teachers professional development workshops in more than 10 school districts. This service will provide more than 120 hours of in-service education to more than 150 teachers.

The focus of the center enhances activities in the state of Georgia to promote the interests of students studying science and engineering through the Governor's Initiative on Science and Engineering. Bringing together the nine institutions allows creation of a system using research and teaching institutions, reaching across geographical boundaries and harnessing ethnic diversity.

Monday, August 23, 2004

WRITER: Alan Flurry, 706/542-7825, aflurry@uga.edu
CONTACT:  Robert Wicklein , 706/542-4503, wickone@uga.edu