The high school technology initiative: a novel approach to encourage students to follow science and technology career paths

High school students are frequently unable to associate fundamental math and science curricular materials with the operation of the numerous high technology components that they encounter on a daily basis. We present a new approach to adapt and incorporate high technology content materials into typical state-mandated secondary education curricula. Our goal is to interest the students in following science and technology career paths by exposing them to interesting technology concepts throughout their coursework in high school or community college. Working with secondary and community college faculty, effective multimedia-based modular materials are being developed to act as a resource in the preparation of lessons in mathematics, physical science, chemistry, and physics. The development and dissemination of the modules is being funded by a grant from the NSF Advanced Technology Education division. The first module is titled Problem Solving and at present it is being adopted in schools in our central Florida region as well as in selected states. The underlying technology topics presented in the PSM are based on semiconductor manufacturing. Topic areas within the module are divided among the eight tenets of problem solving, significant figures, errors precision and accuracy, unit conversion, and scientific notation. The structure of the modules provides teachers with easy access to pre-prepared power point presentations, student worksheets, quizzes, video materials, and other content that they may find useful in their courses. They are free use the materials as is or to adapt and modify the materials as appropriate for their courses. An interesting aspect of the dissemination activities of this program is the apparent requirement that teachers be provided with workshop trainings to assist them in adopting and using the materials. This workshop structure includes a short course on semiconductor manufacturing technology that builds a level of confidence to enable the teacher to present the content material with a level of comfort required in their classrooms. In this work we present the module structure and components, examples of the user group workshop materials and the semiconductor manufacturing technology content. We will also briefly discuss the national dissemination activities.