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Lending a Hand to K-12 By Wallace T. Fowler
The poor state of math and science education is well documented. The fall 2000 report by the National Commission on Mathematics and Science Teaching for the 21st Century, entitled "Before It's Too Late," summarizes these problems quite well. Public-school math and science teachers are key to solving these problems but they need help. Many school districts are in a bind. They have to use teachers who don't have math and science backgrounds to teach those subjects. As a result, teachers are often unable to put either into a real-world context. Not only that, many public-school teachers work in classrooms where students are unmotivated, undisciplined, inattentive, and unappreciative of their efforts. These same teachers must also perform such tasks as monitoring the cafeteria, patrolling the halls and driving school buses. We do not treat public-school teachers as professionals, nor do we pay them as such. It is not surprising, then, that teachers with high-tech skills who can easily double their salaries, cut their hours, and have a safer and more enjoyable working environment are leaving the teaching profession. The average length of the career of a young teacher with high-tech skills is less than one academic year. We must find ways to keep teachers with math and science backgrounds in the classroom. We also need to help teachers without those backgrounds become more proficient in math and science. Finally, we need to generate excitement among all math and science teachers about these subjects. Over the past
decade, programs have been initiated that address specific aspects
of the problems. For example, in 1989 the National Space Grant and
Fellowship Program (the space analog to the Land Grant and Sea Grant
programs) was created by Congress with a primary focus on improving
K-12 science, mathematics, and technology education. NSF sponsors
projects in this area, and many of the proposals for NASA's space
science projects have mandatory outreach components. Despite these
and other efforts, progress is disappointing. Engineering education is an enormous enterprise. If we join with higher-education programs in mathematics, science, and engineering technology education, we represent an enormous talent pool that understands why mathematics and science are important. And if we add all the citizens who are educated in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology, we have an even greater resource pool. We need to find ways to bridge the gap between those who understand science, mathematics, and technology and those who do not. The bridge must be built by those in science and engineering who have all of the tools. I believe ASEE is the appropriate home for the "broader well-planned" effort suggested by Karl Reid. One of our most neglected professional responsibilities as engineers and engineering educators is the interpretation of engineering, engineering technology, and applied science for the nontechnical segment of society. There is no better place to start than by working with public-school math and science teachers. That is where we can be the most effective. In early April, I will appoint a task force to explore ways that ASEE can work with mathematics and science teachers in the public schools. I hope to have practicing engineers, engineering educators, science educators, mathematics educators, and public-school teachers represented on the task force. If you have worked with public-school students and teachers in the past and want to share your ideas, or if you would like to serve on the task force, please contact me by e-mail at fowler@csr.utexas.edu. Richard Berry has been named interim dean of engineering and engineering technology at LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas.
John B. Goodenough, professor of engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, has received the $450,000 Japan Prize for his discoveries of the materials critical to the development of lightweight rechargeable batteries.
ASEE divisions, sections, and publications are welcome to publish calls for academic papers in Prism. Please submit your calls at least 12 weeks prior to desired publication and try to keep them under 200 words. All calls will also be published on ASEE's Web site. Send submissions to: ASEE Today, fax (202) 265-8504; e-mail: prism@asee.org. The Green Engineering Program of the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech is hosting a conference on "Green Engineering: Sustainable and Environmentally Conscious Engineering," July 29–August 1, 2001, and has issued a call for papers. For more information, contact Michael H. Gregg, Green Engineering Program, College of Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0218; (540) 231-9544; fax (540) 231-6903; e-mail: greggmh@vt.edu. Authors are invited to submit papers for review to the Journal of Engineering Technology. Refer to the latest issue for complete manuscript requirements, a style guide for authors, and a list of topics of interest. Submit 11 copies of the printed manuscript with abstract and disk to: Timothy Zeigler, Southern Polytechnic State University, 100 S. Marietta Pkwy., Marietta, GA 30060; (770) 528-5495; fax (770) 528-5455; e-mail: tzeigler@spsu.edu; or see www.asee.org/publications. The Journal of Engineering Education accepts unsolicited manuscripts for review. The editors are looking for papers that make a strong contribution to engineering and technology education, that further the development of new ideas, and appeal to a broad readership of engineering educators and others. For review, send six copies to: John Prados, Chemical Engineering Dept., 419 Dougherty Engineering Bldg., University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996; (615) 974-2421; fax (615) 974-7076; e-mail: jprados@utk.edu. The Junior
Engineering Technical Society (JETS) is looking for engineering
problems to use in its Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics,
and Science (TEAMS), an academic competition for high school students.
TEAMS problems reflect the level of rigor found in first semester
engineering courses. See www.asee.org/jets/teams for the required
problem format and examples. For more information, contact Joe Essman,
School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Ohio University,
334 Stocker Center, Athens, OH 45701; (614) 593-1574; fax (614)
593-0007; e-mail: essman@bobcat.ent.ohiou.edu;
or see www.asee.org/jets.
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At
almost every turn, we are faced with evidence that our public schools
are not adequately preparing students in mathematics and science.
Consequently, many students who could become good engineers never
get the chance. Articles in the February issue of Prism focused
on the problems of mathematics and science literacy among students
in public schools. Specific articles focused on a charter school
that is successful, the trouble with math and science textbooks,
and programs where universities work with public schools to improve
math and science education. 
Arthur
J. Bond, dean of engineering and technology at Alabama A&M
University, has been named Outstanding Electrical Engineer by Purdue
University, an award that honors those who have made major engineering
contributions in research, invention, and/or teaching. 
Marek
Dollár, dean of Miami University's School of Engineering
and Applied Science, has received Poland's Presidential Professorship
Award. Dollár helped establish the International School of
Technology in Krakow. 
Barbara
Minsker, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering
at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, received the
Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE),
an award for research related to remediating groundwater contamination.
