Bringing real-world relevance into engineering classrooms

The IEEE's Women in Engineering (WIE) Committee and Educational Activities Board (EAB) are teaming up to provide universities with hands-on projects designed to encourage women to pursue degrees in electrical engineering and computer science. The IEEE initiative aims to change the way engineering is taught by introducing practical projects in freshman classes. It calls on the IEEE to work with educators to develop hands-on projects and online workshops for freshmen. The initiative also calls for developing online workshops that showcase the best teaching practices found in electrical and computer engineering and computer science classrooms. The goal is to develop educational strategies that focus on the learner rather than on just the concept being taught, an approach known as learner-centered teaching. Other educational strategies include those focused on students working on team projects.