Robinson, Michael and C. Maddux. "What Do Secondary Science and Mathematics Teachers Know About Engineering?" The Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 19, no. 5, 1999: 394-402.
In this peer reviewed journal article, the authors report on a study conducted around an engineering-based capstone course for secondary math and science teachers. The course trained teachers in engineering principles, practice, design, and problem-solving skills, and gave them the practice and skills required to add engineering-style problems to their existing math and science classes. The study sought to measure the teachers’ changes in attitudes towards engineering after taking the course. It also measured the changes in students’ attitudes towards engineering, after taking a 3-week unit on engineering principles and design, planned by a teacher who had just completed the capstone course.
The study results showed that for both the teachers and the students, attitudes towards engineering became more favourable after the engineering specific training. The most compelling part of the article was a comparison of one secondary student’s pretest and posttest comments.
“Pretest—“I really don’t know what they do so I can’t say my impression.”
Posttest—“Well, engineers do a lot of good things for the world and take pride in what they do. If we didn’t have engineers then this world would be very crappy . . . but with them in the world we’re OK. I wouldn’t want to be one but it’s good we have them in the world.”” (400)
I liked reading this article because it approached the issue of perceptions of engineers in a different way than other articles and studies I’ve read up to now. This course took a more of a top-down approach, where educating the educators produced a positive changes in the students’ attitudes. This article was written 12 years ago, and I am curious to know if this type of course it still offered to teachers, or if it has since disappeared.
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